Michael Horton’s presentation In chapter 3, treating election (which is to be “loved before time”), Horton begins by asserting that unconditional election was not a doctrine originated by Calvin and his heirs. It is found in the writings of Augustine, Gregory the Great, Bonaventure, Albert the Great, and Thomas Aquinas (54). But the doctrine had […]
In a book review yesterday, Roger Olson expressed his puzzlement about how God’s giving rewards to believers in the final judgment coheres with Calvinism’s monergistic understanding of sanctification. He wrote: “My fear is that Spence, and Calvin before him, rob rewards of any meaning and imply that God is actually rewarding himself and not believers. […]
John Marshall wrote an interesting comment on my post “What makes a theological statement newsworthy?” I will answer it in this post rather than in the comment thread, to allow for broader interchange. John wrote: “I am an undergrad in the UK and working on a dissertation on providence and I am wondering if we […]
In the seventh chapter of Against Calvinism, Roger Olson states his objections to the “high Calvinist” understanding of irresistible grace/monergism Olson’s representation of the Calvinist doctrine of irresistible or effectual grace Roger understands the fundamental motive of Calvinists in asserting the monergistic understanding of grace that is represented by the fourth point of TULIP: that […]
In the sixth chapter of Against Calvinism, Roger Olson states his objections to the “high Calvinist” understanding of limited atonement/particular redemption. Olson’s representation of the Calvinist doctrine of limited atonement In his reading of high Calvinist theologians (Boettner, Steele and Thomas, Palmer, Sproul, Piper), Roger hears this: penal substitution is the central purpose of Christ’s […]
Having spelled out his objections to Calvinism’s doctrine of double predestination (in chapter 5 of Against Calvinism), Roger Olson outlines the Arminian alternative that he deems superior. An Arminian doctrine of election As John Wesley stated the classic Arminian doctrine of election, it is God’s foreknowledge of who will freely receive the prevenient enabling grace […]
In my compatibilist proposal, the ninth point of my platform had to do with universal sufficient grace. It may be the most unusual of my points but I find it helpful, and so I continue to commend it to other Calvinists for consideration. I summed up the concept with this statement from Who Can Be […]
Gospel exclusivists frequently express grave concern that, if Christians were to believe that God saves some people who do not hear the gospel from a human messenger, they would become unwilling to make the costly sacrifice that the missionary mandate requires of Jesus’ followers. Since reaching accessibilist convictions myself, I have taken that concern seriously […]
Some years ago, when people did theology on list-serves rather than on blogs, I wondered aloud, on the Canadian Evangelical Theological Association List serve, about the wisdom of encouraging people to “accept Jesus into their hearts.” It triggered a good discussion. I was reminded of that conversation when I read a post by Paul Helm, […]
In a comment on my previous post regarding the metanarrative that informs accessibilist readings of Scripture, Chris Wettstein has said some things to which I want to respond more fully, by way of a new post. Chris’s comment Chris wrote as follows: In further reflection upon your article, I think that there could be a […]