Category: Francis Turretin

  • The real Turretin on: the Spirit’s Relation to Revelation

    Viva Verbum has an interesting quotation from the real Francis Turretin, which explains the Spirit’s relation to revelation in the life of the believer: the Spirit does not give us additional personal revelation but opens our eyes to the truth of Scripture. (link) -TurretinFan To God be the Glory!

  • Veneration of Mary Debate – Thoughts on Reflection – Part 6

    This is the sixth part of some reflections on the recent debate conducted with Mr. Albrecht on the subject of the veneration of Mary. One of the topics that came up briefly in the debate was the subject of calling Mary, the mother of Jesus, “Mother of God.” As I noted, such a title is…

  • Middle Knowledge – Video Series

    I have now concluded the series on Middle Knowledge and specifically of Turretin’s treatment of it, in his Institutes of Elenctic Theology. I should note that a summary of the section that I addressed has been created and can be found at the following link (link). I didn’t consult this list specifically in the preparation…

  • Middle Knowledge – Part 6

    This is the sixth and final section on Turretin’s discussion of Middle Knowledge. This section delves into the philosophical arguments that undermine the concept of middle knowledge, demonstrating that the concept of middle knowledge leads to inevitable self-contradictions. 1. Two categories of knowledge are all that are required, because all true objects of knowledge are…

  • Middle Knowledge – Part 4

    This is the fourth section of the discussion of Middle Knowledge taken from Turretin’s Institutes. This section deals with Turretin’s six main objections to Middle Knowledge: (1) Two categories of knowledge are enough, because all things are either merely possible or actually future, (2) Untrue things cannot be foreseen as true, (3) God’s exhaustive providence…

  • Middle Knowledge – Part 3

    This is the third video in the series on Middle Knowledge. This section presents the “state of the question.” That is to say, it helps describe what exactly is under consideration. Thus, in this video we distinguish the issue from the issue of God knowing all possible contingent things, of God knowing necessarily contingent things…

  • Middle Knowledge – Part 2

    This is part 2 of the series. The first part of the series can be found here (link). The first part discussed the true doctrine of the knowledge of God, but this section defines the erroneous doctrine of middle knowledge and describes its history. As is discussed in the video, Molinism was the brainchild of…

  • Middle Knowledge – Part 1

    This is the first part of what is planned as a multi-part discussion on middle knowledge and free will. This part discusses the fact that God’s knowledge is intrinsically simple (undivided) but can be divided extrinsically (as to its objects) into two categories: natural and free. These two categories exhaust all the objects of God’s…

  • Luther: Justification is a Stand-or-Fall Article of the Christian Faith

    David Waltz has sparked my interest afresh in the quotation allegedly from Luther that Justification is a doctrine upon which the church stands or falls (link to Waltz’s article). I agree that the expression may not be Luther but is easily derivable from Luther’s teachings. Waltz has traced it back to Valentin E. Löscher in…

  • The Real Turretin on: The Absurdities of Universal Atonement

    Moses Cho at No Mo’ Condemnation has a nice quotation from the real Francis Turretin on the absurdities of any doctrine of universal atonement (link). Turretin addresses not only the errors of Arminianism, but also those Amyraldianism with this short identification of four absurdities. To God be the Glory!