Pulished on November 21, 2007 • Written by neiswonger
(A response to a friend)
Well it’s a tough one, because those of a Greek orthodox persuasion are very into being Greek, and so the Greek theology is closely tied in with their sense of themselves and their thoughts of their own identity as a people. What I mean is, for them the fact that their […]
Pulished on October 8, 2007 • Written by neiswonger
“You have given us a good explanation, one that many opponents of Calvinism don’t understand. It still doesn’t explain why God chooses some and not others, or rather why he would choose some for destruction. That is left to the inscrutable, hidden, mysterious will of God. Barth pointed out the problem with that, is that […]
Pulished on September 20, 2007 • Written by neiswonger
The Five points of Calvinism.
You know the whole ‘5 points’ thing is kind of funny. John Calvin never had five points. While I really think he would have agreed with them, his was mainly an exegetical way of looking at what he thought Scripture was saying about some very important things. I think that if […]
Pulished on September 14, 2007 • Written by neiswonger
(A response to a friend)
I’m an Augustinian. Poor and ragged as we might be.
The essence of Calvinism is that the effective cause of the salvation of the sinner is the Grace of God, mercifully given in Jesus Christ, and not some pre-existing good found in the sinner apart from God. I appreciate your taking the […]
Pulished on August 30, 2007 • Written by neiswonger
Last night I was watching Stevie Ray Vaughn. First live at the Monterrey Jazz Festival in 82, then his triumphant return in 85. The first time, they nearly boo-ed him off the stage. When he came back in 85, he headlined the event to the cheers of adoring thousands. Really the two performances weren’t very […]
Pulished on July 24, 2007 • Written by neiswonger
A Recent Spate of Calvinism. Part Five.
http://neiswonger.wordpress.com/2007/06/29/a-recent-spate-of-calvinism-part-four/”>Continued from Part Four.
“Now since one and the same grace may in one instance be efficacious, and in another inefficacious, it follows that the so-called gratia efficax must be conceived according to its essence as efficax ab extrinsico. In this conception there is no lessening of the dignity and […]
Pulished on July 19, 2007 • Written by neiswonger
First causes and second thoughts. (an answer to a friend)
Plato and Aristotle were the big “First Cause” guys. They wrote quite a bit about it in their books on everything from politics to metaphysics. It’s must reading for those interested. Aquinas was the main technical formulator of the Five Ways, or what we call the […]
Pulished on July 12, 2007 • Written by neiswonger
On Atheisms and why they are unthinkable.
There are things, we can call them things because we don’t really know what else to call them, like the laws of logic, numbers, consciousness, ethics, relations, things that seem to be eternal and unchangeable, that are inexplicable in terms of eternal material as the singular explanatory fact, or […]
Pulished on July 2, 2007 • Written by neiswonger
A Recent Spate of Calvinism. Part Four.
When you hear somebody that says they are a Calvinist say that man has no freewill, it’s hard to take that seriously. We all know that man has a will. The question is generally as to what man desires, not whether or not he does so. There has been […]
Pulished on June 26, 2007 • Written by neiswonger
A recent spate of Calvinism. Part Three.
“Only lest any one should presume so to deny freedom of will, from a desire to excuse sin.” Augustine.
“Of our own we have nothing but sin.” Augustine.
Calvinism can make your head hurt. You get into all of the confusing little nooks and crannies of the Christian faith just to […]