Theology

As a Christian father with young children, I’m always looking for resources to help me prepare my little ones for a post-Christian culture. Our society is filled with unbiblical - and even anti-Christian - ideas, and the thought of raising a child in such an environment is very daunting. That’s why I am thankful for by John Stonestreet and Brett Kunkle . This insightful book is a must-read for parents, pastors, or anyone who desires to prepare the next generation to navigat

In another article found on FreeThinkingMinistries.com , Tim Stratton has argued why "Calvinism is Impossible."  By "impossible" Stratton means logically impossible when held alongside other essential Christian doctrines. I would like to continue in that line of thought and examine a common Calvinistic proof text. Consider Ephesians 1:4 (KJV): According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love

Over the last few years a storm has been brewing. This storm that rumbles throughout public forums of debate, social media, gymnasiums, church parking lots, school lunchrooms, and barber shops across the globe comes in the form of a question.  One question has captivated the hearts and minds of the people—Who is the Greatest of All Time? Lebron James or Michael Jordan. Indeed some of my readers are probably irate because in asking that question I didn’t put Michael Jordan’s n

PREGUNTA Estimado Tim: En tu artículo "La Omnibenevolencia de Dios" señalaste que en el punto de vista islámico, Alá es muy similar a algunas opiniones calvinistas de Dios. En relación con este punto de vista, dijiste: "Dios no es todo-amor, y cualquier cosa que Alá haga es simplemente llamado "bueno'' incluso si es aborrecible". Estoy de acuerdo contigo, pero un ateo recientemente se opuso a su declaración con lo siguiente: Esto suena como el punto de vista cristiano tambi

I recently published an article entitled, “Molinism is Biblical” the morning of June 8th. That same morning a response article was written, published, and shared on my Facebook wall by Sean Luke, a self-proclaimed Calvinist who took exception to my biblical exegesis. My article referenced several passages of scripture that seem to contradict common Calvinistic thought. Sean objected to my arguments and provided some pushback. Although I think he is missing some key aspects

How well do you know Tim Stratton , founder and president of FreeThinking Ministries ? Let me list some facts about Tim: Christian apologist who blogs at FreeThinking Ministries Enrolled in the Master of Arts in Christian Apologetics program at Biola University from 2012 - 2014 Graduated with Highest Honors on December 19, 2014 Heavily influenced by the works of Dr. William Lane Craig Has a passion for theology, philosophy, apologetics, and destroying Naturalism Predestined

Question Dear Tim, I've really enjoyed reading your articles on Molinism. I think Molinism is a great theological philosophy, but it seems to be nothing but a philosophy. I don't see how Molinism could be called a biblical view at all; where are the scriptures supporting Molinism? I simply don't see any. Because Calvinism seems to own the corner on the market regarding biblical data, I simply cannot leave my reformed tradition even if it does have some philosophical problems

Every time I turn around I find someone else denying that humans have free will . From scientists to philosophers to theologians, it’s the cool new trend. We aren’t actually making free choices. We have been programmed either by God or our DNA to act in a certain way and have no choice but to follow it. To be perfectly clear, we deny all types of determinism, whether it’s physical or divine. Free will is what puts the in Freethinking Ministries and our cornerstone is the Fre

Neil deGrasse Tyson is a world renowned astrophysicist and, in my opinion, the leading science popularizer in the world today. I greatly respect Tyson as a scientist, but he is not a good philosopher and a much worse theologian! In fact, Tyson's philosophy is that philosophy is "useless" and that it "can really mess you up." Be that as it may, Tyson seems to spend much of his time these days stepping out of his field of expertise -- science -- and stepping into philosophical

Question Dear Tim, In your article The Omnibenevolence of God you pointed out that on the Islamic view, Allah is quite similar to some Calvinistic views of God. Regarding this view, you said: “God is not all-loving, and whatever Allah does is simply called “good,” even if it is really hateful.” I agree with you, but an atheist recently objected to your statement with the following: This sounds like the Christian view point too. If God is the standard of ‘good’ then whateve

Welcome to another installment of Stuff Atheists Say , a series dedicated to combatting slogans and sayings that skeptics raise to stop conversations in their tracks. You can catch up on the previous articles here: part 1 , part 2 , part 3 , part 4 . Today’s slogan is a common skeptic phrase, made famous by the late Christopher Hitchens. And recently I was surprised - and annoyed - to hear it regurgitated in a children’s television show. It is typically raised in regard to so

Dear Dr. Welty, Tim Stratton recently wrote an article critiquing your essay in Calvinism and the Problem of Evil . Since that time, you wrote a response to Stratton on your website and Stratton responded with a well-written counter-rebuttal to your response entitled " Gunslingers & Guilty Minds ." As a lawyer who deals with "guilty minds" on a daily basis, I would like to join the conversation. Although your response to Stratton was well written it contains a few errors

Thursday the 27th of April, I published an article responding to Greg Welty’s chapter in the book Calvinism and the problem of Evil . I specifically argued against a view of Calvinism that is wedded to exhaustive divine determinism (a view that God causally determines all things: actions, behaviors, beliefs, and thoughts) .  I was shocked — and honored — that Greg Welty himself wrote a rather long article on his website in response to me just two short days later! As Welty

In my last article I tackled what I referred to as Thomistic Compatibilism. This article can be considered a clarification of some of the earlier material while adding more argumentation against the doctrine of divine simplicity (DDS). Thomas Aquinas modeled his understanding of human free will after his take on the divine free will. Thomas posited that God is the efficient cause of all that occurs (SCG I 11.70.8). But God joins other causal agents in a sort of dual causali

https://youtu.be/ujyOzQjjcTA

What is "compatibilistic free will"? Years ago when I first heard of this doctrine it shocked me. Intuitively I thought it did not make sense. How can God determine (force) someone to freely do something? Little did I know that it is one of the most discussed doctrines in modern philosophy and theology. Roughly, compatibilism is the view that there is no real conflict between determinism and free will. Tim Stratton and I have had numerous exchanges with compatibilists of all

Matt Slick recently debated Jerry Walls regarding the omnibenevolence of God. That is to say, the following question was addressed: Is God really all-loving? I have argued that not only is God all-loving, but that it is actually a sin to doubt God's love for all people -- let alone teach that God does not perfectly love and desire the ultimate best for everyone! In this debate , Slick accused Walls of misrepresenting his Calvinistic views, which I found quite odd because S

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. . ." 1 Pet. 1:3 (ESV) For the determinist, this verse would seem to pose a problem for libertarian and thus Molinists. This is because, according to our hypothetical determinist, Molinists do not want to maintain that God causally determines individuals to be born again. But does 1 Pe

Summary: CARM, a Reformed ministry, has given a negative appraisal of Molinism. I lay out 9 issues with their explanation and critique of the doctrine, undercutting/rebutting their claims by showing that they either rely on comprehensional errors, dictional ambiguity, or question begging (or some medley of these). Source: http://carm.org/what-molinism Issue 1: CARM Misrepresents Libertarian Free Will CARM's article starts out well enough by noting the fact that Molinism att

Question: Hey Tim, you talk about libertarian free will all the time. Can you please explain and define exactly what you mean by this term? Thanks. Matt Tim's Response: Thanks for your question, Matt! The first thing I need to discuss is the use of the word "libertarian." According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary , "Libertarian" is defined as: an advocate of the doctrine of free will a) a person who upholds the principles of individual liberty especially of thought and ac