Philosophy

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I consider myself to be "Reformed!" I am NOT a Calvinist! I am a Molinist! Quite often Calvinists are quick to contend that Molinism is antithetical to the Reformed movement. I adamantly disagree and so does the evidence. In fact, there is much confusion as to exactly what the word "reformed" means. As I noted in Happy Reformation Day! , in the 16th Century to be reformed simply meant that one affirmed that the Roman Catholic Church was corrupt, and that something needed t

This October 31st (2017) marks the 500 year anniversary of what is known as the Protestant Reformation. As one who considers himself to be aligned with the original Reformation movement, this is a glorious anniversary and one I am excited to celebrate! In the 16th Century, to be a part of the Reformation meant that one recognized the Roman Catholic Church had some practices and/or beliefs that did not have the support of the Scriptures. Luther's "95 Theses" nailed to the Wit

Summary: In Matt Slick's "Why Write About Molinism?" he raises two major complaints. The first is that Molinism is eisegetical. I understand Slick's second complaint to be that the Molinist hermeneutic undermines sola scriptura. Here I argue that Molinists who are consistently committed to the idea that Molinism is underdetermined by Scripture cannot possibly be eisegeting Molinism into Scripture. I also argue that the Molinist hermeneutic is compatible with sola scriptura so

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I once had the pleasure of interacting with Arminian theologian, Dr. Jack Cottrell. Many Arminians also claim to be Molinists. In fact, many scholars believe that Arminius was a Molinist! Cottrell, however, is an Arminian who opposes Molinism. Here is a sampling of our online debate. Hi Jack, I sincerely thank you for adding me as a FB friend. Kyle asked me to take a look at your comments on Molinism as he is contemplating these differing views. If you don’t mind, I would

https://youtu.be/3fGl-CaNamQ

Question Dear Tim Stratton (fantastic first name! ;) ), I happened across your argument against irresistible grace , and I was curious if you'd be interested in interacting with me about it. As you know, the argument looks like this: 1. If “irresistible grace” is true, then for any person x, if God desires to, has the power to, and knows how to cause x to go to heaven and not suffer eternally in hell, then x will go to heaven and not suffer eternally in hell. 2. If God is

“Where do we come from?” and “Where are we going?” These are the two big questions Dan Brown explores in his latest novel, (Doubleday, 2017). ( Minor spoilers ahead. ) This is the fifth book in the series starring Harvard professor, Robert Langdon, the most famous being . While many of them have explored religion - mostly Christianity - his later books feature science more prominently. A major theme in this book, however, is science religion. Can science explain away the su

Abstract: This is a response to CARM’s article, “What is middle knowledge and is it Biblical? I will respond to the issues in the order they appear in CARM's article: a faulty definition of middle knowledge, the belief that aseity means that God is “noncontingent”, the redefinition of aseity to mean that God cannot have contingent knowledge, and lastly, the idea that prevenient grace implies that man is able to choose God apart from God’s grace. Source: https://carm.org/what

This is an analytical inquiry of CARM’s article “ Prevenient Grace Fails as a Valid Option in Molinism .” In his article, Matt Slick makes the claim that Molinists cannot appeal to prevenient grace because it is self-refuting. I argue that Slick is using idiosyncratic definitions of total depravity and prevenient grace and this results in the overall failure of his argumentation. Source: https://carm.org/prevenient-grace-fails-as-a-valid-option-in-molinism Issue 1: Defining

Question How do you respond to a Calvinist who uses the whole "Who are you, O man..." argument based on Romans 9? I'm trying to understand better how the Molinist view holds against Calvinist arguments against libertarian free will. -Aidan Tim's Response Thank you for the question, Aiden. This is probably one of the most popular objections to Molinism and it is one that I have wrestled with in the past. I encourage you to read my article  Free Will, Calvinism, & Romans 9  a

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"Never get stumped by the same question twice!" I first received this advice from Sean McDowell in 2010. I listened to him speak about apologetics and the importance of this branch of theology at the Challenge Youth Conference that summer in Columbus, Ohio. I was a youth pastor at that time and my students had been asking many tough questions that I could not answer. I was so happy to hear a guy like Sean seemingly have all the answers! After his first talk I immediately pu

The Nashville Statement ( https://cbmw.org/nashville- statement ), approved in its final draft on August 25, 2017, was developed and issued jointly by the Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.  A veritable who's who of contemporary Evangelical Leaders drafted, signed and have since endorsed this statement.  According to one of its chief architects, John Piper, it aims at “providing a biblica

Abstract: This is a critical analysis of CARM.org’s article “Can God cause a person to believe in Him?” Matt Slick claims that on Molinism God cannot cause people to believe in Him, an assertion he takes to be obviously false and precluded by Scripture. I conclude that Slick doesn’t understand the difference between strong and weak actualization and, therefore, ends up affirming a position compatible with Molinism. In the process, I criticize Slick’s prooftexting and expose h

The Monday morning of October 2nd, 2017, America awoke to horrible news that some are calling "The Las Vegas Massacre." At this early point in the investigation it seems as if a "lone wolf" booked a hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay. From this elevated position, and after weeks of meticulous planning and preparing for this cowardly act, and with a plethora of fully automatic rifles at his disposal, Stephen Paddock fired on the crowd of defenseless civilians who

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