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From The Collected Writings of James Henley Thornwell, Volume I - Theological, Lecture X - Man Freedom of the Will This is one of the most difficult questions in the whole compass of Metaphysical Philosophy or Christian Theology. Its inherent difficulties have been aggravated by the ambiguities...

Notice the New Age conviction that all spiritual paths lead to the same goal. Even though these different paths may appear contradictory, they really are not. But no New Age disciple really believes that all paths are equal. All of them reject at least one spiritual path, that of biblical...

First, some background on the fall of Adam. The Reformed view sees Adam sinning by his own free will, not by divine coercion. Reformed, as well as other views, teaches that God’s predestining decree was made before the Fall, and in light of the Fall. This is important because the Reformed...

Regularly we encounter the response to one of our firm answers to another calling attention to their error as but the sarcastic tongue-in-cheek "so nice to see the Christian love being demonstrated in your response". It is as if any clear denunciation of error, even blasphemy, is grounds for...

Three items that I have found to be very accurate and useful when it comes to choosing Bible commentaries that I want to pass along: A Layman's Commentary Guide: http://ceourl.com/AMRLaymenCommentaries Commentaries for the Whole Bible: http://ceourl.com/AMRWholeBibleCommentaries Commentaries...

Appeals to Judas as an example that refutes perseverance of the saints are often made by Pentecostals... I would have to disagree that Judas or others like him qualify as believers. He possessed no saving faith and thus was never one of the elect of God. At best Judas was one of many that...

Some various facts and other things about the Bible I have collected over the years follow. The 27th edition of the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece has 138,020 words including those in double and single brackets. The NA28 has seven less words. The electronic text of Westcott and Hort has...

It is true that Calvin wrote some things that would seem to indicate he would have been in sympathy with a symmetric form of supralapsarianism, although the debate about supralapsarianism per se, did not occur in his lifetime (see Calvin's Calvinism, trans. by Henry Cole, 89ff; also William...

What follows are the question and aswer sessions held at the Ligonier The Gospel: 2016 National Conference, Feb 25-27, Orlando, FL. First Session: A panel discussion with Drs. W. Robert Godfrey, Albert Mohler, and William VanDoodewaard. Questions: 1. Why has the church lost its appreciation...

From the Ligonier The Gospel: 2016 National Conference A panel discussion with Drs. W. Robert Godfrey, Albert Mohler, and William VanDoodewaard. Questions: 1. Why has the church lost its appreciation for the Sabbath? (00:17) 2. Would today’s evangelical world view Eric Liddell skeptically...

As a pastor, I was sometimes asked to re-baptize another who felt he or she was not a believer when baptized. I am not one who advocates multiple baptisms. Why? It was the providence of God that your baptism occurred when it did. Now that you are sure you have saving faith, the contemplation of...

The CoW is covenant of works, sometimes also called the covenant of life. CoG, sometimes called the covenant of redemption, is a covenant of grace, a pre-temporal covenantal in which the Father would glorify his Son by sending him as a Mediator of foreseen sin. Salvation has been God’s plan from...

Let us never ascribe to God the idea that He is the author (the doer) of sin and evil... Evil is not something sitting in the corner smoldering as in some substance or spiritual essence. Evil has no substantial, ontological existence. Matthew Henry is helpful here: The tree was not evil, nor...

God’s existence cannot be measured by time. The past, present, and future of God’s existence are possessed by Him in one indivisible equal vividness. He has no before or afterward, no earlier or later. In fact, God transcends all temporal limitations and is without beginning or end. As such God...

My Top Twenty for Surviving on TOL, in no particular order: 1. Pay for a subscription every year or more ;) 2. Don’t take the bait—ignore those that continue to annoy and/or provoke you 3. Start your threads with descriptive titles 4. Don’t tug on Superman’s cape—respect the...

I really don’t care to debate the topic of federal/corporate versus individual election. This is a commonly used tactic of the anti-Calvinist who is usually not thinking about things very deeply. I know that sounds harsh, but just sample any internet discussion site where Calvinists and...

Unconditional Election An Interview with J. I. Packer MR: Dr. Packer, what exactly do people mean by unconditional election? Packer: It is a phrase which folk use to express this thought: that because we sinners are helpless, God has to take all the steps that are necessary in order to bring us...

In this post are numerous linked responses to the typical claims of the Roman Catholic who has adopted the mythological history of Rome's own making. Having once been a Romanist, I know from experience that if you can get a Roman Catholic to actually do some fact checking on the claims of Rome...

These sort of exchanges between Romanists are typical. They find something on the internet or over at the sad Catholic Answers Forums and run with it. Fact checking their newfound "gotchas!" always results in schooling them of their error. See also...

Hold one another accountable to: 1. Worship God alone, living all of life to his glory, renouncing all idolatry and all inordinate loves that might lead us to trust in any other help; 2. Worship God in humility, being reticent in either describing or picturing God, recognizing that right...