Addressing the Calvinist Claim That Being Dead in Sin Necessarily Implies That Regeneration Precedes Faith

We have a lot of material addressing and refuting this oft repeated Calvinist claim on the site, so I thought it would be good to archive them into a single post for easy reference:An Arminian Response to John Hendryx on the Meaning and Implications of Spiritual Death Part 1: What Does it Mean to be …

An Arminian Response to John Hendryx on the Meaning and Implications of Spiritual Death Part 3: John Hendryx Concedes That it is a Plain “Fact” that Faith Precedes Regeneration

[You can find part one of this series here, and part two here] John Hendryx continues his response to the "synergist" visitor: Finally, your attempt to overturn the doctrine of total depravity relies entirely too much on the one biblical concept of "dead in sin" for the unbeliever. From my standpoint, if those texts which …

An Arminian Response to John Hendryx on the Meaning and Implications of Spiritual Death Part 2: Dead Reckoning

Continuing from Part 1... Hendryx begins his response to the visitor:  (John) Dear Brother ...You say, "monergists take the 'dead in sin' phrase too far" but, I would turn that around to say that you have relied entirely too much on what you believe to be the force of this ONE argument.... Here's why: ... …

An Arminian Response to John Hendryx on the Meaning and Implications of Spiritual Death Part 1: What Does it Mean to be “Dead in Sin?”

Calvinist John Hendryx takes a “synergist” to task in an article entitled Can We Make an Exact Analogy Between Unbelievers' who are "Dead in Sin" and Believers who are "Dead to Sin"?(Excerpts From Debate in Which Synergist Attempts to Overthrow Doctrine of Total Depravity).  We will use this exchange as a basis for interacting with …

A.W. Tozer on “Dead in Sin” Meaning Regeneration Must Precede Faith

Because the Bible teaches about sinners being dead, some therefore claim that a person is dead. He is unable to think, to help himself, to reason or to want to do right. He cannot make up his mind to do right or repent. He is unable to do anything until he has been regenerated by …

Reproof: Recent Book Looking to Re-Package Calvinism With a Fresh New Acronym (PROOF) is Reviewed by a Former Calvinist

Former Calvinist, Doug Sayers, gives a concise and irenic review of the recently released Calvinist book, PROOF. Excerpt: It is a fair criticism to say that PROOF is a one-sided cherry picking of the biblical texts that would seem to support their teaching with very little time devoted to the texts that present Calvinism with …

Nice Short Post on Some of the Problems with Calvinism and Calvinist Use of Language

Led Zeppelin, Calvinism and Words With Multiple Meanings HT: Dale Wayman

The F.A.C.T.S. of Salvation vs. The T.U.L.I.P. of Calvinism

While Calvinists like to play with flowers (or MUPPETS?), Arminians prefer to deal with the FACTS.  For an excellent and detailed summary of what Arminians believe and why, be sure to check out The FACTS of Salvation: A summary of Arminian Theology/the Biblical Doctrines of Grace!! I just wanted to share some brief notes about …

Biblical Scholar Brian Abasciano Refutes the Popular Calvinist Argument That the Language of 1 John 5:1 Means That Regeneration Precedes Faith

This scholarly treatment of the passage and the language of 1 John 5:1 is long overdue. In light of this article, I don't see how Calvinists can continue to reference this erroneous argument. You can down load the article from SEA: Brian J. Abasciano, "Does Regeneration Precede Faith?  The Use of 1 John 5:1 as …

Jesus Says The Dead Will Hear Unto Spiritual Life

I want to recommend Chris Chapman’s article available at SEA called, The Extent of Spiritual Death. Chapman’s article does an excellent job of demonstrating from Scripture that the spiritual death described in the Bible does not warrant the Calvinist spin that equates spiritual death with the inability of a physical corpse to act in any …

“Saved by Grace”- Through Faith

Not surprisingly, a Calvinist has taken issue with my recent critique of Paul Washer’s arguments for unconditional election.  This Calvinist, who goes by the moniker, “Saved by Grace” (SBG), left a very lengthy and detailed comment after reading my post, rebuking me for misrepresenting Calvinism and for failing to rightly interpret numerous passages of Scripture.  …

Paul Washer’s – “Doctrine” of Election: An Arminian Critique

I have been frequently referred to Paul Washer’s video discussion, “Doctrine” of Election.  I found the video transcript and decided it would be beneficial to interact with this apparently influential accounting of Calvinist election.  The sections of the transcript are marked by block quotes with my comments in between.  A copy of the transcript can …

Parallel Passages on Regeneration

Ephesians 2 is one of the primary proof-texts often cited by Calvinists for regeneration preceding faith (apparently because it mentions being spiritually 'made alive' without using the word 'faith' in the same sentence). "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in …

Some Excellent and Concise Comments on Free Will, the Bondage of Sin, and Prevenient Grace

Overall, the following comments by F. Leroy Forlines are an excellent representation of the Arminian viewpoint: “Freedom of will is a freedom within a framework of possibilities.  It is not absolute freedom.  Man cannot be God.  He cannot be an angel.  The freedom of a human being is in the framework of the possibilities provided …

Can A Regenerate Christian Be Totally Depraved?

In an earlier post I wrote concerning John Calvin’s character with regards to his dealings with Servetus, a Calvinist commenter admitted that what Calvin did was wrong and said it wasn’t a problem since Calvinists would just chalk it up to his total depravity.  I then asked him if he was affirming that Calvin was …

Three More Great Articles For You to Check Out

Below are the blurbs and links from SEA, This article is posted with permission from the publisher, the scholarly journal Bibliotheca Sacra. Please click on the attachment to view Robert B. Chisholm Jr., "ANATOMY OF AN ANTHROPOMORPHISM: DOES GOD DISCOVER FACTS?" Bibliotheca Sacra 164 (January-March 2007) 3-20. This article reconciles God's foreknowledge with some of …