Alpha & Omega Ministries Apologetics Blog
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Today on the Dividing Line: Response to Dave Barron/Patrick Navas
11/29/2011 - James White
I had hoped to get through my response to this video in about an hour or so, but alas, it took the entire two hours of a Mega DL, dedicated to one of our channel rats and ministry supporters, Ralph P., to finish up. So, I will dive into the Ehrman/Wallace debate, and my review of the Samuel Green/Diaa Mohamed debate, on Thursday (sounds like that will need to be a jumbo...let's get started about 3:30 then!). Anyway, you will definitely need the material in the article posted below to follow the discussion today, but if you want to go "deep" on such topics as the I am sayings of Jesus, or the witness of 1 Cor. 8:5-6 to the deity of Christ, this is the program for you. Here's the program.And don't forget the WayBack Machine, streaming Dividing Lines from 1998 onward 24/7! You can listen on the Flash Player found here.
13:38:00 - Category: The Dividing Line - Link to this article -
Reference Materials for the Dividing Line of November 29, 2011
11/29/2011 - James White
Below I provide original language references and citations that I will be covering in the discussion on the Dividing Line for November 29, 2011. [Please note: I found copy/paste errors in the F.F. Bruce citation, and one section I forgot to bold, during the program itself. These have been fixed below post-program].A)
Is. 6:1 ¶ Καὶ ἐγένετο τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ, οὗ ἀπέθανεν Οζιας ὁ βασιλεύς, εἶδον τὸν κύριον καθήμενον ἐπὶ θρόνου ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐπηρμένου, καὶ πλήρης ὁ οἶκος τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ.
John 12:41 ταῦτα εἶπεν Ἠσαΐας ὅτι εἶδεν τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐλάλησεν περὶ αὐτοῦ.
Is. 53:2 ἀνηγγείλαμεν ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ ὡς παιδίον, ὡς ῥίζα ἐν γῇ διψώσῃ, οὐκ ἔστιν εἶδος αὐτῷ οὐδὲ δόξα· καὶ εἴδομεν αὐτόν, καὶ οὐκ εἶχεν εἶδος οὐδὲ κάλλος·
Is. 66:18 κἀγὼ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν καὶ τὸν λογισμὸν αὐτῶν ἐπίσταμαι. ἔρχομαι συναγαγεῖν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη καὶ τὰς γλώσσας, καὶ ἥξουσιν καὶ ὄψονται τὴν δόξαν μου.
Is. 66:19 καὶ καταλείψω ἐπ᾿ αὐτῶν σημεῖα καὶ ἐξαποστελῶ ἐξ αὐτῶν σεσῳσμένους εἰς τὰ ἔθνη, εἰς Θαρσις καὶ Φουδ καὶ Λουδ καὶ Μοσοχ καὶ Θοβελ καὶ εἰς τὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ εἰς τὰς νήσους τὰς πόρρω, οἳ οὐκ ἀκηκόασίν μου τὸ ὄνομα οὐδὲ ἑωράκασιν τὴν δόξαν μου, καὶ ἀναγγελοῦσίν μου τὴν δόξαν ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν.
B)
Ακουε, Ισραηλ· κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν κύριος εἷς ἐστιν·
Deut. 6:5 καὶ ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς δυνάμεώς σου.
ἀλλ᾿ ἡμῖν εἷς θεὸς ὁ πατὴρ
ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα καὶ ἡμεῖς εἰς αὐτόν,
καὶ εἷς κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς
δι᾿ οὗ τὰ πάντα καὶ ἡμεῖς δι᾿ αὐτοῦ.
