This Week in Calvinism - December 29, 2017

• Hope you had a merry (Calvinist) Christmas!
  
  
• Oh, you didn't receive a Christmas gift? That's probably because Santa Claus recently became a Calvinist, and everyone is now on the naughty list.
  
  
• What better way to close out the year than with yet another anti-Calvinism sermon? *SPOILER ALERT!* Straw men abound. Case in point: For the un-elect, "[God] will make sure you go to Hell, whether you want to go or not."
  
  
• Ligonier presents four Christian principles for making resolutions for the new year.
  
  
• Start the new year off right, with some free stuff from Challies.com.
  
  
• Some challenges for "libertarian Calvinism."
  
  
• Closing 2017 with hope.

This Week in Calvinism - December 22, 2017

• As you all know, Dr. R. C. Sproul was called home last week. You can view his memorial service here.
  
  
• David Robertson on R. C.'s legacy.
  
  
• Even the Washington Post took notice of Dr. Sproul's passing.
  
  
• So did the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  
  
• Advice from C. H. Spurgeon on how to share your story this Christmas.
  
  
• Matthew Boffey reviews Les Lanphere's film Calvinist.
  
  
• It's a Logos-sponsored Free Stuff Friday at Challies.com.

This Week in Calvinism - December 8, 2017

• Dave Armstrong discusses the problems he sees in "John Calvin's erroneous mystical view of the Eucharist."
  
  
• "It is impossible to understate the impact of Calvin on Christianity," writes Jarrod Belcher. "The theology of the Presbyterians, the Puritans, and the early Baptists was thoroughly Calvinistic."
  
  
• John Piper on Bethlehem's supernatural star.
  
  
• Take a look at the theology behind the hymn "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel."
  
  
• To live is Christ.
  
  
• It's another $5 Friday at Ligonier.org.
  
  
• A new series of booklets from author Tim Challies.

This Week in Calvinism - November 17, 2017

• The visual storytelling in Les Lanphere's documentary Calvinist "does for Reformed theology what The Bible Project is doing for biblical books and themes: making it more graspable and beautiful for an increasingly image-based world."
  
  
• Martin E. Marty talks about Calvin.
  
  
• Beware the hyper-Calvinist atheists!
  
  
• Paul Flynn responds to Andy Woods and Brannon Howse on Calvinism.
  
  
• "We must base our teaching squarely on biblical theology," writes Dave Armstrong, "and not the arbitrary, self-contradictory traditions of men (folks like Calvin), who eisegete Holy Scripture and substitute for biblical thought, their own traditions."
  
  
• Enter to win some free stuff from Missional Wear.

What was the Reformation all about?

This brief video from Ligonier explains...

This Week in Calvinism - October 27, 2017

• Historian Dr. Michael W. Bruening has discovered early Reformation writings "hiding in plain sight."
  
  
• You know you've rocked a boat or two when people are writing books about what you did 500 years ago.
  
  
• Tim Challies discusses evidences of God's grace in the New Calvinism.
  
  
• Desiring God introduces us to some heroes of the faith in Reformation-era Europe. Among those featured are Robert Estienne (publisher)...
  
  
• ...Theodore Beza (the first Calvinist)...
  
  
• ...and Lady Jane Grey (teenage martyr).
  
  
• Even the Reformation heroes were far from perfect.
  
  
• Today's edition of Free Stuff Fridays at Challies.com is brought to you by The Good Book Company.
  
  
• It's a Reformation-themed $5 Friday at Ligonier.
  
  
• Check out the Illuminated Bible (ESV) from the Westminster Bookstore.

This Week in Calvinism - October 20, 2017

• Among Catholicism's new saints: 30 people killed by Calvinists in Brazil in 1645.
  
  
• "Calvinism is like rat poison. There's some good food in there, but it's got poison in it, so it's not something you would want to ingest."
  
  
• Where did the Reformation really begin?
  
  
• Round out your week with free stuff from Tim Challies...
  
  
• ...$5 deals from Ligonier...
  
  
• ...and Reformation downloads from Christian Audio.

This Week in Calvinism - September 29, 2017

• Joe and Jimmy of Doctrine and Devotion finish up their series on the five kinds of Calvinists.
  
  
• Are good works sins?
  
