This Week in Calvinism - September 27, 2013

• It came as news to me "that the controversy of Calvinism versus Arminianism is a brand-new theological discussion in the Hispanic culture."
  
  
• Matt writes:

  Calvinism's perennial problem is that what God's moral nature predestines and decrees is by nature so closely aligned to what God condones that a Calvinist must step outside his theology to condemn it and redress it.

  Never mind the fact that God himself ordains sin and yet condemns it. The alternative is to believe that sin was not ordained as a part of God's plan, and therefore serves no purpose whatsoever, and that God is powerless to control it.
  
  
• Jerry Walls wishes Arminians were more like Calvinists:

  Calvinists are indeed far more confident, and less tolerant, and make a bigger deal of their theology than Wesleyans do. And I believe these factors are very closely related. Calvinists are intolerant because they are confident that their theology is true, that it is nothing more or less than the gospel, and they are passionate about preaching it and contending for it. ... I wish more Arminians were confident, not in themselves, but in the truth of their theology, and had the courage and conviction to teach and preach it more passionately, even aggressively, in the best sense of that word.

  
  
• You can attend the Desiring God 2013 National Conference for free Friday, Saturday, and Sunday via the live-stream.

Those Who Pride Themselves on Evidence Tend to Ignore It

Many scientists believe that the element molybdenum was crucial to the origin of life on Earth. However, current evolutionary thought suggests that particular element wasn't around billions of years ago when life first began. So...how exactly did we get here?

SkyNews reports that some scientists believe life on our planet originated on Mars. At least that's what Professor Steven Benner of The Westheimer Institute for Science and Technology theorizes:

"This form of molybdenum couldn't have been available on Earth at the time life first began, because three billion years ago the surface of the Earth had very little oxygen, but Mars did.

"It's yet another piece of evidence which makes it more likely life came to Earth on a Martian meteorite, rather than starting on this planet."

He added: "Analysis of a Martian meteorite recently showed that there was boron on Mars; we now believe that the oxidised form of molybdenum was there too."

Another reason why life would have struggled to start on early Earth was that it was likely to have been covered by water, said Prof. Benner.

Rather than toy with the idea that the origin of life might be a little more easily explained than they care to believe, these educated men and women instead dream up even more complex and preposterous explanations. Evidence is only evidence when it supports a presumed conclusion.

Scientists (atheist/agnostic scientists in particular) pride themselves on being open-minded and willing to alter their theories based on new evidence. We Christians (presuppositionalist Christians in particular) realize that is nonsense, because no evidence in the world (or even out of this world) is strong enough to convince someone who is in willful rebellion against God. Why do you think so many people plotted to kill Jesus after witnessing his miracles with their own eyes? So it is today.

This Week in Calvinism - September 20, 2013

• Bruce Bauer thinks he has the perfect analogy to describe Calvinism:

  In many ways, Calvinism is very much like a rigged carnival game. For the Calvinist, some are prechosen to win and others are prechosen to lose. The individual has no say in his own destiny, no opportunity to trust in Christ alone by grace alone through faith alone for salvation...

  I'm surprised he didn't relegate us to the Freak Show tent.
  
  
• Bruce Gerencser, an atheist who claims to have once been a Christian, recently had a Twitter discussion with a Calvinist. Yeah, it went pretty much how you'd expect.
  
  
• Roger Olson is concerned about Calvinists popping up in unexpected and inappropriate places, namely, denominations that are historically antithetical to Calvinism. To those Reformed troublemakers he would like to say, "Come out from among them and be separate!"
  
  
• I have not yet watched this conversation on Calvinism between Dr. Matthew McKellar and Dr. Malcolm Yarnell. If it helps, Peter Lumpkins found it "truly edifying".

Isaiah 40:31a

Trailer for N. D. Wilson's Latest Book, 'Death by Living'

This Week in Calvinism - September 13, 2013

• "I think the whole TULIP thing is blasphemous, ugly, and gross." Well, there you have it. It's hard to argue with that kind of logic.
  
  
• My guess is the person who made the statement above isn't even familiar with the caricature of Calvinism, much less the actual teachings of Calvinism.
  
  
• The very university founded by John Calvin is offering an online course next month on Calvin's historical and theological influence. Regarding his theology, the course aims to "show both his lasting contribution (especially his understanding of a God in whom one may trust) as well as the limitations of his thought (for instance his doctrine of predestination)."
  
  
• Shane Kastler wraps up his sermon series entitled "Misconceptions About Calvinism."
  
  
• Mathew Gilbert begins his own series of blog posts on TULIP.

Drafted: Why Chris Norman Said No to the NFL

Here is the latest video from Desiring God:

This Week in Calvinism - September 6, 2013

• The latest controversy within the SBC: Are infants who die before reaching the so-called "age of accountability" destined for hell?
  
  
• Calvinism is to blame, of course, especially since so many Calvinists remain silent on the issue like Pelagius did. According to the keenly insightful Peter Lumpkins, Calvinists are "just as cowardly as others in stating what they really believe concerning infant salvation."
  
  
• James White isn't your regular, run-of-the-mill Calvinist. He's an arch Calvinist.
  
  
• Can Calvinists really be in favor of mercy ministry? Yes.
  
  
• Does a premillennial view destroy the Calvinist interpretation of Romans 9? Not necessarily. Still, abandoning the premillennialial view couldn't hurt.
  
  
• Pastor Billy Stevens talks about what he likes and dislikes about Calvinism. (SPOILER ALERT: The dislikes won out, which is why he left.) One thing he doesn't like about Calvinists is how they approach evangelism: "The Calvinist cannot tell any random person that God loves them." Because, as everyone knows, that's how all the apostles evangelized.