C)
Heb. 1:3 ¶ ὃς ὢν ἀπαύγασμα τῆς δόξης καὶ χαρακτὴρ τῆς ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ,
φέρων τε τὰ πάντα τῷ ῥήματι τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ,
καθαρισμὸν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ποιησάμενος
ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τῆς μεγαλωσύνης ἐν ὑψηλοῖς,
2. someth. produced as a representation, reproduction, representation, fig., of God ἄνθρωπον ἔπλασεν τῆς ἑαυτοῦ εἰκόνος χαρακτῆρα (God) formed a human being as reproduction of his own identity/reality (s. εἰκών 2) 1 Cl 33:4 (cp. OGI 383, 60 of a picture χ. μορφῆς ἐμῆς; 404, 25; Philo, Det. Pot. Ins. 83 calls the soul τύπον τινὰ καὶ χαρακτῆρα θείας δυνάμεως). Christ is χαρ. τῆς ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ an exact representation of (God’s) real being Hb 1:3 (ὑπόστασις 1a).
58.62 χαρακτήρ, ῆρος m: a representation as an exact reproduction of a particular form or structure — ‘exact representation.’ ὃς ὢν ἀπαύγασμα τῆς δόξης καὶ χαρακτὴρ τῆς ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ ‘who is the reflection of his glory and the exact representation of his being’ He 1:3.
F.F. Bruce:
The words in which the psalmist addresses God, however, are here applied to the Son, as clearly as the words of Ps. 45:6f. were applied to him in vv. 8 and 9. What justification can be pleaded for our author's applying them thus? First, as he has already said in v. 2, it was through the Son that the universe was made. The angels were but worshiping spectators when the earth was founded, but the Son was the Father's agent in the work. He therefore can be understood as the one who is addressed in the words:
Of old thou didst lay the foundation of the earth;
And the heavens are the work of thy hands.
Moreover, in the Septuagint text the person to whom these words are spoken is addressed explicitly as "Lord" ("Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundation of the earth"); and it is God who addresses him thus. Whereas in the Hebrew text the suppliant is the speaker from the beginning to the end of the psalm, in the Greek text his prayer comes to an end with v. 22; and the next words read as follows:
He answered him in the way of his strength:
"Declare to me the shortness of my days:
Bring me not up in the midst of my days.
Thy years are throughout all generations.
Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundations of the earth..."
This is God's answer to the suppliant; he bids him acknowledge the shortness of God's set time (for the restoration of Jerusalem, as in v. 13) and not summon him to act when that set time has only half expired, while he assures him that he and his servants' children will be preserved forever.102 But to whom (a Christian reader of the Septuagint might well ask) could God speak in words _link_ like these? And whom would God himself address as "Lord," as the maker of earth and heaven? Our author knows of one person only to whom such terms could be appropriate, and that is the Son of God.
That our author understood this quotation from Ps. 102 as an utterance of God seems plain from the way in which it is linked by the simple conjunction "and" to the preceding quotation from Ps. 45. Both quotations fall under the same rubric: "But to the Son [God says]." If in the preceding quotation the Son is addressed by God as "God," in this one he is addressed by God as "Lord." And we need not doubt that to our author the title "Lord" conveys the highest sense of all, "the name which is above every name." No wonder that the Son has ascribed to him a dignity which surpasses all the names angels bear. Nor is our author the only New Testament writer to ascribe to Christ the highest of divine names, or to apply to him Old Testament scriptures which in their primary context refer to Yahweh.105
102. Cf. B. W. Bacon, "Heb. 1:10-12 and the Septuagint Rendering of Ps. 102:23," ZNW 3 (1902), pp. 280-85. Bacon suggested that the Hebrew, as well as the Greek, text of this psalm formed a basis for messianic eschatology, especially its reference to the "shortness" of God's days, i.e., of the period destined to elapse before the consummation of his purpose; he found here the OT background of Matt. 24:22, Mark 13:20, and Ep. Barn. 4:3 ("as Enoch says, 'For to this end the Master has cut short the times and the days, that his Beloved should make haste and come to his inheritance"').