  
• If you're looking for another podcast, join Desiring God on a "31-day journey of short biographies of the many heroes of the Reformation."
  
  
• Enter to win a copy of the ESV Systematic Theology Study Bible.
  
  
• The Babylon Bee reports that a new Baskin-Robbins is "targeting the lucrative Calvinist market" by offering customers just one preselected flavor to choose from. Care to guess which one?

This Week in Calvinism - September 22, 2017

• Rockytopva dislikes Calvinism because "it gives people a false sense of eternal security."
  
  
• Which of the five points of Calvinism are most difficult for you?
  
  
• Orthodox priest John Strickland discusses the spirit of Calvinism.
  
  
• Tim Challies reviews Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids, by David Murray.
  
  
• Roger Olson talks about the legacy of the Reformation (Luther, Calvin, et al) in contemporary evangelicalism.
  
  
• John Piper discusses the origin of Desiring God's slogan: "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him."

This Week in Calvinism - September 8, 2017

• How would Calvinists explain these verses in Jonah? Well, we would probably explain them in the context of story about a God who is sovereign over the weather, sea life, and the hardened hearts of men.
  
  
• Click here to find out why Arminian Roger Olson says, "I stand with true Calvinists."
  
  
• Trusting God when the pain seems pointless.
  
  
• Tim Challies discusses the purpose of marriage...
  
  
• ...and, of course, offers some free stuff.
  
  
• James White addresses the racialism that seems to be dividing the church...
  
  
• ... and responds to a Catholic video criticizing Calvinism.

Is the gospel no longer enough for black Christians?

Darrell B. Harrison asks the question, "Is the gospel no longer enough for black Christians?":

I believe this question to be germane to the current milieu in America, as many black Christians have begun to advocate a purely activist theology borne of a soteriology that proffers the idea that the preeminent, if not sole, mandate of the gospel is the pursuit of “social justice”, the manifestation of which is evidenced primarily by the bringing about of such realities as socio-ethno egalitarianism and the eradication of all human suffering and oppression, particularly of those whose melanin happens to be of a black or brown hue.

You can (and should) read the rest here, and ask yourself: Is the gospel no longer enough for me?

This Week in Calvinism - August 25, 2017

• Do you read the Bible like an unbeliever?
  
  
• "Jehovah's grace is sufficient," writes Stephen Pyle, "but mankind remains with a God given free will to choose eternal life or death. We retain our salvation through faith, and free will, as we did to receive it." So, what exactly is the meaning of "sufficient" if we are able to use our free will to thwart God's grace?
  
  
• The Sheologians finally talk about Calvinism.
  
  
• Is Calvinism synonymous with fatalism?
  
  
• According to an article in the Sidney Herald, our nation's cultural decline coincides with our abandonment of Calvinism: "That journey to error began by watering down the Gospel and embracing a person-centered rather than God-centered religion."
  
  
• The 50%-off sale at Christian Audio ends today!

This Week in Calvinism - August 18, 2017

• Dr. Michael A. Cox continues his series critiquing Calvinism.
  
  
• Take a gander at Theologies of the American Revivalists: From Whitefield to Finney.
  
  
• Enter to win tickets to the G3 Conference taking place January 18-20 in Atlanta.
  
  
• Kick back to a little Huguenot music.
  
  
• From the University of Helsinki:

  Religious and cultural Lutheran values have shaped Nordic societies for centuries. But instead of encouraging capitalism as in Calvinist Europe, Lutheranism promoted a social-democratic welfare state in the Nordic world.

  So, Calvinism gave us capitalism and Lutheranism gave us democratic socialism? Add that to the list of reasons why I'm thankful to be a Calvinist.
  
  
• BREAKING: Angry Arminian mob pulls down statue of John Calvin.

This Week in Calvinism - August 11, 2017

• "Baptist life in America was deeply shaped by the Reformed tradition," writes Curtis Freeman, "but what has been coming back is not the recovery of the theology of Luther and Calvin. It is something very different—something more radical and extreme."
  
  
• According to Salon, it is the Republicans' "belief in the 'prosperity gospel' and a crude form of Calvinism" that makes them despise poor people.
  
  
• Sheila Kennedy essentially echoes that same sentiment.
  
