This Week in Calvinism - October 29, 2010

• Calvinists don't believe people can lose their salvation. If some walk away from the faith, that is proof they were never Christians in the first place (1 John2:19). Victor Reppert thinks the same principle can apply to atheism. He says that those who become Christians "were never REAL atheists in the first place." Of course, he's under the mistaken impression that there is such a thing as an atheist. An atheist is nothing more than a person who represses the truth to assuage his own guilt.
  
  
• Andrew Logue defends the doctrine of limited atonement.
  
  
• Jon Cardwell has nothing but nice things to say about William Birch. And I can't argue. He's one of my favorite Arminians, too.
  
  
• And speaking of Jon Cardwell, you have until October 31 to download your free preview of Against Calvinism.
  
  
• To whom does the the term "whole world" in 1 John 2:2 refer?
  
  
• Tim Challies reviews Letters to a Young Calvinist.
  
  
• Richard Mouw on gargoyles and Halloween.

Dads Against Daughters Dating

I may have to get one of these within the next few years.

This Week in Calvinism - October 22, 2010

• How Arminians act like Calvinists and vice versa.
  
  
• A self-described agnostic atheist discusses the Calvinist God and the Chilean miners.
  
  
• A Universalist perspective on Michael Servetus -- or, more accurately, one heretic's perspective on another.
  
  
• Reformed preachers ponder the New Calvinism.
  
  
• Common misunderstandings concerning Calvinism.
  
  
• Download a free copy of the Reformation eChart.

Don't Create a New Law for Yourself

The Resurgence featured this post adapted from Tullian Tchividjian's book Surprised by Grace:

People need to hear less about what we need to do for God and more about all that God has already done for us, because imperatives minus indicatives equal impossibilities. If you're a preacher and you're assuming that people understand the radical nature of gospel indicatives, so your ministry is focused primarily on gospel imperatives, you’re making a huge mistake. A huge mistake!

Long-term, sustained, gospel-motivated obedience can only come from faith in what Jesus has already done, not fear of what we must do. To paraphrase Ray Ortlund, any obedience not grounded in or motivated by the gospel is unsustainable. No matter how hard you try, how "radical" you get, any engine smaller than the gospel that you're depending on for power to obey will conk out in due time.

So let's take it up a notch. Don't be afraid to preach the radical nature of the gospel of grace. For, as the late Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said, "If your preaching of the gospel doesn't provoke the charge from some of antinomianism, you're not preaching the gospel."

Read the full post here.

This Week in Calvinism - October 15, 2010

• I may have to change the name of these posts to "The Roger Olson Weekly Update." He's at it again, this time attempting to clarify exactly which brand of Calvinism he opposes: "Suddenly I was encountering young people (mostly young college aged men) who believed, under the influence of their favorite speakers and writers, that Arminianism is heresy or at least 'on the precipice of heresy' (to quote one influential Calvinist)." Of course, he doesn't mention who that influential Calvinist is, and a Google search of that particular phrase doesn't shed any light on the subject. But it was Dr. Olson who once said, "The God of Calvinism scares me; I'm not sure how to distinguish him from the devil. If you've come under the influence of Calvinism, think about its ramifications for the character of God." The bottom line is that he dislikes all forms of Calvinism, so this "clarification" is unnecessary.
  
  
• David Rice writes, "If Calvin was right, my obedience to the Great Commission is meaningless. If I obey, none who were predestined to be lost will be saved. If I disobey, none who were predestined to salvation will be lost." The Calvinist believes that the God who determines the end also determines the means. Perhaps it really is just as simple as that.
  
  
• EDH believes Calvinists, with their belief in perseverance of the saints, are playing "a cosmic game of chicken."
  
  
• In honor of Calvinists, new and old.
  
  
• Bobby Grow shares his Evangelical Calvinist testimony.

This Week in Calvinism - October 8, 2010

• David L. Allen disagrees with the Calvinist understanding of limited atonement. In the end, don't we all have to conclude that the atonement is limited? The atonement, while sufficient for all, does not end up saving all. The debate, then, is over how it is limited.
  
  
• FYI, the rest of the "Whosoever Will" articles critiquing Calvinism can be found here.
  
  
• Free audio book: J. Gresham Machen's Christianity and Liberalism.
  
  
• Roger Olson revisits what he sees as a fatal flaw in Calvinism. Olson, however, doesn't think through his analogy very well, and the replies in the comments section do a pretty good job of pointing out the fatal flaws in his argument.
  
  
• Tony "The Lawman" Miano is still Reformed in his doctrine, but he's dropping the label of Calvinist.
  
  
• Why an Arminian should never argue theology with a Calvinist barber.
  
  
• 12 reasons why Romans 9 is about individual election, not corporate election.
  
  
• You can now download the audio and video from the 2010 Desiring God Conference.

Quote of the Week - October 3, 2010

From Food Network star Alton Brown, when asked about being a born-again Christian:

"Yeah, 'born-again' is kind of an odd term because that's like saying a see-through window. But yes, I am a Christian."

This Week in Calvinism - October 1, 2010

• Some things non-Calvinists should know about Calvinism.
  
  
• Don Bryant sees the "New Calvinism" as a hiccup, and believes it will begin to fade away when "the natural moral repugnance at the doctrines of double predestination and limited atonement reassert themselves."
  
  
• Why is it that those who leave Calvinism don't seem able to demonstrate that they ever understood it in the first place? William Price (without offering any scriptural support) now condemns Calvinism for portraying God as unfair and unjust, flippantly damning some to Hell while saving others. To show just how much he hates Calvinism, Price "will be disposing of all my Calvinist books to the glory of God." By the way, Price also denies the Trinity. I guess he figured that while he was at it, why not abandon biblical Christianity altogether?
  
  
• If you need one more reason to check out Against Calvinism: Logical Arguments to Disprove the Doctrines of Grace, the new book from Jeff Peterson, Eddie Eddings, and Jon Cardwell, Arminian blogger William Birch calls it a "a waste of paper and money."
  
  
• Should Calvinism be taught to unbelievers?
  
  
• Tony "The Lawman" Miano makes a plea to his Calvinist and Arminian brothers and sisters for repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation.
  
  
• Roger Olson would be happy if we all just admitted that our theologies are flawed.
  
  
• Did Adam and Eve have a libertarian free will?