I think John Piper is on target with this assessment of Calvinists, Arminians, and logic: It is a great irony to me that Calvinists are stereotyped as logic-driven. For forty years my experience has been the opposite. The Calvinists I have known (English Puritans, Edwards, Newton, Spurgeon, Packer, Sproul) are not logic driven, but Bible-driven. […]
Calvinism
“If you die in unbelief, Christ did not die for you.”
I’ve seen Calvinists quote this (along with others like it) to demonstrate that the notion of limited atonement didn’t originate with Calvin or his followers. But I’m having a hard time tracking down the source. Neither Logos Bible Software nor the Internet have been able to get me any earlier than 1979. Michael Horton quoted it […]
Edwards on Faith and Works in Justification
In my estimation, Jonathan Edwards’s Justification by Faith Alone contains one of the most important and misunderstood1 evangelical discussions on the relationship between faith and works as they pertain to justification and salvation. Delivered in 1734 and first published in 1738, it may be found in 1:622–54 of his two-volume Works (Worcester rev. ed.),2 4:64–132 of […]
Calvin on God’s Permissive Will
After reading my post on Zac Smith’s cancer a while back, a friend of mine saw a link in the sidebar to a related post, “The Grace of Cancer,” and left a comment challenging my choice of words when I repeatedly said that God gave cancer to a man from our church to bring him […]
Was the Oil Spill an Act of God?
Rick Warren tweeted earlier today, “When people call an ocean oil spill caused by human drilling ‘an Act of God,’ THAT, friends, is taking God’s name in vain!” To my surprise, I enjoy a lot of what Warren tweets, but in this case I think he has it precisely backwards. Failing to attribute to God […]
Calvinism and Missions
Originally published April 27, 2009, on the Calvin500 blog (calvin500.com). One of the main objections to the Calvinist or Augustinian doctrine of election is that it is inconsistent with a robust doctrine of missions. Why evangelize if God is sovereign, has already chosen from eternity who will be saved and who will not, and will […]
Driscoll and Piper on Love and God’s Commands
I follow Mark Driscoll on Twitter and just watched a little 4:27 video that he tweeted about: “Song of Solomon Q&A 3.” I’ve embedded it below. It contains some solid practical advice for troubled marriages. On the whole, it’s good stuff. Two items caught my attention—particularly because of how they seem to be at odds […]
Bill Clinton: “I’m too much of a Calvinist.”
I saw this video this morning and just have to pass it along. [Edit: The video is no longer available.] Here’s a transcript of the short exchange: John Roberts: US News & World Report this week commissioned a poll that surveyed a bunch of women in American asking what role you should take on with […]