105. Cf. the application to Christ of Isa. 45:23 in Phil. 2:1Of. (see p. 50, n. 37), and of Isa. 8:13 ("Yahweh of hosts, him you shall sanctify") in 1 Pet. 3:15 ("sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord").
D)
Col. 1:15 ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου,
πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως,
Col. 1:16 ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα
ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς,
τὰ ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα,
εἴτε θρόνοι εἴτε κυριότητες
εἴτε ἀρχαὶ εἴτε ἐξουσίαι·
τὰ πάντα δι᾿ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν ἔκτισται·
Col. 1:17 καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν πρὸ πάντων
καὶ τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκεν
Rom. 11:36 ¶ ὅτι ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ δι᾿ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν τὰ πάντα·
αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, ἀμήν.
Navas:
Although Jesus is identified by Paul as “the firstborn of all creation” (prototokos pases ktiseos), a few Trinitarian Bible translators have actually attempted to change the translation to “firstborn over all creation” (NIV and NKJV); but that is not a literally accurate or necessary translation. In a typical effort to defend Trinitarian concepts, John MacArthur advanced two interpretive ideas in his commentary on this verse.
πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως,
Though some regard this gen. to be partitive (thus, firstborn who is a part of creation), both due to the lexical field of “firstborn” including “preeminent over” (and not just a literal chronological birth order) and the following causal clause (“for [ὅτι] in him all things were created”)-which makes little sense if mere chronological order is in view, it is far more likely that this expresses subordination. Further, although most examples of subordination involve a verbal head noun, not all do (notice 2 Cor 4:4 above, as well as Acts 13:17). The resultant meaning seems to be an early confession of Christ’s lordship and hence, implicitly, his deity.
Wallace, D. B. (1999; 2002). Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics - Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament (104). Zondervan Publishing House and Galaxie Software.
E)
John 13:19 ἀπ᾿ ἄρτι λέγω ὑμῖν πρὸ τοῦ γενέσθαι, ἵνα πιστεύσητε ὅταν γένηται ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι.
Is. 43:10 γένεσθέ μοι μάρτυρες, κἀγὼ μάρτυς, λέγει κύριος ὁ θεός, καὶ ὁ παῖς, ὃν ἐξελεξάμην,
ἵνα γνῶτε καὶ πιστεύσητε καὶ συνῆτε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι,
ἔμπροσθέν μου οὐκ ἐγένετο ἄλλος θεὸς καὶ μετ᾿ ἐμὲ οὐκ ἔσται·
אֲנִ֥י יְהוָ֖ה וְאֵ֥ין עֽוֹד׃
Göttingen Septuagint (current scholarly standard in LXX textual studies):
18 Οὕτως λέγει κύριος ὁ ποιήσας τὸν οὐρανόν, οὗτος ὁ θεὸς ὁ καταδείξας τὴν γῆν καὶ ποιήσας αὐτήν, αὐτὸς διώρισεν αὐτήν, οὐκ εἰς κενὸν ἐποίησεν αὐτὴν ἀλλὰ κατοικεῖσθαι Ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι.
18 init.] pr. οτι oI’ C 403′ = M | κύριος] + ο θεος 26 239′ 407 410 449′ Bo; > 311′ | οὐρανόν] + και την γην 534 | om. ὁ θεός Sc 239′ 544 Cyr.(lem) | τὴν γῆν] αυτην 534 | αὐτήν1°◠2° oII 22*-93 239; 2°◠3° 88 | ἐποίησεν] εκοπιασεν 93 | om. αὐτήν3° B* ʘ | κατοικεῖσθαι] + (※ Qmg) επλασεν αυτην O′’-Qmg L′’` C 403′ 770 Syl Tht. Hi. = M | εἰμι] + εγω ειμι 407 538 Sap; + κυριος V-Qmg-oI’ L′’`-233 C 239′ 403′ 538 770 Syl Eus. Tht. Cyr.(lem) Hi. = M; + ο θεος Co(Sap) | ἔτι] οτι lII; πλην εμου 538; + πλην εμου 407 Co
Is. 43:25 ἐγώ εἰμι ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἐξαλείφων τὰς ἀνομίας σου καὶ οὐ μὴ μνησθήσομαι.