  
• A member of the Recovery from Mormonism discussion forum asks, "Why are Calvinists trying to attract Mormons?" She is concerned because "it is the most horrific Christian theology ever."
  
  
• Did Reformer theologians make heavy use of pagan sources in their writings?
  
  
• God will bring you through.
  
  
• Leighton Flowers critiques Les Lanphere's film Calvinist.

This Week in Calvinism - July 21, 2017

• Neil Phelan Jr. discusses why Primitive Baptists are not Calvinists, calling Calvinism a "Pharisaical doctrine." Oh, and he also brings up the "God is the author of sin" argument.
  
  
• One thing Roger Olson likes about the new Eerdmans publication, Christian Dogmatics: An Introduction, is that "[t]here is no hint here of the aggressive 'five point Calvinism' of many American Calvinists."
  
  
• National Review's David French describes HBO's Game of Thrones as "Calvinism without Christ--natural human depravity unleashed." My advice: don't waste your time watching it.
  
  
• Take the "No-Straw-Man Calvinism Challenge."
  
  
• "[O]ne of the concepts I have the most venom for," writes atheist Daniel Fincke, "is original sin as interpreted in the Calvinist way, as total depravity. This is a major crux of my moral hostility towards Christianity."
  
  
• The prayers you need most are not your own.

This Week in Calvinism - July 14, 2017

• Gene Veith discusses the World Communion of Reformed Churches signing on to the Joint Declaration on Justification, "an accord between the Roman Catholic Church and liberal Lutherans."
  
  
• Tom Nettles tackles the issue of deceitful Calvinists and an evil God.
  
  
• John Calvin was born this week (July 10) in 1509. Still makes waves five centuries later.
  
  
• "The Southern Baptist Convention," writes Jeffrey Straub, "may be poised for a new round of conflict over the doctrine of Calvinism."
  
  
• As an example of what Jordan Breeding calls "American Calvinism at its best," Democratic New York City Councilman Fernando Cabrera explains how it's harder to be rich than poor. Why does the issue of rich vs. poor always seem to be linked to Calvinism?
  
  
• James White responds once again to the continuing lies being spread about him and his ministry.
  
  
• Enter to win a 12-month subscription to Tabletalk magazine, including a copy of the special issue The Heart of the Gospel.

This Week in Calvinism - July 7, 2017

• Arminians, beware! It looks like the new Christian Standard Bible has a "Calvinistic tilt" in the study notes. Of course, so does the actual Bible.
  
  
• Help! My grandchildren are becoming Calvinists!
  
  
• John Hendryx critiques an Arminian attempt to discredit Calvinism.
  
  
• There may be a few bad eggs, but not all Calvinists are theological snobs.
  
  
• Echoes of Calvin on the big screen.

This Week in Calvinism - June 30, 2017

• D. G. Hart writes:

  I for one don't have any idea how to extract [world view] from white Calvinist intellectuals without bringing along some inherent racial bias. Can human psychology possibly work that way? Or is it the case that when the Holy Spirit regenerates a person and gives a Christian [world view], racism goes away?

  
  
• More calls for unity in the SBC regarding issues like Calvinism, politics, and race.
  
  
• Apparently, Jim Bob Duggar is feuding with son-in-law Ben Seewald for the latter's decision to embrace Calvinism.
  
  
• Couch-sitting Calvinism?
  
  
• What if you had one week to live?
  
  
• Tim Challies reviews How Does Sanctification Work?, by David Powlison.
  
  
• Local mom claims vaccines caused her son's Calvinism.

James White exposes and refutes Brannon Howse's falsehoods

This Week in Calvinism - June 16, 2017

• Christopher Fisher of the God Is Open podcast discusses an anonymous paper on what he calls the "cult of Calvinism." Considering Fisher is an open theist, you can pretty much guess how it goes.
  
  
• The God Is Open blog links to the paper in question.
  
  
• I've had my share of run-ins with William Birch over the years. He was an Arminian on a crusade against all things Calvinist. Sadly, it seems he has fully abandoned biblical Christianity:

  If I am to continue to be frank, I confess that I never imagined in a million years that I would become LGBTQ-affirming, and actually begin a life-long committed relationship with a man. If anyone had told me five years ago that, by June 2017 I will be pro-LGBTQ and pro-same-gendered relationships, I would have thought the individual to be clinically insane. But life is a journey. I am also far from being alone on my journey.

