The Anti-Calvinist Rant

#81 and 82 in  "The Calvinist ESV"  series, from the long post  "A Random Verse That Destroys Calvinism (And 'Is the ESV a Calvinist Bible'?)" : I am not sure if I covered these next two already, but ... #81:  Notice the difference between the NIV (not the ESV this time) and the KJV versions of  Ephesians 1:11:   NIV:  “ In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will..." KJV:  “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will…” In the NIV, being “chosen” was predestined – very Calvinist! - but in the KJV, a believer’s “inheritance” is what was predestined.    Big difference. #82:   1 Thessalonians 1:2-5:  In ESV, NIV, etc., verse 4 is tied to verse 5, being “chosen” is related to the gospel coming in power, as if Paul is saying that he knows they are

In my post "A Tale of Two Sermons" , I shared something the Calvinist pastor at my ex-church preached, which was...  "The key verse in Jonah - the one that the rest of the book of Jonah hinges on - is 'Salvation belongs to our God.'  Tim Keller  [Calvinist!]  says this: 'If someone is saved, it is wholly God's doing.  It is not a matter of God saving you partly and you partly saving yourself.  No!  God saves us.  We do not and cannot save ourselves.  That is the gospel.'   And that is the message of Jonah: Only God elects.  Only God sovereignly draws.  Only God sovereignly convicts us of sin.  Only God sovereignly opens blinded eyes." And here's a segment from that post sharing my comments about it, with a few edits and additions (I think this should get its own post because it's a crucial point): 1. W e all agree that God saves us, that we cannot save ourselves.  But what Keller - and all Calvinists - really mean is that we can't ev

#77-80 in  "The Calvinist ESV"  series, from the long post  "A Random Verse That Destroys Calvinism (And 'Is the ESV a Calvinist Bible'?)" :   #77:   Ephesians 3:9  (KJV):  “And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid by God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.”    And the ESV:  “and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.”    In the KJV, notice that Paul is preaching the gospel of Christ (verse 8) in an effort to make all men see it.    But in the ESV, he’s just bringing it to light, exposing it to everyone.    It's kinda like the difference between helping people put a puzzle together... or merely putting the box in front of them and saying, "See!  There's a puzzle."  The first is to help all people put the puzzle together correctly, to help them understand it, believing that everyone can do it w

The other day, I watched a Willow Creek sermon again, and it happened to be Megan preaching again.  (I talked about her once before, see at the end of this post).  It was about heaven.  And it was good.  Very good.   But after that sermon, I decided to watch the sermon at the Calvinist church we left (I won't identify the church, or link to it), just to see what they were preaching.  And I wanted to compare these two sermons, to give you a taste of what sermons are like at a non-Calvinist church versus a Calvinist church.  I'm going to paraphrase what each pastor said, for space and to sum it up quickly.  And interestingly, both of them gave their version of the gospel, the call to salvation.  Notice how different they are.   And I want you to imagine what it would be like to be in the audience listening to these different sermons, especially if you were a broken, hurting, lost person who was aching for help and healing and hope.   First, I'll briefly paraphrase Megan's

Some more verses (#73-76)  "The Calvinist ESV"  series (from the long post  "A Random Verse That Destroys Calvinism (And 'Is the ESV a Calvinist Bible'?)" ): #73:  (I got this one from the post  The King James AV 1611 Bible vs. The English Standard Version , from Now The End Begins) Here's  Psalm 10:4  in the KJV:  "The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God..." And here's the ESV:  "In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek after him..." Once again, as we have repeatedly seen, in the KJV,  the people themselves  make decisions about God.  In this verse, they WILL NOT seek after God.  But in the ESV, they simply do not seek Him.  And in Calvinism, the non-elect do not seek Him  not  because they themselves choose to reject Him  but  because God causes them to desire/decide to reject Him. Over and over again, we can see a clear difference between the KJV and the ESV.  In the KJV, the people ar

Here are a few comments I made on Soteriology 101's most recent blog post,  (Re)Thinking Through Romans 9 .   (They don't add new posts to the blog, so check out Soteriology 101's Youtube channel for new content.)  Since I spend so much time writing these comments, I like to get double-use out of them by publishing them here too (slightly edited or reworded for clarity, and with some additions). My Comment #1, about Calvinism being unable to save anyone: I’m sure Calvinists would be offended by this, but being a Calvinist does not automatically make one a Christian.   I think there are a lot of Calvinists who are Christian because they were Christian first, before being brainwashed into Calvinism.  (Calvinism is more about hijacking non-Calvinist Christians/churches than it is about leading the unsaved to Christ.)   But I wonder about those who were "saved" through Calvinist teaching (if Calvinists were honest about what they really believed) - if those converts