This Week in Calvinism - July 11, 2008

Dawn DeVries, the John Newton Thomas professor of systematic theology at Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education, writes that Calvinism emphasizes two precepts: grace and gratitude.

Pastor Bill Moore on the sovereignty of God in salvation.

A shake-up at Westminster Theological Seminary.

The Arminian perspective on John 3:16 is self-defeating because of their insistence that salvation is due to grace. If grace can be resisted, as Arminians teach, then what causes some to believe and some to turn away? If we say that it is something inside the sinner that sparks belief, then we must deny what the Bible teaches about original sin. On the other hand, if it is God's grace that overcomes man's ability to resist, then man's free will is violated. In other words, God chose to give some sinners the grace to overcome their unbelief while at the same time denying it to others. And yet Arminians continue to argue that it is "a matter of fact" that God loves each and every individual sinner equally. Does that mean God loves those who end up suffering eternal punishment every bit as much as those to whom he gives eternal life?

The latest "Hoagies and Stogies" event featured a debate between Jacob Moya and Jonathan Goundry on the subject of "Federal Vision and the Covenant of Works."