Calvinism, Perseverance and Assurance: Some Further Analysis

My parting attempt at humour notwithstanding, the long and involved debate with Anglican Ablaze's Robin Jordan isn't as "over" as one would like.  For his part he has sounded the trumpet against the monstrous regiment of Charles Finney.  For mine, I'd like to take this another direction, because, as I said, I don't think the …

Going Downhill with Anglicans Ablaze's Robin Jordan

Those of you who have followed my recent posts on Calvinism (this and this) and even my exposition on Origen and the literal sense of Scripture know that these have elicited a vigorous rejoinder by Robin Jordan of Anglicans Ablaze.  With the responses from same and now his own blog post on the "slippery slope" …

Calvinism and Universalism: A Follow-Up

As a follow-up to my earlier post on Calvinism—and a partial response to Anglicans Ablaze’s Robin Jordan—I wanted to supply more details on my contention that Calvinism “…is the fastest road to universalism in Christianity.” Following is a part of Robert Morey’s Death and the Afterlife, where he discusses and ultimately refutes universalism.  I heartily …

Why the Romance of Calvinism?

Fr. Victor Novak's recent article in VirtueOnline about Calvinism, Catholicism and the Thirty-Nine Articles opens an interesting subject for disparate groups such as Anglicans, Baptists and Pentecostals: why is there so much attraction these days for Calvinism in places where it was either non-existent or not well represented? Let's start with Fr. Novak's article.  He …

Will We Have to Work in Heaven?

Every now and then I have stop and protest one thing or another that has become fashionable among Evangelicals.  We’re always told that every good and trendy thing comes from the Throne Room.  But that isn’t really the case, and it makes sense to call some of these things out.  I have friends on Facebook …

Phoenix Sonshine: Shinin’ In The Light

(Destiny D-4404-S) 1971 "Jesus Music" was, by definition, evangelistic. It also tended to be folksy; there were many in the movement who had strong reservations about the use of straight-up rock 'n roll for Christian music. (There were others who didn't, but I digress.) Phoenix Sonshine epitomised that sound and that message with this evangelistic, …

Fading Glory

Next month, Lord willing, I start the second year of my PhD adventure in Computational Engineering.  "Adventure" is a good way to describe it, especially in my superannuated state.  In the midst of getting the coursework started last fall (yes, Europeans, sad to say we have coursework with PhD programmes) we had a "freshman" orientation. …

They Love to Feel the Whip

One of the most ill-starred love stories of the last century was that of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Tsarina Alexandra.  Neither was equipped by temperament or upbringing to lead an absolute monarchy into World War I.  Nicholas was a weak-willed heir thrust into his role prematurely and unwillingly by the death of his …

Preventing the Anglican Revolt in the Church of God: The Obvious Rationale Behind Agenda Item #18

As I mentioned earlier, the Church of God will convene its General Assembly next week in Orlando.  The agenda is out and posted. Most church meeting agendas like this are full of arcane items that may be very weighty to those whom they directly impact but of little relevance to everyone else, even for general …

A Multicultural Body: The Church of God's Greatest Challenge

Now that the Episcopalians have completed their boffo performance in Indianapolis, we can turn to another large church gathering: the Church of God General Assembly in Orlando, which will be warming up this time next week.  There are many issues on the agenda, including the church's favourite parlour game: who will move up in the …

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