The Anti-Calvinist Rant

  I am breaking the  "A Random Verse That Destroys Calvinism (And 'Is the ESV a Calvinist Bible'?)"  post up into shorter segments so that each verse (or two) gets it own post. #17:   1 Peter 1:3  in most versions says either that God  “gave us new birth into a living hope”  or that He  “begotten us again into a lively hope.”   But the ESV is one of the only ones to say  “caused us to be born again to a living hope.”   It’s one thing to “give” someone something but it’s another to “cause” them to do something.  And to “cause” someone to “be born again” is very much a Calvinist concept.  (However, this verse is about God  regenerating believers , about believers – those who choose to put their faith in Jesus - being born into a “living hope.”  It’s not about God regenerating non-believers, forcing them to be born again, or about Him causing certain pre-selected people to be born into eternal life.  It’s about the promise of hope for believers, not about salvation being

I love this song and video.  And so do my kids.  In fact, I'd say it's one of the best ever made: Burn the Ships  by For King and Country   ( Click here  for where I first found it.) This song is inspired by the wife of one of the singers who had to struggle to break free from an addiction to anti-nausea medication following pregnancy.  And it's also inspired by the story of an explorer (Cortes, I believe) who made sure that his men didn't leave him, that they didn't rebel and take the ships back to their homeland instead of exploring the new lands with him.  And he did this with a bold move: by burning the ships, making it impossible for them to retreat and go home.  And now they had no choice but to go forward into the new lands with him.  They had to put the past behind them and walk into the future. This song's about breaking free from what holds us back, about leaving the past behind, the things that imprison us.  It's about doing what needs to be done

To show you how Calvinists really don't mean "anyone" when they say "anyone can be saved" (how they don't mean "all people" when they say "God loves all people and Jesus died for all people"), here are some more comments from the Soteriology 101 post "Frustrated by the state of the world?"  (I made minor corrections for clarity and added a bunch of notes in response to what the Calvinists say):  My comment, in reply to something Roland (Calvinist) said: Roland, would you mind explaining how your comment “I agree that anyone can believe in Jesus” fits with your comment “unless God gives [you] a new heart, you will not seek God” and your denial of “since God calls everyone to believe, then we must all be able to believe” and your agreement with Rhutchin (Calvinist) that “Certainly, God has determined who will be saved and who will not…”? How can you say “ anyone can believe” and yet hold those other beliefs?  (This isn’t rhetoric

Here is the next batch of ex-Calvinist testimonies (and those who never were Calvinists but who came face to face with it) from this post:  X-Calvinist Corner .   (It's an Arminian website, but I am not Arminian.)  I am going to highlight some of the comments that stood out to me the most.  If I add any comments of my own, it will be  [blue and in brackets] .  I made minor corrections for better grammar and punctuation.  If you want to read everything that everyone said, click on the link above: Nathaniel: I have quite literally spent hours and hours and hours pouring over articles and blog posts on both of these websites as well as Scripture over this past week or so, and I must say: it is a freeing, burden-lifting, God-glorifying truth that God has come to offer salvation to ALL men.  And to know that I can freely proclaim the real, actualized love of God to ALL men without any kind of double-talk is overwhelming, and a couple times over the last week has brought me to tears.  Wh

Two great songs about the beliefs that tie us believers together, that make us family: Manifesto (City Harmonic) We Believe (Newsboys) I always love hearing other sane, normal, real people who believe the same things I do, who have chosen to trust that God's Word is God's Word and who have put their faith in Jesus Christ.  Christianity is not a crazy, irrational faith.  It's actually very rational and very supported by history, archeology, science, etc.  The thing is, we all believe in something.  We all stake our souls on something. What are you staking your soul on? What if you're wrong?  Support for Jesus and the Bible An Overview of World Religions Why I Could Never Be An Atheist! A Little Girl's Nonsensical Sign Starting Your Own Relationship With Jesus And here is a good, hour-long video from a former journalist who sought to disprove Jesus but ended up believing in Him as Lord and Savior:   The Case For Christ   by Lee Strobel

  I am breaking the  "A Random Verse That Destroys Calvinism (And 'Is the ESV a Calvinist Bible'?)"  post up into shorter segments so that each verse (or two) gets it own post. #15:  This is a small one, but maybe not.  In  Hebrews 11:16 , most versions say something like  "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to/approaches/draws near to Him must believe that He exists, and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him."  But the ESV is the  only one  that adds the word "would" ... "whoever  would  draw near to God ..." To my way of thinking, "anyone who comes to God" is saying that anyone can come to God, that everyone - no matter where they are at or where they are headed - is invited to "come to God." But the ESV's "whoever would draw near to God" is about only those who are  capable  of being drawn near to God, those predestined for it, which in Calvinism would be