This Week in Calvinism (January 31, 2014)

• Is Calvinism destined or predestined to hold its place in the public sphere?
  
  
• Not only does the book of Acts refute Calvinism, it apparently refutes all doctrines and religions. Believe me, it makes even less sense when you read it.
  
  
• John Piper shares why the doctrines of grace have been some of the most precious and practical truths of his ministry.

'Babies Are Murdered Here' (Full Video)

From Crown Rights Productions, the folks who brought you How to Answer the Fool, comes a documentary that needs to be seen by anyone who claims to be "pro-life":

This Week in Calvinism - January 24, 2014

• Paul Owen shares some of his misgivings and observations regarding the "Young, Restless, and Reformed" crowd.
  
  
• Are the Five Points of Calvinism supported throughout the Bible? Have your say at Debate.org.
  
  
• "Bible Believer" writes, "I believe Calvinism to be a daughter of Rome and that includes the deceiver Calvin himself."
  
  
• Paul Dohse took the time to write "The 95 Theses Against New Calvinism" (PDF).
  
  
• Another reason why Robin Phillips is no longer a Calvinist: the heresy of monergism.
  
  
• John Piper connects "Calvinist racism" with Martin Luther King's alleged adultery: "Don't use a leader's sin to determine the truth of his ideas. Not King's. Not the Calvinist's. Not the Arminian's. And so on."

The Perfect Barbie for Homeschoolers

Imagine the hours of entertainment your little ones will get out of the new Homeschool Barbie:

As homeschooling has grown in popularity, there's a Barbie™ to meet every need. The Protestant Christian version comes with a miniature Bible (the complete King James version!) and will recite Scripture verses when her hand is pressed. Catholic Homeschool Barbie™ wears a crucifix, chapel veil, and can lead your children in praying the Rosary (in your choice of Latin or English) when her hands are placed together. Secular Homeschool Barbie™ comes complete with a grain mill and Birkenstocks™, and shares her favorite home remedies & recipes with a pat on the back. All three dolls include a variety of Math curricula with manipulatives and chalkboards with tiny real chalk!

And what would a teacher be without students? Children for Homeschool Barbie™ are available in a variety packs of seven girls & boys ranging in age from four to ten, in your choice of matching or non-matching outfits. (Cloth-diapered infants & toddlers sold separately)

Contrary to popular belief, we homeschooling families do have a sense of humor. :)

(via Facebook)

A Lesson in Grace

Alicia Gray is a former math teacher who was sentenced to prison for having sex with a 14-year-old student. She has been in the news again since the posting of a video in which she confesses her sin, asks forgiveness, and shares how God has been working in her life:


Some of the comments I've seen suggest that many Christians have a problem with this, choosing to judge this woman, her pastor, and her church by their own standard of what constitutes true repentance. Justin Edwards deals with this in a recent post:

I clearly heard in the video that she had confessed her sin, she owned up to it, didn't make any excuses for it, [asked forgiveness] and expressed conversion in the best way she could as an infant Christian. It seems like her conversion took place months ago, so why should she or must she express a degree of remorse on a video produced months later, to a degree that you find acceptable? She stated she is changed, she has a new identity in Christ, she's not who she once was, and she recognizes she does not need to live up to man's standards. I heard her trusting in the blood of Christ alone, who washed away her sins, and she is no longer under condemnation.

Yet, I see people out with pitch forks and desiring to see her church condemn her as the naysayers condemn her until they would see an acceptable level of what they consider repentance. My encouragement to anyone attempting to judge the heart of this young lady, and the church that came alongside her to love her to genuine faith, examine their own hearts for passing judgment as the likes of Monday morning quarterbacking.

As Christians, we sometimes forget who we were before we "were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 6:11). Let us learn to love those in need of Christ's forgiveness and rejoice with them when they find it.

This Week in Calvinism - January 17, 2014

• Roger Olson "can't resist announcing the publication of a new book": Young. Restless. No Longer Reformed, by Austin Fischer.
  
  
• Robin Phillips stopped being a Calvinist because "Calvinism destroys God's justice."
  
  
• Some of Mark Shea's favorite people he has come to know since becoming Catholic are former Calvinists. Shea writes that his own experience with Calvinism "was of nothing but a bone-chilling encounter with satanic pride and evil that almost destroyed my hope in the goodness of God."
  
