Dan Chapa

Steve has responded in our ongoing discussion on determinism and choice. I had said: “If determinism is true, a person can't choose otherwise.” Steve responded: As usual, Dan is equivocating. A predestined agent can contemplate different hypothetical courses of action. And the hypothetical he chooses to act upon always turns out to be the hypothetical that God decreed to be. Indeed, God decreed the agent to choose that hypothetical option. A predestined agent doesn’t know in advance which hypothetical is a live possibility. But the apparent alternatives influence his choice of the viable alternative. So they serve a purpose. Although they are merely apparent, they are still functional in the deliberative process. Psychologically useful. There’s nothing unusual about this. Take a card game. Given the cards that are on the table, face up, along with the cards remaining in the deck, a gambler will decide to bet or to fold based on the possible and probable combinations which remain ou

The purpose of this post is to define Arminian soteriology. Arminianism in general is the views of James Arminius. Of course, Arminius’ views span more then just salvation. They include the freewill of man, God’s providence, the entrance of sin into the world and foreknowledge. This post is specific to the topic of salvation. Arminian soteriology has been variously defined ranging from any non-Calvinist viewpoint to all views that teach falling from grace (a view Arminius didn’t hold). So how shall we define Arminianism? I suggest we look to the past for clarity. In order to define Arminian soteriology we must look back to the historic Calvinist/Arminian debate. Arminianism was debated hotly during James Arminius’ life. After his death in 1609, his followers summarized his views into five points in 1610. These views were debated up until the Synod of Dort in 1619. The Synod issued the Cannons of Dort, which were organized into five points; the five points of Calvinism. Here is a table

The fifth point of Calvinism is Perseverance of the Saints. The Westminster Confession defines Perseverance of the Saints as: They, whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved. ( link ) The purpose is this paper is to show that Augustine did not hold this tenet. Clearly, the truth or falsehood of this tenet, must be establish from scripture, not Augustine. Nor does Augustine speak for the whole of pre-reformation church history. However, the reason this topic is of some importance is that Calvinists find historical support for their view in Augustine. They avoid the charge of “novelty” by appealing to his writings. Some extreme Calvinists go as far as to say that there was a “hidden church” holding opinions similar to their own through history. This hidden church maintained the opinions of Augustine, des

Middle Knowledge The purpose of this post is to define and defend God’s middle knowledge (otherwise known as Molinism after it's first articulator Luis de Molina). Middle knowledge has been underappreciated in theological circles. This is surprising, given that it makes the most progress out of any system at reconciling freewill and predestination. The reasons typically given for not adopting the middle knowledge solution are the grounds for such knowledge, the complexity of the system, and its relative newness to the scene. However, its value is immense, explaining God’s full control, while maintaining libertarian freewill. Francis Turretin, reformer and Professor of Theology and Philosophy at the school Calvin founded at Geneva, is often cited as the authority on the reformed position. He wrote an important systematic theology, in which he assailed the Arminian and Jesuit position on middle knowledge. Being one of the best anti-middle knowledge writings available, I chose to defe

If you have wondered why the Friday Files have slowed, it's because I have been reading John Goodwin's commentary on Romans 9. It's enormous and has been taking more time than normal. I plan on shutting my geocities site down. I never liked it and Arminian Chronicles has become my home on the web. So I plan on moving some of the stuff over to here. Sorry if you have read the stuff before (though I suspect most people haven't).

Ben's recent post on Arminian Perspectives was outstanding! Nice job Ben!