Is. 51:12 ἐγώ εἰμι ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ παρακαλῶν σε· γνῶθι τίνα εὐλαβηθεῖσα ἐφοβήθης ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπου θνητοῦ καὶ ἀπὸ υἱοῦ ἀνθρώπου, οἳ ὡσεὶ χόρτος ἐξηράνθησαν.
Is. 47:8 νῦν δὲ ἄκουσον ταῦτα, ἡ τρυφερὰ ἡ καθημένη πεποιθυῖα ἡ λέγουσα ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῆς Ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἑτέρα· οὐ καθιῶ χήρα οὐδὲ γνώσομαι ὀρφανείαν.
Is. 47:9 νῦν δὲ ἥξει ἐξαίφνης ἐπὶ σὲ τὰ δύο ταῦτα ἐν μιᾷ ἡμέρᾳ· χηρεία καὶ ἀτεκνία ἥξει ἐξαίφνης ἐπὶ σὲ ἐν τῇ φαρμακείᾳ σου ἐν τῇ ἰσχύι τῶν ἐπαοιδῶν σου σφόδρα
Is. 47:10 τῇ ἐλπίδι τῆς πονηρίας σου. σὺ γὰρ εἶπας Ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἑτέρα. γνῶθι ὅτι ἡ σύνεσις τούτων καὶ ἡ πορνεία σου ἔσται σοι αἰσχύνη. καὶ εἶπας τῇ καρδίᾳ σου Ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἑτέρα.
Zeph. 2:15 αὕτη ἡ πόλις ἡ φαυλίστρια ἡ κατοικοῦσα ἐπ᾿ ἐλπίδι ἡ λέγουσα ἐν καρδίᾳ αὐτῆς Ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν μετ᾿ ἐμὲ ἔτι. πῶς ἐγενήθη εἰς ἀφανισμόν, νομὴ θηρίων· πᾶς ὁ διαπορευόμενος δι᾿ αὐτῆς συριεῖ καὶ κινήσει τὰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ.
“The Johannine Gospel offers lucid examples of precreational christology. The opening verses (1:1-2) of the hymn that serves as a Prologue makes clear that not only through the Word (who is the Son; see 1:18) were all things created but also the Word existed in God’s presence before creation. If in Gen 1:1 ‘In the beginning’ means in the beginning of creation, in John 1:1 ‘In the beginning’ means before anything was created. That in John’s mind the preexistence of Jesus as God’s Son is not merely hymnic figurative language or poetic license is clear from 17:5 where the Johannine Jesus speaks literally and consciously of having a glorified existence with the Father before the world began (see also 16:28; 3:13; 5:19; 8:26,58).
“A particular facet of Johannine precreational christology appears in the use of ‘I am’ by Jesus. The corresponding Greek ego eimi can be simply a phrase of common speech, equivalent to ‘It is I’ or ‘I am the one.’ However, it also has a solemn or sacral use in the OT, the NT, Gnosticism, and pagan Greek religious writings. Of most importance for our quest is John’s absolute use of ‘I am’ with no predicate, which I shall distinguish by capitalizing. Thus, 8:24: ‘Unless you come to believe that I AM, you will die in your sins’; 8:28: ‘When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I AM’; 8:58: ‘Before Abraham even came into existence, I AM’; 13:19: ‘When it does happen, you may believe that I AM.’