  Look for this to be his next crusade.
  
  
• Tony Reinke reviews Craig Bartholomew's book Contours of the Kuyperian Tradition.
  
  
• What can we say to friends who are suffering?
  
  
• There's a new breakfast cereal just for Calvinists!
  
  
• Want some free stuff from ChristianAudio.com?

This Week in Calvinism - June 9, 2017

• McCamy Taylor posts on Democratic Underground:

  [T]he roots of the flaw in United States culture that makes Trump's criminal enterprise possible can be found in a particular brand of Calvinism that goes something like "We are born either damned or blessed, and we can know which we are by weighing God's favor shown upon us in this life." Or, more simply "The rich are better than the rest of us."

  How do you like that straw man? The post gets much worse, and the comments are just as bad.
  
  
• SpurgeonFan writes:

  Calvanism should not be contentious. As one who holds to the "Doctrines of Grace", I know there can be many theological differences with our brothers of a more Arminian persuasion. However, that should never be the cause of anger, bitterness, or strife...especially if we claim to believe salvation (and the theological sanctification) of every believer is entirely in the sovereign hand of a faithful God working by His Spirit.

  I couldn't agree more.
  
  
• Chuck McKnight finishes his series on comparing the acronym WHEAT to Calvinism's TULIP, Molinism's ROSES, and Arminianism's DAISY.
  
  
• It's an "Explore the Bible" edition of Free Stuff Fridays at Challies.com.
  
  
• Lay aside the weight of perfection.

This Week in Calvinism - June 2, 2017

• Chuck McKnight takes issue with "the coercive God of Calvinism and Molinism" in part seven of his series on the acronym WHEAT.
  
  
• John 6:40 as a proof text against Calvinism?
  
  
• The Parables of Jesus is just one of the items available as part of Ligonier's $5 Friday sale.
  
  
• Never blame God for your suffering.
  
  
• Paul Dohse shows up at the TGC conference with his video camera and identifies the "thug who got in my face" as TGC's Director of Program Development. Classy as always, Paul.
  
  
• "Not only is Calvinism anti-grace, it is also anti-Gospel," you know, 'cuz "whosoever."

This Week in Calvinism - May 26, 2017

• Is Calvinism synonymous with fatalism?
  
  
• How God opens the eyes of the heart.
  
  
• John Samson reposts "21 Misunderstandings of Reformed Thinking" by Sam Storms.
  
  
• Chuck McKnight continues his series on the acronym WHEAT.
  
  
• Ben Hawkins discusses Calvin and Calvinism.
  
  
• It's a marriage- and family-themed Free Stuff Friday.

This Week in Calvinism - May 19, 2017

• Mark Peterson takes issue with what he calls "careless Calvinism" in health care.
  
  
• Chuck McKnight continues discussing the acronym WHEAT, which "parallels the TULIP of Calvinism, the DAISY of Arminianism, and the ROSES of Molinism."
  
  
• Limited (or definite) atonement is beautiful.
  
  
• According to D. G. Hart, "At some point, even evangelicals will leave evangelicalism. [David] Gushee is only the most recent indication of evangelicalism's hollow identity."
  
  
• D. A. Carson on why God demands worship.
  
  
• Enter to win the The Gospel for Life book series.

Calvinism vs. Arminianism, according to The Babylon Bee

The Babylon Bee offers a brief explanation of the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism:

Calvinism: Theological framework that centers around God's sovereign choice in salvation. The points of Calvinism include total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, perseverance of the saints, and being a condescending jerk.

Arminianism: Theology that focuses on man's free will to choose or reject God. The five points are kinda-sorta depravity, election but not really, errybody gets some atonement, grace that looks pretty cool but you can say no if you want to, and better hang onto that salvation pretty tightly.

You can always count on the Bee.

This Week in Calvinism - April 28, 2017

• Bryan Boatman supposedly destroys the Calvinist doctrine of perseverance of the saints.
  
  
• More cognitive dissonance from Princeton regarding its decision not to award Tim Keller with the Kuyper Prize. My question: if you're going to refuse someone an award because he espouses beliefs similar to that of the person after which said award is named, why even offer it in the first place?
  
