This Week in Calvinism - August 10, 2007

John Moneypenny writes that Christians fall into one of three camps: Calvinism, Arminianism, or Universalism. Where does John stand? Hint: his God is the one who "has the power, the ability, and the desire to save all mankind and will do so." And his web site, "Gospel" for Today Ministries, will try to convince you that even though God was powerless to prevent sin from entering into the world, he has the power to save you from it. Sorry, but I'll stick with true, biblical Christianity. I figure if I'm wrong, then there's no harm done because God is going to save me anyway.

Here is an interesting, albeit short, debate on Calvinism between SBC theologians Dr. Danny Akin and Dr. Mark Coppenger.

Does Romans 5 destroy Calvinism? No, but that doesn't stop this Berean from using it to attack the doctrines of unconditional election and limited atonement. Perhaps a better question would be "Does Romans 9 destroy Romans 5?"

Timmy Brister alerts us to several articles written by James Leo Garrett for The Alabama Baptist designed to give people a better "understanding" of Calvinism. He responds to these articles here, here, here, and here.

This Arminian demonstrates clearly the problem with Arminianism: man is ultimately in control of his own salvation. The implication is that God isn't strong enough to draw people unto himself (i.e., the creature can resist the Creator), and he can't keep them once they decide to let God save them (i.e., they can later choose to be unsaved). And yet people continue to think that Calvinists are the ones guilty of mischaracterizing God.

John MacArthur answers the question "Is the doctrine of election unfair?"

David Lemmons has posted an article by Adam B. Cozort that lists three reasons why so many people believe in Calvinism: 1) It denies personal responsibility, 2) It leaves God holding the bag, and 3) It gives a false sense of security. And here I always thought that 1) It highlights the sovereignty of God, 2) It gives God all the glory, and 3) It teaches that God is true to his word. Boy, do I feel like a sucker.

Phil Johnson of Pyromaniacs fame sums up exactly what it means when Christ is said to be "Savior of the world": "By redeeming a remnant, Christ saves humanity from utter destruction." Simple. So you see, John 3:16 poses no problem for the Calvinist.

Mark Dever wraps up his 10-part series, "Where'd All These Calvinists Come From?"

Although this is a Calvinist site, I like to throw in something every now and then for our Arminian readers. For example, the hauntingly disturbing rendition of "I Give You Freedom." Now, for your synergistic listening pleasure, here's a barbershop quartet singing a song that also fits quite well into the Arminian theological framework: the Ewok celebration song from Return of the Jedi...