Three Blind Mice

Paul said the gospel includes the truth that Christ “was raised the third day, according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:4). He said by this gospel “you are saved” (1 Corinthians 15:2). He further stated that “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is foolish; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). [...]

Augustine gets a pass (1)

This comes from James White’s website: 10/21/2006 – James White A number of years ago I made a presentation on the impact of the Donatist Controversy and the Pelagian Controversy on the theology of Augustine. I have repeated the essence of that material a number of times in various venues. To encapsulate it, even the [...]

Does God’s Sovereignty Mean He Makes People Evil? (Part 5)

Once again, my comments are interspersed between Phil Johnson’s comments. Does God’s Sovereignty Mean He Makes People Evil? by Phil Johnson A fellow who espouses hyper-Calvinism wrote me to argue that there is no such thing as “common grace.” He insisted that God’s “apparent goodness” to the reprobate has no other purpose than to increase [...]

Does God’s Sovereignty Mean He Makes People Evil? (Part 4)

In the “com box” there was a discussion between one commenter and Phil Johnson. I will intersperse my comments between them below: The commenter wrote to Phil: Hmm, thank you for the thought-provoking post. I do see how our basic sinful nature provides the assymetry in God’s election and reprobation. It makes sense to see [...]

Does God’s Sovereignty Mean He Makes People Evil? (Part 3)

Phil Johnson responded as follows: Ack! Hyper-Calvinists to the right of me; Arminians to the left. For those who did not pick up on it, “Iconoclast” is Marc D. Carpenter, one of the most extreme and vitriolic hyper-Calvinists in the history of theology. Normal rank-and-file hyper-Calvinists aren’t nearly extreme enough for Marc. He believes even [...]

Does God’s Sovereignty Mean He Makes People Evil? (Part 2)

The following is a “guest post” by Marc in response to Phil Johnson’s article, “Does God’s Sovereignty Mean He Makes People Evil?”: Phil Johnson likens the evil heart to his Bel Aire and likens himself to God. When Johnson wanted his Bel Aire to go straight, he had to exert force to pull it straight, [...]

Does God’s Sovereignty Mean He Makes People Evil? (Part 1)

This was originally sent on 10/14/07 to a discussion group consisting of my brothers and sisters in Christ. I had posted this in response to an article written by Phil Johnson (of Pyromaniac fame) entitled, “Does God’s Sovereignty Mean He Makes People Evil?” (I may edit my writing from what it was in the original [...]