This Week in Calvinism - April 4, 2008

Here's a weird quote from Attorney General Michael Mukasey in defense of the extra attention the Justice Department pays to Islamic organizations: "So far as focusing investigations, we investigate where the threat is coming from. The threat is coming from Islamist extremism. It's not coming from Calvinism." Thanks for clearing that up for us.

If open theism, as described by Joshua, is to be believed, then we must conclude that God's will is weaker than our own. Sure, Jesus died on the cross, but since we can thwart God's will, there couldn't have been any way of securing the salvation of those for whom Christ died. God can only sit back and wait and hope that people come to him in faith. What an utterly depressing and hopeless theology. Open theists would disagree with that conclusion, but not without betraying their own concept of free will. Perhaps a lesson on the two wills of God is in order.

If you're called to be a pastor or missionary, that was predestined. Everything else, including salvation, is left up to you. Never mind what scripture teaches.

The odd couple: John Calvin and John Wesley.

You might be a Calvinist if...

Want to topple the concept of total depravity discussed in Romans 3:10-18? Just throw some random verses at it and ignore other key passages like Romans 14:23, which tells us that "whatever does not proceed from faith is sin."

Joel Osteen helps you become a better Calvinist.