  
• One reason Bob Hadley rejects Calvinism is because "total depravity and inability are not Biblically sustainable concepts and in fact are difficult to sustain especially in the Old Testament and in the event of Adam's original sin itself."
  
  
• The latest ebook from John Piper: An All-Consuming Passion for Jesus. You can download it here.
  
  
• Reformed libertarian C. Jay Engel gives a rough overview of his position on Reformed Two Kingdom theology.

Reason #4,273 Why We Homeschool

This is one of the many reasons why my wife and I decided not to send our children to a government school:


The only surprising thing is that the father in the video was so shocked this was going on. As a father of three, I'm glad I didn't have to learn my lesson the hard way.

Know Your Bible Translations

(from Adam4D.com)

This Week in Calvinism - January 10, 2014

• Calvinism is in the mainstream news again, most recently in The New York Times. And no, it really isn't news.
  
  
• Patrick Chan responds to Roger Olson's quotes in the NYT article.
  
  
• Dr. Olson was "not entirely pleased" with how he was used for the article, and he doesn't think the article "represents to readers the harsh and rough edges of this new Calvinism sweeping through Baptist and evangelical circles."
  
  
• Mark Tooley notes that John Wesley "never wrote a systematic theology, as of course Calvin did with his Institutes. If Wesley had, maybe his followers would be more intellectually influential today. And The New York Times would publish a feature on the 'New Wesleyans.'"
  
  
• Alastair Roberts lists nine reasons why he's thankful to be a Calvinist.
  
  
• On the flip-side, Robin Phillips begins a series of posts explaining why he's no longer a Calvinist. He will explore five reasons:

  • Calvinism presents a dehistoricized Bible
    
  • Calvinism destroys God's justice
    
  • Calvinism dislocates God from our experience of Him
    
  • Calvinism teaches the heresy of monergism
    
  • Calvinism presents a deformed Christology

• William Lane Craig and Paul Helm debate Molinism vs. Calvinism on the "Unbelievable?" radio program. Uh, make that programme.

Wilson: 'Liberalism Is Inherently and Tyrannically Coercive'

Douglas Wilson believes "liberalism is inherently and tyrannically coercive, and that liberals, by advocating the programs of liberalism, are thereby advocating coercion." He writes:

If you don't do what they say, at some point in the proceedings, men with guns are going to show up at your house. I do not have a problem with this if those men with guns are going after a pedophile, or rapist, or a murderer. Go ahead. Coerce away. If you need them, I will provide you with the verses that show that God approves of this kind of coercion. But if they are showing up at a man's house because he got tired of having bureaucrats pee a bunch of his money into the Potomac, then something has gone wrong somewhere. The liberal idea of democracy is three coyotes and a sheep voting on what to have for lunch.

I believe the same can also be said of conservatives who look to the state to legitimize their views.

They'll Know We Are Christians by Our Love

But they'll still hate us, as this headline from The Onion suggests:

Local Church Full of Brainwashed Idiots Feeds Town's Poor Every Week

This Week in Calvinism - January 3, 2014

• Roger Olson on how Christ's crucifixion fits into God's will:

  So, the men who crucified Jesus, for example, were only "destined" to sin insofar as they planned and carried it out freely and God permitted them to do what they wanted to do. But this was part of God's consequent will, not God's antecedent will. And God did not render their sin certain. He knew what they would do, but he did not effectually manipulate them to do it nor was their sin part of God's "design" except consequentially.

  I find it strange that Arminians always focus on whether or not God actively causes men to sin. Why don't they ever seem to be just as concerned about whether or not God actively restrains men from sinning? Wouldn't that also be a violation of free will?
  
  
• Randal Rauser interviews Roger Olson on Calvinism and Arminianism. SPOILER ALERT: Obligatory "God is a monster" quotes regarding Calvinism.
  
  
• The Seeking Disciple challenges Arminians to read more books by Calvinists in 2014, and likewise challenges Calvinists to read more books by Arminians.
  
  
• Mark Driscoll, Ergun Caner, and the scandal of Evangelical integrity.
  
  
• Jared Moore describes his journey from an anti-Calvinism to the doctrines of grace.
  
  
• James N. Anderson has uploaded a revised version of his paper "Calvinism and the First Sin."
  
  
• Desiring God has released a new ebook entitled Captive to Glory: Celebrating the Vision and Influence of Jonathan Edwards. Download it for free here.