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Warren McGrew's Outlandish and Slanderous Accusations
Warren McGrew recently obtained a lot of attention by making a bizarre accusation against his theological opponents. Warren states: I just wanted to highlight how that’s the same kind of spirit and mindset that the ancient worshippers of pagan deities would engage in when they would sacrifice their children to Baal. Because as long as…
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Regeneration before Faith – Some Scriptural Arguments
The Argument Jesus asked, “And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?” (John 8:46) After Jesus explained why, the Jews scoffed at him: “Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?” (John 8:48) What is the answer, though? Why do some people not believe the gospel?…
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Are Conditional Abilities "Real"?
In a recent video, my friend Dan Chapa and I, discussed a Conditional Analysis argument from Guillaume Bignon’s book Excusing Sinners and Blaming God (link to video). During our discussion, one of the disconnects seemed to center on whether conditional abilities are something real or not. We speak of conditional abilities all the time. When…
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Part 2 of a Critique of "Calvinism: a Biblical and Theological Critique"
“Calvinism: a Biblical and Theological Critique” (CABTC) has an introduction by the editors, Drs. Allen and Lemke (A&L). The eleven page introduction is broken into the following sections: The Debate over Calvinism (pp. 1-3) Are all Non-Calvinists Accurately Described as Pelagians or Semi-Pelagians? (pp. 3-4) Which Calvinism? (pp. 4-7) Presuppositions and Presumptions (p. 7) Why…
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Part 1 of a Critique of "Calvinism: a Biblical and Theological Critique"
“Calvinism: a Biblical and Theological Critique” (CABTC) was published by B&H Academic. The book has a relatively low level of engagement with Calvinist scholars and other proponents of Calvinism. It’s not absolutely zero interaction. For example, they mention my friend, James White, twice: once in Kenneth Wilson’s section in a footnote, where an episode of…
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TurretinFan vs. Joshua Gibbs – Perseverance of the Saints Debate (predicted affirmative constructive)
I look forward to this debate with Mr. Gibbs. What is the position I’m defending? Westminster Confession of Faith – Chapter 17 1. They whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace; but shall certainly persevere therein…
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Effectual Calling in Romans
The “call” of God is one of those doctrines that many non-Calvinists seem to underestimate. Paul is especially fond of this term in Romans, and it comes up multiple times in Romans 9, often viewed as one of the most Calvinist passages of the New Testament. What sparked this post was hearing a non-Calvinist who,…
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Verbs and Biblical Exegesis – Two Examples
I recently came across the following paragraph that captures an issue that turns out to be significant for exegesis as it relates to Calvinism and also to Hell. Any event can be construed from a variety of perspectives. While this flexibility is fundamental to human ingenuity, it poses a challenge for language learners who must…
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Exegetical Thoughts on Romans 9:14-33
Romans 9:14-33, gets us into the meat of the tangent Paul is providing. Remember that in Romans 8, we saw Paul set forth the idea of God’s unbreakable love. In Romans 9:1-13, we saw Paul beginning to address the objection that God’s love broke or failed as applied to the Israelites. Paul’s response was to…
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Exegetical Thoughts on Romans 9:6-13
Romans 9:6-13 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are…