Answers that our churches have forgotten.It can be tempting for Christians to defer to the plain meaning of a verse in the Bible. That concept emerges in blogposts, small groups and internet discussions about various doctrines. The idea of a plain meaning is basically to say that if you read a text, you should be able to understand it immediately… read more »
This might seem like a confusing distinction. People sometimes think that Reformed Theology simply means Calvinism. But when Reformed Theology is referred to in this context, it specifically means adherence to one of the great confessions of faith. On the other hand, Calvinism is expressed by the doctrine that God is the sole cause of… read more »
Secularists are sometimes surprised when they learn about the long-standing intellectual tradition of the Christian church. There are thousands of books that have emerged containing our different philosophies, theological points of view, critical reviews, and rigorous intellectual content. Today, Christians owe much of the way that they think to these great philosophers and theologians. Arguments… read more »
There are times that I am ashamed to refer to myself as a Calvinist. Those who know me may remember that when I initially began to ascribe to the doctrines of grace, I did not even want to use the Calvinist label. I only started using it after I realized how inconvenient it was for… read more »
Unconditional election is the doctrine that God sovereignly chooses who will be saved and passes over others. Imagine that all of the tenants of a building gambled away their rent money. They all deserved to be evicted. If the landlord evicted everybody, nobody would condemn him. He was perfectly within his rights. However, suppose that… read more »
Does God want every individual to be saved? This is the main deterrent that will prevent people from becoming Calvinists. The idea that God is not actively trying to save every individual is difficult to bear and does not comport with contemporary wisdom regarding freedom of the will. Many people think that every individual is… read more »
During theological discourse and debate, it is important to try to avoid the dramatic element of the discussion. There is no reason that any of us need to point the finger at one another. When I check my phone, the last thing that I want to see is a host of red-eyed messages touting that… read more »
When we are explaining the gospel message, there are a few considerations that we want to outline. The one that is relevant to our discussion is the question of human depravity. We want individuals to understand the state of humanity. We want them to understand their own sin and their own depravity so that they… read more »
The question of the relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility on matters concerning salvation is a conundrum that has perplexed theologians and Bible scholars for centuries. On one extreme reside the hyper Calvinists who see God’s sovereignty as entailing no necessitude for evangelism. On the polar extreme reside the open theists who maintain that… read more »
I was recently afraid to open a blogpost. This is not because I feared that the intellectual assault in that post would be so robust that I would be astounded and forced to concede my points, arguments, and position. It was because, based on all of the reviews that were given of it, it was… read more »
People often say that they would like to meet God, because they would have a few choice words for him. They would quiz him. They would pose a few questions to him to see how he would explain himself to them. This strikes me as being something like saying, “If I fell on the face… read more »
A common feature among world religions is their recognition that man is in need of something. Man needs to be saved. Man cannot stand in the presence of God in his present state. There is something that needs to be done, either by man or for man. The Christian position is that there is nothing… read more »
When feuding with religious folks with whom you have a sharp divide, the discussion can become very intense. Some people will arbitrarily throw out the work “heretic” as a sort of emotional insult. It is almost like saying “You are an idiot.” That departs from the historical and appropriate way in which this word is… read more »
The very concept of divine sovereignty and predestination leaves many people staggering, for they do not believe that God predestines anything. They believe in free will, which is usually thought to be in opposition with God’s predestination. After all, if God predestines everything, how could he still hold us accountable? We are just doing what… read more »
Is God a moral monster? Is God evil in the Bible? This is a question that is often raised by atheists and other non-Christians who labor to bring forward a case against the biblical model of God. Since God is necessarily righteous, they cannot be believers, for the biblical presentation of God is one that… read more »
If I carefully examine the evidence and data of a certain proposition, I will reach a conclusion regarding the truth value of that proposition. On the basis of that my conclusion, I will take an action. If I had reached an alternative conclusion, I would have taken a different course of action. Humans routinely examine… read more »
What does Romans 9 teach about election? Well to preface this question a tad: common in evangelical churches today is the Arminian view of election. This view states God elects people based on their free choice to be saved. That is to say that God chooses to save people because he knew that they would… read more »
There is a slur against the doctrine of eternal security known as ‘once saved, always saved.’ Most people think of the view that if somebody says the Sinner’s Prayer once in their life, that they are saved and that they can go out living a sinful life without reprieve. That is not the doctrine of… read more »