I received an e

Calvinism Defended

I received an e-mail from a person (Bill) who voiced his objections against Calvinism. The first e-mail Bill sent was short, but it contained a number things that nevertheless had to be addressed.

I sent an e-mail to Bill responding to what he had written. He then quickly responded to what I had written. Bill's response was longer this time, and touched on a wide range of issues. Given the nature of the objections, it became apparent that a short reply would simply be impossible. So, I responded, and in order to do justice to his concerns, my response is extremely long and detailed. I provide numerous texts with my own exposition and commentary, and I address a host of other issues raised by Bill.

Because of the length of my response, I have decided to break the response up into parts. Below is a table of contents of the various parts. This should prove helpful in terms of finding a particular area you are interested in reading without having to read the entire response in one setting (which would probably be an impossible task).

I've called this Calvinism Defended. If you are curious about Calvinism, or maybe even have objections against it, maybe something here will be of value to help you better understand the position. If you are already a Calvinist, maybe something said will be helpful and edifying.

Table of Contents

Part I: The First E-mail: Such things as God's ordination of all things are discussed. This e-mail is not too long, so I didn't break it up into parts.

Part II: The Second E-mail: This is the big one! Here is how it is broken down:

1. The "Formulation" of TULIP - Bill wants to know why Calvinism was "formulated" using TULIP, and not Scripture.

2. Total Depravity

3. Unconditional Election

4. Limited Atonement

5. Irresistible Grace

6. Perseverance of the Saints

7. The Image of God - Bill seems to think that Calvinists deny that humans are created in the image of God.

8. The Sovereignty of God - I provide numerous texts with commentaryy.

9. Unbiblical TULIP - Bill maintains that what makes "TULIP" unbiblical is that the terms associated with the acrostic are not found in the Bible.

10. Wrong and Right Thinking About Irresistible Grace - Bill misunderstanding of Calvinism is probably best seen here.

11. What About Free Will?

12. Of Sovereignty, Watches, and Sledgehammers - Bill tries to offer some illustrations to prove his view of sovereignty and describe the Calvinistic view.

13. Of Decrees, Causes, and Temptation - Bill asks simply, "Did God cause you to sin?"

14. Foreknowledge (Trains, Planes, and God's Omniscience, With a Little Synergism Mixed In)

15. The Hardening of Pharaoh's Heart, Whosever Will, and Vessels of Honor and Dishonor

16. Monergism, Synergism, and Straw Men

17. Degrees of Freedom and "Resisting and Rejecting" the Spirit of Grace

18. The Problem of Evil, Manichaeism, Gnosticism, and Calvinism

19. Sex, and Those Gnostic Reformers

20. Those Murderous Reformers

21. Calvin, Hell, and the Word of Faith Movement

22. Calvin on the Trinity, and Those Manichaean Calvinists

23. More Torture and Various Other Musings

24. The Early Church and Calvinism