  
• J. D. Hall reviews the book The New Calvinists: Changing the Gospel.
  
  
• Gary DeMar sees theonomy as "an extension of Calvinism's judicial theology."
  
  
• How to be a miserable comforter.
  
  
• It's a Banner of Truth-sponsored Free Stuff Friday at Challies.com.

This Week in Calvinism - April 21, 2017

• "Will you see [God] as autocratic, as someone who chooses to do whatever he chooses to do and accomplishes whatever he has chosen to accomplish in respect to salvation?" asks Block Island Christian Fellowship. "Or will you see him as one who is not willing that any should perish, but allows each person to decide in their own free will to repent and believe in his Son for salvation?"
  
  
• Tim Challies sets someone straight on Calvinism.
  
  
• Someone who isn't a Calvinist, but wants to be.
  
  
• Does God tell us who to marry?
  
  
• It's not the doctrine of justification by faith alone that saves—it's Christ who saves.

This Week in Calvinism - April 14, 2017

• Why we call the worst Friday "Good."
  
  
• "Both Arminianism and Calvinism are religious beliefs," writes Ted Jones, "which falsely assert that Jesus' murder by crucifixion has resolved all the outstanding issues mankind has with sin." In other words, Jesus lied? It isn't finished?
  
  
• We Calvinists believe Christ died for the elect. Benjamin Corey, however, tells us what the Bible actually says. Yes, it's the same "all means all" argument we've heard a thousand times over.
  
  
• Greg Forster on Calvinism and joy.
  
  
• According to the Last Days Watchman blog, Hank Hanegraaf left Calvinism behind when he joined the Eastern Orthodox Church. Now, I haven't listened to the Bible Answer Man in a very long time, but most Calvinists I know would have considered Hanegraaff an Arminian.
  
  
• G. Shane Morris discusses holidays and Calvinist curmudgeons.

This Week in Calvinism - April 7, 2017

• Roger Olson pleads, "Would someone please rein in some of the 'young Calvinists'?"
  
  
• The Calvinist doctrine of limited atonement destroyed! Yes, this may be "the most distasteful doctrine" even for us, but since we "are forced to defend an arbitrary and unknowable god," it isn't surprising that we defend this, too.
  
  
• Life is fragile, but God is faithful.
  
  
• Sometimes, we Calvinists miss the key to happiness.
  
  
• Fr. Dwight Longenecker thinks total depravity is heresy. "The truly Catholic view," he writes, "is that we are created in God's image and therefore we are good."
  
  
• D. G. Hart responds.
  
  
• "Cage stage"? "Concerned"? "Cool"? "Conceited"? Which kind of Calvinist are you?
  
  
• "The Calvinist doesn't seem to be able to comprehend," writes Dave Armstrong, "that God and a person can do the same thing, and both take credit (God, of course, far more)."
  
  
• Tim Keller failed Princeton Seminary's political litmus test for receiving the Kuyper Prize, but he was still allowed to give his lecture at the beginning of the Kuyper Center's annual conference.
  
  
• John Samson tackles five big myths about Calvinism.

This Week in Calvinism - March 31, 2017

• Pope Francis has canonized Brazilian Catholics who were martyred by Calvinists in 1645. Maybe this is the kind of thing Arminians are referring to when they say Calvinism ruins missions.
  
  
• Hmmm. According to a psychological study, Calvinists seem to be more traditional in their views than Arminians when it comes to issues of gender. Go figure.
  
  
• Another study concludes that there is a correlation between believing in penal substitution and complementarianism and being less concerned about suffering in the world. Those cold-hearted Calvinists!
  
  
• The Calvinist doctrine of unconditional election destroyed! After all, "all" means all, right?
  
  
• Steve Hays addresses points made by Greg Boyd regarding Calvinism.
  
  
• Suffering opens a door for the gospel.
  
  
• The irony of Princeton's Kuyper Prize controversy.

This Week in Calvinism - March 24, 2017

• Dave Armstrong accuses James White of "glaring double standards" when it comes to criticizing the Catholic church.
  
  
• The Practical implications of Calvinism.
  
  
• How many of the five points of Calvinism do you affirm?
  
