Monday, September 18, 2017

A Quick Argument Against Libertarian Calvinism

http://www.proginosko.com/2017/09/a-quick-argument-against-libertarian-calvinism/

6 comments:

  1. Steve, one question. Have you written any article on assurance of salvation under Calvinism? How can I know that I'm a member of the elect? How can I have assurance that Christ died for me? Or that he loves me? I know that this may be off topic but it's an important question. Is there any other way to contact you if I need resources to different questions I may have?

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    Replies
    1. Here's a blogpost from the same author of the blogpost above (Dr. James Anderson). You will see that there's a discussion on it in the comments section, and Steve gets involved.

      http://www.proginosko.com/2009/12/calvinism-assurance-and-inerrancy/

      Basically, in a nutshell, if you apply the test of assurance, then you can know if you're saved or not. If you are truly saved, then under Calvinism you are part of the elect. And if so, this means Christ died for you and redemptively loves you. Under Calvinism, if you have saving faith today, then you will have saving faith tomorrow and so forth. But you can't know this is you're an Arminian.

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    2. Calvinism doesn't present a unique problem in that regard. You know that you're elect by knowing that you're saved. Whatever the direct evidence for your salvation is indirect evidence for your election. At that level, it's the same for Calvinism and freewill theism alike. "How do I know that I'm saved"? The difference is that in freewill theism, knowing you're saved today carries no presumption for tomorrow.

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    3. "The difference is that in freewill theism, knowing you're saved today carries no presumption for tomorrow."

      Unless you are a free will theist (like Southern Baptists) who believes in LFW and at the same time believes in Perseverance of the Saints. I believe that is an impossibility, for if you are free in the libertarian sense, there is no way God can prevent you from committing apostasy. So I agree with you that free will theism isn't a better option than Calvinism. Both offer the same level of assurance (maybe you have a reason to think that Calvinism offers more assurance).

      I have, a long time ago, ruled out free will theism by the problems it presents both philosophically and scripturally. I'm considering Calvinism, and while it solves all the problems regarding foreknowledge and providence, it presents a number of new problems that free will theism seems solve. Moral responsibility given compatibilism, predestination, limited atonement, and God's salvific will only for the elect, among others.

      If you have written something about those topics I would be glad to read what you and Calvinists in general have to say.

      God bless.

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    4. Here's some basic resources:

      http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2014/07/annotated-prooftexts.html

      http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2014/06/arminian-prooftexts.html

      https://analytictheologye4c5.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/free-will-and-moral-responsibility-intro11.pdf

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  2. Steve "The difference is that in freewill theism, knowing you're saved today carries no presumption for tomorrow."

    Plus: "Unless you are a free will theist (like Southern Baptists) who believes in LFW and at the same time believes in Perseverance of the Saints. I believe that is an impossibility, for if you are free in the libertarian sense, there is no way God can prevent you from committing apostasy."

    Plus,

    Not necessarily. One can consistently hold to LFW and to the notion that God will prevent all believers from committing apostasy. The third premise is that God will take someone home prior to committing apostasy.

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