Archive for category: Reformed Apologetics

   For those who recall the series I did last summer responding to the lectures of Steve Gregg against Calvinism, a debate is scheduled for Sunday night, March 30th at Twin Lakes Church in Aptos, California.    In preparation Mr. Gregg has indicated that his views have evolved, I guess would be the term, since he recorded the programs I responded to.

   I mentioned a few days ago that I am working this week on recording many hours of apologetics videos for satellite broadcasting in Iran. I asked this morning if I might get a brief clip from what we had done on the first day, and the folks were very kind to provide me with just that! I have to confess,

   If you have been a Calvinist for some time, you have heard the objection “Predestination is a mystery,” or some version of that. Often it is a good-intentioned pious remark, and other times it is intended to blunt discussion on the certainty that God has spoken with clarity of his freedom in saving a people for himself. Recently someone responded

   Chris Arnzen, mastermind coordinator behind the Great Debate series, hosts a daily radio show, Iron Sharpens Iron. Dr. White has been on this show frequently, most recently in dialog with Catholic apologist Gerry Matatics, and also giving 10 questions for potential Roman Catholic converts.        For those of you committed to the doctrines of grace, a few recent shows deserve

   Remember Dan Corner? He was on Gene Cook’s program a while back? The one-string banjo playing fellow whose only topic of discussion is “OSAS”? Well, for those of you who send money to Dan Corner for his ministry, you might want to consider what he is spending it on. Open up a browser (this seems to only be in the

   I’ve seen it many times. The Cage Stage. A believer’s eyes are opened to the majesty of God as the sovereign King of the universe, and their entire life is turned upside down. And for a while, they have more zeal than they have knowledge. We call it the “cage stage.” That period in the experience of the new Calvinist

   This is the last portion of the program I am posting, and it is what probably most of this audience would like the previous nine to have been like! We finally got a caller who was able to enunciate his objections with passion and clarity. This clip is just over seven minutes in length, and brings to a close my

   Second to last portion of discussion on the subject of predestination from Revelation TV in London on May 16, 2007.

   I have finished recording clips from the May 16th London program on predestination, so I now know that including this one, there are only three left. Interestingly, the most intense discussion takes place in the last clip with a caller named Tom on the ever-central topic of God’s love. In this clip I finally get to launch into Romans 9…only

   A brief study from PRBC’s Wednesday evening service on the subject of God as a “respecter of persons.”

   Now, in television, you can go from a discussion of theodicy straight into a caller who thinks if you are not a premillenial dispensationalist you are anti-Semitic and into “replacement theology.” Oh well, that’s how it goes when you open the phones, to be sure! I am still thankful for the opportunity to say even the few things I was

I have placed here a collection of all the Dividing Line Radio shows with James White responding to Steve Gregg’s claims and interpretations. If you know anyone who follows Gregg’s teachings, send them this link so they can be provided this thorough critique. 1. Introduction to Gregg’s synergism; and John 6. Here. 2. Gregg’s ignorance of standard Reformed literature; his

   Jaiotu posted this on YouTube. I almost used the Gregg clip about the tractor beam in my own theme mix, but decided not to, and had forgotten that Hunt clip where he called me John White. Maybe that keeps happening because they mix John Piper’s name into mine somehow? Anyway, I thought I’d share this.

   Now, this is something you won’t see very often. I don’t get to say a word in this clip. But, I said a few things with just my face. Watch me as I figure out this caller is a universalist before he makes that explicit.

   I’ll be honest, trying to get something accomplished once the phone calls start in a context like this is…very difficult. But, I give it the ol’ college try.

   One of the odd things about this particular program was that smack dab in the middle of a sentence, they switched the digital channel they were on. You’ll see that appear in this clip.

   The London predestination discussion continued.

   With many thanks to Martin, our UK DL listener and friend, I recently received a recording of the discussion I did on “Revelation TV” with London School of Theology professor Tony Lane (Ph.D., Oxford) and Edward Boamah (graduate of Trinity Seminary) on May 16th, 2007. I will be posting hopefully useful sections here on the blog.

   Jean Cauvin, aka, John Calvin, was born July 10, 1509 in Noyon, France. Today is Calvin’s 498th birthday.    I have often said that the ink of Calvin’s writings smudges. That is, he had the ability to write in a timeless fashion, in a way that speaks to generation after generation. His was a rare gift.    I could pray that God

   The “Calvinist vs. Arminian” debate throughout church history is substantially a debate between what is called “synergism” and “monergism.” It is impossible for there to be any third option (well, ok, if one is willing to be a Pelagian). For those who are new to the Calvinist-Arminian debate, the following is an instructive primer on the two perennial branches of

On May 7, 2007 Dr. Mark A. Garcia, an OPC (Orthodox Presbyterian Church) minister in the Presbytery of the South who is currently at Cambridge University as visiting scholar in the faculty of history, debated Cambridge philosophy professor Simon Blackburn in Cambridge, England. Some of the topics addressed were: *God makes life meaningful. *The world would be better off without

   Dan Borvan was just over in Europe and visited Geneva and sent me a shot of the famed “Reformation Wall” (the one most folks who live in Geneva don’t know anything about anymore). I’ve seen it many times, but I’ve not seen it with someone standing in front of it. The perspective helps you to see how truly large it

A quick word of explanation about this debate. It was held at “The Grind,” a youth-oriented place in Tampa, hence the less than formal clothing. The topic was inclusivism, and I am debating Dr. John Sanders, one of the better known inclusivists. This debate is available here in video and here in audio.

   I have been saying often in my review of Steve Gregg’s materials that I truly see no consistent reason why Mr. Gregg is not an Open Theist. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad he isn’t, but the problem is, he really has no consistent reason why he is not. His theology of man’s will, and his theology of God’s creatorship,

   Ever intent upon demonstrating that the “r” part of “rC” is a meaningless addition, the boys of the oxymoronic blog have provided some hum-dingers of late. Both Kevin Johnson and Tim Enloe have used the “post something that is ultra nasty and names names and demonstrates we are as sectarian as they come and detest conservative Calvinists with a passion

   C. Gordon Olson needs to be held to the standard his own writings have placed upon him. As we have begun noting, Olson seems to view himself as one with sufficient basis to overthrow the consensus translations of all major English translations of the Bible as long as it fits into his “mediate theology,” i.e., his particular brand of synergism.

C. Gordon Olson presents a fair amount of historical analysis in Beyond Calvinism and Arminianism. Coming under scrutiny is none other than John Calvin. One curious historical tidbit by Olson is the implication Calvin did not believe faith is the gift of God given to a specific chosen people. Of Calvinists believing faith is a gift from God, Olson says,

   The irony, of course, is that not only does Falwell demonstrate tremendous inconsistency in his own presentation, and in reference to his statements of the past, but he does so at an institution that is constantly attacking Reformed theologians as “hyper-Calvinists,” while he himself is the one illustrating the nature of what it means to be “hyper” by identifying the

C. Gordon Olson’s Beyond Calvinism and Arminianism (New Jersey: Global Gospel Publishers, 2002) hasn’t sold as many copies as other books against Calvinism. Since the book appears to be self-published, those in New Jersey have more copies than most other regional locations. The author lived in New Jersey when the book was released, and gave lectures in local churches based