Apologetics.com 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 […]

“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 […]

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 […]

 (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 […]

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 […]

On “Faith Alone” in the thought of Phillip Melanchthon
I wouldn’t want you to misunderstand me as to writing that what you said, was well said.  It was meant to imply neither agreement nor that your arguments had persuasive force, but that I can appreciate you apart form all of that.  Your initial comments were thoughtful, […]

To a Friend,
As much as I disagree with much of what Van Til said and wrote, saying that General Revelation, God’s revelation of Himself in creation, is of equal authority with Special Revelation, meaning the Scriptures themselves, seems to be true.
It’s good that you are careful on these distinctions because many under value their necessity, […]

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 […]

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 […]

 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 […]