Category Archives: Blogging Through a Book

Blogging through Grace for All: Evil is a tough pill to swallow when one holds to Theological Determinism

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Glen Shellrude, Professor of New Testament at Alliance Theological Seminary (link, blog) offers us, what may be the longest titled article in Grace415xXkjORGL For All, “Calvinistic and Problematic Readings of the NT Texts, or Why I am not a Calvinist”. The essay is based on his 2010 talk at the Evangelical Theological Society. The content of that talk was later published in Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry in 2011 (pdf), before appearing in this collection.

Throughout the essay, Shellrude tackles numerous problems with Calvinism and its adherence to theological determinism. If I were to summarize the essay, it might look something like this cartoon of Calvin (the one with the tiger named Hobbes) staring disdainfully at his food. CH_Yuck2When Calvinists are presented with the full ramification of their views, they, like Calvin with his food, will find that it isn’t very appetizing. The more they poke around and examine it the more unsettling the view becomes. At some point they must decide to adopt another more historical and Scriptural view or let Calvinism (and the paradoxes it creates) consume them.

Shellrude’s contention is that Calvinism presents a

view of God that represents him as having two distinct wills which are deeply conflicted and contradictory

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Blogging through Grace for All: Universal Grace

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The second article in Grace For All is written by Vernon C. Grounds, the former president of Denver Seminary (cf. Olson’s tribute). In his essay, Grounds explores God’s universal grace that offers salvation to all.

415xXkjORGLThe universal offer of salvation is rooted in our Creator being a God of love who “desires the salvation of everyone” and “redemptively acts” to make that possible.

For in that corpus of writings we call the Holy Scriptures and which we hold to be God’s medium of self-revelation, [God-the ultimate reality] … defines himself as love. … [and is] the embodiment of unending beatitude.

…

We believe, moreover, that because he is love, God freely chooses to expand the orbit of beatitude by creating persons who are centers of consciousness and choice whom he wills to share his own eternal fellowship of love through the convicting, drawing, and salvation of God’s grace.

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Blogging through Grace for All: The God at the Center

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The first article in Grace For All is written by Roger Olson (blog), one of the most vocal theologians representing an Arminian view of God’s sovereignty and soteriology. Arminian Theology: Myths and Realities (amazon) and Against Calvinism (amazon) are two of the many books he has authored.

415xXkjORGLIn this essay, Roger Olson directly confronts the charge that Arminianism is a “man-centered” theology. He starts by quoting several Calvinist writers (including Michael Horton, James Boice, Al Mohler, and indirectly B.B. Warfield and Charles Spurgeon) that assert that Arminianism is focused on “human freedom” over “God’s absolute sovereignty”.

Then he asks the question:

What do these and other critics mean when they accuse Arminianism of being “man-centered”?

Olson presents three things that critics mean when they use the term “man-centered”:

  • Arminianism doesn’t take “human depravity” seriously
  • Arminianism doesn’t take God’s sovereignty seriously
  • Arminianism teaches that God’s “chief end is to make people happy”

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