  
• Wonder and rationality in Calvinism.
  
  
• Eight ways God works suffering for our good.
  
  
• Multiconfessional communion? Maybe, if we're talking Baptists and Presbyterians. Not Protestants and Catholics.
  
  
• Ask Tim Challies anything.

This Week in Calvinism - March 17, 2017

• Fred Clark imagines "how noir Calvinist theology can be," and introduces us to Augustine Frost, Calvinist detective.
  
  
• Apparently, those Calvinist Puritans who settled New England are influencing modern Republicans in their quest to kill 24 million people by taking away their health insurance. Or something like that.
  
  
• Roger Olson blasts Tim Challies (referring to him simply as "the Calvinist blogger") for criticizing a movie he hasn't seen. "Of course, I don't expect Calvinists to like the theology of [The Shack]," Olson writes, "but I do expect them to at least view it before talking about it." Never mind that Challies read the book and wrote an in-depth, 13-page review of it.
  
  
• An open letter to Martin Luther on the Gospel of James.
  
  
• The videos from Ligonier's 2017 conference are now available.

This Week in Calvinism - March 10, 2017

• Joshua Crutchfield won't let divisions within the SBC get in the way of unity and cooperation.
  
  
• We get grace, God gets glory.
  
  
• Dave Armstrong attempts to refute the doctrine of total depravity as taught by Calvinists like James White.
  
  
• Stephen Altrogge explains why he is a Calvinist.
  
  
• Confessions of a former "New Calvinist."
  
  
• Check out Ligonier's Facebook page for live videos and clips from their 2017 National Conference this weekend in Orlando.

This Week in Calvinism - March 3, 2017

• What leads "Christians" away from Christ?
  
  
• Six historical positions on divine sovereignty and human freedom.
  
  
• One "Christian" musician's tweet against the penal substitution of Christ sparks debate. Apparently, describing the cross as a blood sacrifice is merely a "beautiful metaphor."
  
  
• John Piper answers the question: is God ever surprised?
  
  
• The purgatory of Jerry walls and its anti-Calvinism origins.
  
  
• Get your copy of A Little Book on the Christian Life.
  
  
• Register early for the upcoming Ligonier Conference, "Discovering the God of the Bible," and save $20.

This Week in Calvinism - February 24, 2017

• From Christianity Today: Eight moments you'll only understand if you're a Calvinist. #1 is courtesy of yours truly :).
  
  
• Should churches use a confession of faith?
  
  
• Can you believe it? A Calvinist was able to go 19 hours without starting a debate.
  
  
• It looks like a group of Southern Baptists invited a pseudo-universalist to speak at their anti-Calvinism conference. J. D. Hall discusses the issue (starting about 54 minutes into the program).
  
  
• If Calvinism is true, does that mean gays are right?
  
  
• Yes, God knows the exact day you will die, and that day was determined in eternity past.
  
  
• What is the deepest root of your joy?

This Week in Calvinism - February 17, 2017

• The fight over the future of public education in America is "predestined to be a really messy fight."
  
  
• Roger Salter on Anglican anemia.
  
  
• J. D. Hall wants to talk to some of you Calvinists.
  
  
• John Piper on how God makes known the riches of his glory to the vessels of mercy.
  
  
• To Colby Cosh, the statues of Farel, Calvin, Beza, and Knox at Geneva's Reformation Wall look "at least a little like caricatures of Muslim fanatics." He believes Christianity was "tamed" when we made the Bible literature. He would like to see the same kind of "enlightenment" occur in Islam.
  
  
• Enter to win a copy of John MacArthur's Biblical Doctrine.

This Week in Calvinism - February 10, 2017

• Emily McFarlan Miller lists five facts about Betsy DeVos that apparently disqualify her for heading up the Dept. of Education. I'm not sure how anyone can be unqualified for a position that shouldn't even exist, but what do I know?
  
  
• "I don't think Calvinism is divisive," says Pastor Willy Rice. "I think some Calvinists can be divisive. I don't think non-Calvinism divides. I think some non-Calvinists divide. It's arrogance that divides us. It's strife that divides us—mostly arrogance. It's trying to be first and not think highly of my brother in Christ—that's what ends up dividing us—whether it comes in a Calvinist uniform or a non-Calvinist uniform."
  
