Category: Reformed

  • Calvinist or Arminian?

    For some, this question is like asking “Reformed or Pelagian?” They view things in particular categories that were historically formed hundreds of years ago or more than fifteen hundred years ago in the battle between Augustine and Pelagius. Today, for many, calling someone “Arminian” is a curse. Who was Arminius? Jacob Arminius was a Dutch…

  • Creeds of the Non-Creedalists

    Relecting a bit this morning about creeds and the the purposes they serve. Function of Creeds Historically, creeds served a purpose. They were the road markers for the faith. Issues were clearly delineated by the creeds. If a person strayed from the creed they went too far from the faith. Creeds provided a confessional unity.…

  • Esau Have I Hated

    Romans 9:13 is frequently by double predestinarian advocates as Biblical evidence of individual election. The passage has: Romans 9:13 – Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” At first glance it appears that this passage is referring to the historical individuals, Jacob and Esau. The story is so familiar that…

  • Eternally Secure

    I’ve been thinking quite a bit about eternal security and thought I’d lay out my own thoughts. Take them for what they are worth. There are a lot of different ways of approaching this subject and mine is not unique by any means. I need to start with a confession of humility of what I…

  • Baptism in the Evangelical Covenant Church

    The Evangelical Covenant Church has a fairly unique practice when it comes to baptism. Covenant Churches practice both believer and infant baptism. (The Confederation of Reformed Evangelicals also has the practice, but they are quite small.) Local churches may prefer to operate in one mode or the other but Covenant pastors are required to baptize…

  • Hating the Sin and Hating the Sinner

    At church we been learning about the Love of God for this past semester. Today, we talked about what God hates. There are a lot of passages which talk about how God hates sin. We are familiar with many of them. The Psalms are full of them. In the Psalms, sin is understood as falling…

  • Wrestling with the TULIP

    Today I am looking at the baptism of John and the TULIP of the Calvinists. These verses seem problematic to the Calvinistic position with respect to the I in the TULIP: Luke 7:29-30 And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees…

  • N. T. Wright on Various Social Issues

    N. T. Wright is the Anglican ishop of Durham, England. Wright was interviewed by the National Catholic Reporter on various social issues including ordination of homosexuals, abortion on demand, ordination of women, and the current international crisis in the Anglican Church caused by the ordination of a homosexual priest. Wright even weighs in on the…

  • Tim Enloe vs the Reformed Baptists

    There are a number of people out “there” who call themselves Reformed Baptists. They are Calvinists, hence the part of the title, Reformed. They also hold to adult baptism only, hence they are Baptists. Where they run into trouble is when they try to show that the two systems are compatible. Historically, the Reformed rejected…