Dr. David Allen Reviews and Critiques “From Heaven He Came And Sought Her”, The Latest Calvinist Defense of Limited (Definite) Atonement

The links to the series no longer work, so here are a few interactions from his blog: Review of Henri Blocher, Chapter 20, Systematic Theology of Definite Atonement in "From Heaven He Came and Sought Her" Review of Henry Stange's Chapter on Those Who Never Hear the Gospel in "From Heaven He Came and Sought …

The Early Church Affirmed Free Will (in the Libertarian Sense) Against the Determinism of the Gnostics

Augustinian sympathizer Alister E. McGrath admits: ‘The pre-Augustinian theological tradition is practically of one voice in asserting the freedom of the human will.’ This is actually true for all the divergent branches of early church theology, in all areas into which the church was carried…Not a single church figure in the first 300 years rejected it and most of them …

J.I. Packer Calls Arminianism “an intellectual sin of infirmity”

In other words, Arminians are just stupid Christians who refuse to mature intellectually.  Here is the quote: Calvinism is the natural theology written on the heart of the new man in Christ, whereas Arminianism is an intellectual sin of infirmity, natural only in the sense in which all such sins are natural, even to the …

Jack Cottrell: Did The Early Christian Fathers Teach Calvinism?

Did the Early Christian Fathers Teach Calvinism? by Jack Cottrell on Monday, July 25, 2011 at 12:59pm QUESTION: Some say that the doctrines of Calvinism did not begin with John Calvin, nor even with Augustine (died A.D. 430). Rather, they claim that the TULIP doctrines are present throughout the writings of the church fathers from …

Lack of Historical Precedent For Calvinistic Perseverance

Read Steve Witzki's excellent article here.  The article will also link you to an article by Calvinist John Jefferson Davis who also traces the doctrine back no further than John Calvin.  While the truthfulness of such doctrines must ultimately be decided through careful exegesis of Scripture, the novelty of Calvinist doctrines like inevitable perseverance should not be …

Much of Church History at Odds with Calvinism (Part 2)

Be sure to check out this article at SEA on the comparative lack of historical precedent in Calvinism as well as some insightful discussion on the origins of Calvinistic determinism: Church History and Calvinism

Are Arminians Semi-Pelagian?

Given the fact that a certain Calvinist has recently asserted as much and refused to receive correction on the matter, I thought it would be helpful to direct anyone interested to the following excellent article on the subject at SEA: Are Arminians Semi-Pelagian? We can also add the following quote by Calvinists Robert A. Peterson and …

Much of Christian History at Odds With Calvinism

Great article at SEA documenting this: Prereformation Church History & The Calvinist/Arminian Debate Of course, the earliest Christian writers prior to Augustine (the ante-Nicene fathers) rejected all of the basic features of what is now known as Calvinism (e.g. exhaustive determinism, inevitable perseverance, limited atonement, unconditional election and predestination, etc.), while affirming the central features of …

The Five Dilemmas of Calvinism Part 4: A Litany of Inaccuracies and Misrepresentations

As stated before, Mr. Brown says that his primary objective in writing his short book was for the purpose of clearing up misunderstandings concerning what Calvinists believe.  In the process of doing this he has also engaged in trying to demonize the opposing system of belief: Arminianism.  I say demonize because Brown, like so many …

The Five Dilemmas of Calvinism Part 2

Augustine: The Greatest Theologian? I have decided to take my time with this book as there is so much that Mr. Brown gets wrong in my opinion.  Much of this series will interact only briefly with the content of the book and use certain comments as springboards for interaction and reflection.  One thing I just …

Those in Glass Ivory Towers Shouldn’t Throw Stones

I would like to get some opinions on the following two quotes by James White. The first comes from his debate with Dave Hunt and the second comes from his website. Maybe I am wrong, but I detect a bit of inconsistency here. It seems to me that he is quite comfortable using virtually the …