“There is a natural tendency to feel that these statements are incomplete; for instance, in John 8:25 ‘the Jews’ respond by asking, ‘Well then who are you?’ Since this usage goes far beyond ordinary parlance, all recognize that the absolute I AM has a special revelatory function in John. The most common explanation is to associate this Johannine use with ‘I AM’ employed as a divine name in the OT and rabbinic Judaism. The OT offers excellent examples of the use ‘I am,’ including impressive examples of the absolute use. Let us begin with the statement, ‘I am Yahweh/God,’ since the absolute use of ‘I AM’ in the OT is a variant of it. In Hebrew the statement contains simply the pronoun ‘I’ and the predicate ‘Yahweh’ or ‘God’ without a connecting verb. This formula is revelatory in a limited way, expressing divine authority and giving reassurance and a reason for trust (Gen 26:24; 28:13; Exod 6:6; 20:2, 5; Lev 18:5; Ezek 20:5). In particular, where God promises, ‘You shall know that I am Yahweh’ (Exod 6:7; cf. 7:5), we come close to John 8:24,28 cited above. The most important use of the OT formula ‘I am Yahweh’ stresses the unicity of God: I am Yahweh (or I am He) and there is no other, e.g. Deutero-Isaiah, as well as in Hosea 13:4 and Joel 2:27. The Hebrew for ‘I Yahweh’ or ‘I He’ is translated in the Greek OT simply as ‘I am’ (ego eimi); and since the predicate is not expressed, that translation puts added emphasis on existence.
“There is even evidence that the use of ego eimi in the Greek of Deutero-Isaiah came to be understood not only as a statement of divine unicity and existence, but also as a divine name. The Hebrew of Isa 43:25 reads, ‘I, I am He who blots out your transgressions.’ The Greek translates the first part of this statement by using ego eimi twice. This can mean, ‘I am He, I am He who blots out your transgressions’: but it can also be interpreted, ‘I am ‘I AM’ who blots out your transgressions,’ a translation that makes ego eimi a name. Isa 51:12 is similar. The Hebrew of Isa 52:6 states, ‘My people shall know my name; in that day (they shall know) that I am He who speaks’; but the Greek can be read, ‘that ego eimi is the one who speaks,’ so that ‘I AM’ becomes the divine name to be known in the day of the Lord.
“Against this background the absolute use of ‘I AM’ by the Johannine Jesus becomes quite intelligible; he was speaking in the same manner in which Yahweh speaks in Deutero-Isaiah. For instance, in John 8:28 Jesus promises that when the Son of Man is lifted up (in return to the Father), ‘then you will know ego eimi’; in Isaiah 43:10 Yahweh has chosen Israel, ‘that you may know and believe me and understand ego eimi.’ The absolute Johannine use of ‘I AM’ has the effect of portraying Jesus as divine with (pre)existence as his identity, even as the Greek OT understood the God of Israel. (Brown, An Introduction to New Testament Christology [Paulist Press; Mahwah, NJ 1994], pp. 136-139; bold emphasis added).
09:06:52 - Category: The Dividing Line - Link to this article -
Yesterday on the Dividing Line: The Real Reason to be Thankful
11/23/2011 - James White
Yesterday we did a Jumbo edition of the DL, investing 90 minutes primarily focused upon the exegesis of Philippians 2:5-11, and the real reason we should be thankful at all times. Some might call it an overly long sermon, but I hope those who appreciate textually-based studies will be encouraged, blessed, and edified. Here's the program.And don't forget the WayBack Machine, streaming Dividing Lines from 1998 onward 24/7! You can listen on the Flash Player found here.
06:32:35 - Category: The Dividing Line - Link to this article -
Today on The Dividing Line - The Deity of Christ in John and an examination of Unitarian Presuppositions
11/17/2011 - Micah Burke
Yes, there WAS a Dividing Line episode today... and you missed it, didn't you? Well, today Dr. White examined the writings of Patrick Navas a unitarian and countered with the clear teaching of the New Testament regarding the deity of Christ.James starts out responding to anti-trinitarian book by Patrick Navas. He points out how dogmatic Patrick is when he criticizes Trinitarians for being "dogmatic".