  
• The fine points of Calvinism.
  
  
• If Ronnie Rogers wants to talk mysteries, perhaps he could explain the mystery of how it's possible for an omnipotent God to fail in his quest to save every human being he desires to save.
  
  
• It's Free Stuff Friday once again at Challies.com. Today's prize is a Zondervan Study Bible.
  
  
• No words, no gospel.

This Week in Calvinism - February 3, 2017

• Clifton Stringer warns of the "spiritual dangers" of Calvinism and Arminianism. He wants people to move beyond the two theological constructs and embrace universalism.
  
  
• Stephen Corry discusses what he sees as the religious, Calvinistic, and racist origins of the modern environmental movement.
  
  
• Betsy DeVos, President Trump's pick for Secretary of Education, is dominating the headlines. And, as Julia Duin notes, "Journalists can't seem to get a handle on details of her faith."
  
  
• "By blaming the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) for DeVos's political positions," writes Abram Van Engen, "we mistake its actual teachings, misplace the religious roots of her worldview, and misconstrue the way religion actually shapes behavior and belief."
  
  
• Do I have any righteousness of my own? John Piper deals with this question.

This Week in Calvinism - January 27, 2017

• "While Calvin and Calvinists may have been an undeniable influence in the Christian Church beginning in the Reformation era," writes Peter Lumpkins, "it remains beyond difficult to imagine, in the face of so much evidence to the contrary, that Calvin and Calvinism positively contributed to establishing religious freedom in the fabric of American culture and embedding it into the law of the land."
  
  
• Does Calvinism need saving? Sam Storms reviews Oliver Crisp's book Saving Calvinism: Expanding the Reformed Tradition.
  
  
• Richard Mouw is Scot McKnight's favorite Kuyperian.
  
  
• Jonathan Kleis explains why he thinks universal atonement doesn't mean universal salvation.
  
  
• Catholic Dave Armstrong attempts to refute double predestination.
  
  
• R. C. Sproul asks, "Is your conscience captive to God?"

This Week in Calvinism - January 20, 2017

• Careful, Calvinists. By believing in limited atonement, you're flirting with Nestorianism. Yeah, it doesn't makes sense to me, either.
  
  
• The PCUSA may have ditched Calvinism, but many of its members still claim to believe in Jesus.
  
  
• While Taylor S. Brown may disagree with Tim Keller on Calvinism, he considers Keller to be "among the best representatives of grounded-yet-charitable Protestant Christianity."
  
  
• Tension caused by Calvinism is nothing new.
  
  
• Tim Challies offers five ways to love others in your reading.
  
  
• Once again, it's $5 Friday at Ligonier.
  
  
• Zack Stanton of Politico sees Betsy DeVos and her Calvinist Christian family as a threat. Yes, scary Christians are going to take over the country.
  
  
• John Piper's prayer for Donald Trump.

This Week in Calvinism - January 13, 2017

• I don't know anything about Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump's pick for Secretary of Education, but she's apparently a Calvinist who's coming for our public schools. Thanks for the warning, Newsweek. I guess it's a good thing we homeschool.
  
  
• Shane Idleman pleads for grace on both sides of the debate over whether or not Christians can lose their salvation.
  
  
• According to pagan Druid John Beckett, one way to help yourself "experience the gods" is to burn John Calvin in effigy. Hey, it's Patheos. It doesn't have to make sense.
  
  
• Apparently, the "turmoil" created by Russell Moore's attacks on Trump supporters is so significant that it has caught the attention of the Wall Street Journal and NPR.
  
  
• Why do we give up on reading the Bible?

This Week in Calvinism - January 6, 2017

• You can always count on progressive blogs to make ignorant and ridiculous statements like this: "In itself, the Calvinist doctrine has quite a lovely inspiration and is quite nuanced, but in practice it comes down to a fundamental argument that the wealthy are the most favored of God." In other words, Calvinism is just another prosperity gospel.
  
  
• Apparently, Calvinists can never be sure of their salvation.
  
  
• Dr. Roger Olson discusses predestination in a video interview.
  
  
• Here's a look at all the upcoming opportunities to study with Ligonier in 2017.
  
  
• Why will you wake up a Christian? A message from John Piper.