Confession of a Calvinist Football Fan

(AP photo)

My theological football dilemma: As a Calvinist, I know the outcome of the game has already been foreordained, but I still find myself cheering on my team like an Arminian.

This Week in Calvinism - November 29, 2013

• Stephen Bedard writes, "I must admit that I am shocked at Calvinist attacks on Arminians. I am sure that there are Arminians that attack Calvinists, but I rarely see it." Is he reading the same internet I'm reading? He concludes, "I am not saying the discussions should end, I am saying that they should be taken in the context of love that will show non-Christians that even in our disagreements we love each other." On this we can agree.
  
  
• Roger Olson doesn't think a Calvinist praying for his child to be among the elect is consistent with Calvinist theology of God's sovereignty. I suppose it makes as much sense as an Arminian praying for God to sovereignly intervene and save another person from sin. Wouldn't that be inconsistent with Arminian theology of free will?
  
  
• John Piper answers the question: Does John 15 Defy Calvinism?
  
  
• Peter went to Yahoo! Answers to ask a very important question: "Are there any churches in America that reject Calvinism or Reformed theology? I was just wondering." Yahoo! Answers: the site where you can ask others to do your Googling for you.
  
  
• A review Jeremy Walker's book The New Calvinism Considered.

Five Biblical Truths About Thanksgiving

As Christians, we should always be giving thanks. That means expanding our focus beyond food, family, and football. Joseph Scheumann, writing for Desiring God, discusses five biblical truths about thanksgiving:

1. Thanksgiving Is Trinitarian
   
2. Thanksgiving Replaces Sin
   
3. Thanksgiving Sanctifies Creation
   
4. Thanksgiving for the Gospel
   
5. Thanksgiving in All Circumstances

Read the full article here.

The Theatrics of Infanticide

The seemingly intelligent, well-educated, financially successful people in this video are being presented as victims of draconian anti-abortion laws. Seriously, this is the best Planned Parenthood could come up with?


This video could very well be legitimate, but it appears to me that the entire thing was staged, and that the selfish woman and her emasculated fiancé are simply paid actors. Either way, it's a pathetic attempt to turn baby-killers into martyrs.

Mollie Hemingway of The Federalist has more details on this ridiculous publicity stunt here.

This Week in Calvinism - November 22, 2013

• When it comes to discussing the issue of Calvinism, Albert Mohler thinks Southern Baptists need to "learn the table manners of denominational life."
  
  
• William Birch writes, "Calvinists like Dr. Mohler seem to eat, sleep, and breathe Calvinism. They give the appearance that Calvinism is their very lifeline -- not Scripture, not even Jesus, but Calvinism."
  
  
• Ben Simpson discusses three things on which Calvinists and non-Calvinists agree.
  
  
• The difference between double and single predestination is negligible, especially when you use ridiculous analogies.

This Week in Calvinism - November 15, 2013

• Gene Veith asks, "Why is Calvinism so influential and not Lutheranism?"
  
  
• Anthony Sacramone wonders the same thing, concluding, "Lutheranism is never going to be as 'appealing' as Calvinism. It's going to have to settle for being a church that former/burned-out Reformed repair to."
  
  
• Regarding D. G. Hart's book, Calvinism: A History, Joan Nienhuis writes, "If you want to see how Calvinism spread, the political situations encountered, and the people involved, this is the book for you. If you are interested in a history of the beliefs associated with Calvinism you will have to go elsewhere."
  
  
• Arminians are worried about the growing influence of Calvinism, especially among the youth. What can Arminians do to fight this menace? Roger Olson writes:

  My answer is simple: Rediscover, retrieve, teach and preach a robust, winsome, attractive, biblically-rooted Arminian theology—the one that your church or school has held officially for decades or centuries but has been largely forgotten and certainly neglected.

  He must mean the "robust, winsome, attractive, biblically-rooted Arminian theology" taught by the early apostles, I suppose.
  
  
• John Piper's newest book, Five Points: Towards a Deeper Experience of God's Grace, is now available.

This Week in Calvinism - November 8, 2013

• Bobby Grow explains the distinction he makes between Evangelical Calvinism and Classical Calvinism.
  
  
• An interview with Darryl Hart, author of Calvinism: A History.
  
  
• Romans 9: An Arminian interpretation.
  
  
• Roger Olson will be speaking at Assemblies of God Theological Seminary on the topic "Why Calvinism is Not a Transcript of the Gospel." You can tune in here for live streaming video of the lecture on Monday, November 11, at 11:00 a.m.
  
  
• Kevin DeYoung asks, "Is John Piper really Reformed?"

The Theology That Chooses You

(From my "cartoon" blog White Noise.)

This Week in Calvinism - November 1, 2013

• Will Duquette is a Catholic, but he admits to admiring Reformed Protestants. He just "couldn't accept their theology. It was too small; it seemed to put Christ in a straitjacket."
  
  
• Peter Berger writes, "The attraction of Calvinism to many young Southern Baptists is puzzling, because it so obviously deviates from what Baptists have traditionally believed and practiced." Really?
  
  
• Pastor Ron Phillips criticizes John MacArthur for his cessationist position and the Strange Fire Conference. Phillips writes, "Cessationism (birthed by Calvinism) is killing both the spirit and the mission heart of Evangelicals." And that conclusion is based on...?
  
  
• That Paul Dohse would relish the public humiliation of someone like Doug Phillips is no surprise. What's even less surprising is what he believes to be the cause: "Calvin's false gospel," of course.