He then discusses the prologue of John and John Ch. 5. (HT to Algo)
Here is the program!
15:49:55 - Category: The Dividing Line - Link to this article -
Will Need to Skip Today's DL...Will Make It Up! The DL is ON for 3:30
11/17/2011 - James White
Rich Pierce
04:57:50 - Category: The Dividing Line - Link to this article -
Open Phones and Pravda Seminary Report on Today's Dividing Line
11/15/2011 - James White
Answered an e-mail question regarding New Testament textual variants and the comparison to the Qur'an, then took phone calls on various subjects from infra/supralapsarianism to baptismal regeneration. Then David from New Mexico called and filled us in on the Pravda, err, Veritas Seminary apologetics conference in Albuquerque this past weekend, where Ergun Caner spoke with armed police standing by. Could there have been a credible threat? Sure, I guess...except that the police left as soon as he was done, and were not there beforehand, so, the "threat" would have to be directed against Caner alone. Furthermore, we have all gone through the stories of his allegedly being targeted in the past, and after a while, well, you can only cry "wolf" so many times. It is far more probable that this was a reaction to the events in Costa Mesa, and arise from an irrational fear of folks who want to ask questions like, "Dr. Caner, given your defenses of your falsehoods still being promoted by the main person associated with Veritas Seminary, Norman Geisler, could you please identify Hadith 2425 and tell us how it is relevant to the Qur'an?" We can't have THAT happening! Only "godless pagans" would ask such questions! Just believe what we tell you and all will be fine! David mentioned that the presentation was short, surface-level, and disappointing, from a serious apologetic standpoint. Anyway, an interesting report with which to end today's program. Here's the program.And don't forget the WayBack Machine, streaming Dividing Lines from 1998 onward 24/7! You can listen on the Flash Player found here.
12:04:55 - Category: The Dividing Line - Link to this article -
Sam Gipp, Bible Baptist KJV Only Fundamentalists, and Anti-Calvinism on Today's Dividing Line
11/10/2011 - James White
Back on June 11, 2011, a debate took place in Rochester, New York, on the topic of the Five Points. It was billed as "the Baptists" vs. "the Reformed." What it was, of course, was Independent Fundamentalist King James Only Dispensationalist Synergists vs. Reformed Theology. I am a Baptist, but there was nothing in these men's hermeneutics that I could even begin to recognize as my own. In any case, this train-wreck of theology and hermeneutics was a tremendous field from which to draw example after example of really, really bad hermeneutics and exegesis. My favorite was when one of the "Baptists" quoted Hebrews 10:10, "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (KJV). He then informed us that clearly this refuted limited atonement, because it clearly says Christ died "for all," that is, for every single person. The reality that this is a temporal adverb (ἐφάπαξ) and it cannot mean that (linguistically and contextually) but that fact did not seem to present itself during his study of the text. Likewise educational was Sam Gipp's amazing attempt to get around the meaning of Ephesians 2:8-9. In any case, hopefully this will be a useful study in how not to handle the Bible, and the dangers of the combination of King James Onlyism, dispensationalism, and anti-Calvinism. Here's the program.And don't forget the WayBack Machine, streaming Dividing Lines from 1998 onward 24/7! You can listen on the Flash Player found here.
16:14:26 - Category: The Dividing Line - Link to this article -
Today on a Radio Free Geneva: Finishing Olson's Against Calvinism
11/08/2011 - James White
We finished looking at the eleven Calvinist objections answered in the appendix of Olson's new book. I noted that I will try to work his book on Arminian theology into my reading/listening/riding schedule over the next few weeks, mainly because I found his attempts to explain God's relationship to time and the events in time highly problematic. Stay tuned for that! We then took the time to play the audio of the audience interruption of Ergun Caner's talk on Islam and Mormonism at the Costa Mesa Calvary Chapel back on 10/29, and we gave a good bit of background information on what actually happened. Here's the program.Note that I will be listening to a debate that was sent to me on Calvinism involving the well-known KJV Only advocate Sam Gipp while I ride over the next few days. That may result in a spontaneous, uncontrollable explosion of Radio Free Genevas, at, like, 2:45am or something. So...be warned!
