Dr. Ergun Caner preached on why he was predestined not to be a “hyper Calvinist” at the Thomas Road Baptist Church this past weekend. A number of folks were kind enough to send me the link to the video, found here. In this sermon you will not hear a meaningful, let alone accurate, definition of “hyper Calvinist,” but you will find Dr. Caner switching back and forth between “Calvinist” and “hyper Calvinist.” He spoke from 1 Timothy 2, so you will hear a lot about “all” and its meaning, however, you will not hear about the key term in that passage, mesi,thj (“mediator”), nor will you find any evidence that Dr. Caner has seriously considered any responses to this text from outside his own camp. You will hear about how Calvinism is an “infection,” and you will hear him steal a horrific line recently used by Danny Akin about those who think “J.C.” stands for John Calvin instead of Jesus Christ (a truly reprehensible line). And you will likewise hear that God hated Esau because of what Esau did, but you will not hear him read, “or though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls” (Romans 9:11). You get the idea.
Alpha and Omega Ministries is a Christian apologetics organization based in Phoenix, Arizona. James White, director, is a professor, having taught Greek, Systematic Theology, and various topics in the field of apologetics for numerous schools.
