This Week in Calvinism - November 20, 2015

• Why am I always suspicious of those who claim to have "a more balanced view" than Calvinism or Arminianism?
  
  
• "Rev." Celia Hastings believes many people find Calvin's theology "abstract and confusing." She writes:

  Perhaps the Bible's message of sin and salvation is easier to understand in shepherding terms. From this view the prophet Isaiah describes original sin: "All of us, like sheep, have gone astray; each of us goes our own way." A sheep goes its own way to its own peril. When a sheep falls on its back it is helpless to get up on its own. Left alone it will die within hours. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, searches for the fallen ones and restores them – and even gives his life for the sheep. Jesus' self-giving love shows the way to the great unity and peace of original Shalom.

  So, Jesus died on the cross simply to show the way to peace? How about first looking at what Jesus had to say about who his sheep are? John 10:25-29 comes to mind.
  
  
• Steve Sewell goes after Calvinism's "unsound interpretation" of John 6.
  
  
• Let me get this straight. If we don't want to be labeled as liberals, then we must accept that true Calvinism is kinism. I am always saddened when racism rears its ugly head within Calvinist circles. It would be wise to steer clear of any group that says, "We affirm that all men, of every race, ethnicity, and tribe, are created in the image of God. However..."
  
  
• Tim Challies recommends a great way to get to know the book of Romans.