16:24:13 - Category: The Dividing Line - Link to this article -
Radio Free Geneva: Beginning of a Review of Roger Olson's "Against Calvinism"
11/03/2011 - James White
We had been hearing about the arrival of Roger Olson's book, Against Calvinism, for quite some time. It happened to arrive just before I left for Australia, so I did not have time to do much more than review his comments on 1 Timothy 2:4 (here). I have now returned home, so I got his book recorded to mp3 and tackled it while attacking South Mountain here in Phoenix (here's proof!). It was a painful listen at times, but, truly, nothing new, nothing insightful, and nothing in the way of challenging exegesis. In other words, another standard Arminian with one exception: Olson admits that even if he were convinced the Bible actually teaches what Calvinists believe, he would not accept it. At least he is open about his ultimate authorities. In any case, I decided it merited a Radio Free Geneva. We got through most of what I wanted to say, but I want to finish up on his responses to Calvinists on the next program on Tuesday, then we will take your calls, or, if there is interest, take calls on the Perkins debate and his post-debate antics. Here's the program.
BTW, put together a new set up for doing the DL. I have a good bit more "acreage" as far as my screens are concerned to keep all the stuff I have going on front and center. This is what I'm looking at while doing the DL and multi-tasking (esp. when Johnny calls with one of his hum-dinger questions!).
18:28:37 - Category: The Dividing Line - Link to this article -
Get Ready for a Radio Free Geneva!
11/03/2011 - James White
What happens when you take the time to read through Roger Olson's new book? You need to do a Radio Free Geneva! Yes indeed, this afternoon at 4pm tune in for a review of Against Calvinism!
12:34:46 - Category: The Dividing Line - Link to this article -
Hateful Godless Pagans and More on Today's Caller-Driven DL!
11/01/2011 - James White
This past weekend I saw a tweet about a brother who had gone to the Veritas National Apologetics Conference at the Costa Mesa Calvary Chapel in California. He wore his own version of the Hadith 2425 t-shirt and went to Ergun Caner's table in the bookstore. The resultant encounter was narrated today on the Dividing Line as he called in and gave us a report on what happened. According to Ergun Caner, if you catch him lying for years on end, making up stories about growing up in Turkey, speaking Arabic, debating Muslims, etc., and you dare to continue to challenge his promotion by Norman Geisler and Veritas Seminary as an "expert" on Islam, you "hate" him and his ministry, and Norman Geisler and his ministry, and you are a "godless pagan." He won't answer your question, and he won't dialogue with you. He will, however, sick the security guys on you. They will then keep an eye on you if you stick around, and eventually ask you if you are "with Alpha and Omega Ministries." Hardly the actions of a repentant person, to be sure. We were also informed that someone else actually interrupted Caner's talk and called him a fraud---which, while true, is about the dumbest way you can express that truth. Not only does it damage your credibility, but one thing folks just don't understand: when you do something like that, you know the other guy will get the last word. And since the people in the audience have no idea what you are babbling about, and lack the background to understand, he will, if he's smart, spin it to his own advantage, which is what Caner did.Then we took lots of other calls on lots of topics, letting open phones drive us till about 20 after, so almost a full "jumbo" edition. Here's the program.
And don't forget the WayBack Machine, streaming Dividing Lines from 1998 onward 24/7! You can listen on the Flash Player found here.
15:37:10 - Category: The Dividing Line - Link to this article -
Live, Open Phones DL Today!
11/01/2011 - James White
Join us at the regular time for the Dividing Line today (11am MST) where we will have open phones---so how long the program is depends on the callers! See you then!06:17:11 - Category: The Dividing Line - Link to this article -
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