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Francis Turretin vs. Jesus Christ on the World of John 3:16

Thus far, we've looked at John Owen and Arthur W. Pink's rendition of the word "world" in John 3:16. While some have logged on either denying it matters what the biblical text actually says (see here), others have falsely but desperately and incredibly claimed I'm putting words in the author's mouth (e.g see here, here). What no one has demonstrated thus far is, how either Owen or Pink's rendition of KOSMOS ("world" in John 3:16) as the world of "believers only" (or world of the "elect") is deduced from the biblical text itself and not inferred from preconceived theological notions imposed upon the biblical text.

Norm Miller, opportunists, and a whole lotta chokin goin on

Norm Miller serves as Director of Communications at Truett-McConnell College (TMC) in Cleveland, GA. Before going to TMC, Miller served for a number of years as a denominational journalist. He was writer and editor in the public relations department of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, staff writer for the IMB, and in 1998 was named news and information director for Southern Baptist Theological Seminary under Al Mohler (//link). Words—written words—have been the giftedness God gave to Norm and, as his journey in Southern Baptist life attests, many have seen this gift and desired his gift to be used for God’s glory in their respective fields of harvest. I'm glad to call Norm Miller my friend.

James White and humility

Take a listen at one snippet from White's broadband broadcast critiquing The 2013 John 3:16 Conference speakers (including my booklet on Calvinism in the same broadcast). It's only 40 secs long but a powerful statement concerning how James White views himself compared with other brothers in ministry:

Baptist Press reports on the 2013 John 3:16 Conference

Baptist Press posted a good summary article on The 2013 John 3:16 Conference held at North Metro First Baptist Church March 21-22. It rightly cast the differences between the earlier conference as a planned response to each of the five-points Calvinism (T.U.L.I.P.) and this year's conference:

A helpful visual image demonstrating the influence of a single man in the Southern Baptist Convention

Thanks to Dr. Adam Harwood, the helpful visual below shows how powerfully influential one man can be in a convention of churches like Southern Baptists. In itself, the image is neutral. That is, the visual only depicts what is without necessarily suggesting what ought to be. Hence, while my inference from the visual might produce alarming concern, a concern the reality of which I see inevitably leading to top-down, centralized authority going against the grain of free church tradition, another's inference might suggest an appreciation--or even inspiration--about how God uses certain people. Indeed, it's quite possible it might produce both of the above or neither of the above while yet producing another inference.

David Allen: Regeneration can hardly precede faith...at least not according to Scripture...

SBC Today posts a great summary of Dr. David Allen's presentation and The 2013 John 3:16 Conference. Of Ephesians 2:1-10, Allen says,

“Part of what is driving the ‘regeneration precedes faith’ issue is a flawed anthropology drawn partly from Ephesians 2. With respect to Ephesians 2:1-10, when Paul speaks of the unregenerate as being ‘dead in sins’ there is no question that ‘dead’ is being used metaphorically. In Scripture, ‘death’ is often used metaphorically to express alienation from God and ‘life’ is used to express union with God via salvation (See Aquinas and O’Brien in Ephesians, [Pillar Commentary]). This death is ‘on account of’ or ‘with respect to’ our sins (notice the nouns are in the dative and there is no preposition in the Greek text). Many Calvinists suggest that this passage either 1) overtly teaches human inability (usually moral inability) in the sense of ‘one cannot because they will not,’ affirming the Edwardsian distinction between natural and moral inability of sinners to respond to the gospel; or 2) implies human inability to respond to the gospel (John Eadie, Ephesians, 121, argued that ‘dead’ implies inability.). There are other biblical figures of speech used to connote depravity which do not indicate or imply total inability. Calvinists assume their definition of spiritual death is correct and then superimpose it on the word ‘dead’ in Ephesians 2. Notice in the broader context the separation motif in Ephesians (2:12, 13, 19, 4:18). Notice also the parallel passage in Colossians 2:12-13, where Paul affirms that even though people are spiritually dead, they can still exercise faith in God.”

Allen always comes through in disassembling Calvinistic propositions since he bases his conclusions not on theological interpretation of Scripture but on exegetical analysis of Scripture. For him, while regeneration does not precede faith, exegesis does precede theology.

Dr. David Allen @ the John 3:16 Conference

Louisiana College Board met, will meet again April 30 by Kelly Boggs

We continue to express appreciation to Baptist Message editor, Kelly Boggs, for allowing us to post in full the articles concerning the crisis at Louisiana College. Below is the latest piece. Links to related stories and articles follow.

The 2013 John 3:16 Conference, Criticism, and the Calvinist Controversy in Louisiana: Part II

In Part I, I recorded the first of two examples indicative of unhelpful criticism--and in some cases, irresponsible and even slanderous criticism--some of the more rigorous Calvinists lobbed toward The 2013 John 3:16 Conference. Montana pastor, J.D. Hall, claimed Truett-McConnell College was "theologically raping" the students, while indicating one of its professors, Adam Harwood, was much to blame. And, while Hall at first defended his words when some of his Twitter followers protested, he nonetheless offered a clear word of regret and publicly apologized for his "harsh" language, conceding Trevin Wax's "rebuke was appropriate. Apologies, to everyone."

The 2013 John 3:16 Conference, Criticism, and the Calvinist Controversy in Louisiana: Part I

UPDATE: Please note our brother J.D. Hall has issued a public apology for his disparaging remarks concerning Truett-McConnell College and Adam Harwood, remarks which I critique in the post below. We thank our brother for his short but very straight-forward amends. May our Lord be pleased in all...

Why all the buzz? Further thoughts on the present Calvinism conversation by Earl Blackburn

Below is the final of four entries on the purported Calvinism issue posted on March 12, 2013 in The Message, Louisiana Baptists' state paper. Editor Kelly Boggs generously sent all four articles to me so non-subscribers could access the important articles dealing with the unfortunate situation developing at Louisiana College. The three prior articles are linked at the end.

Louisiana editor Kelly Boggs responds to bloggers' criticism

Below is a response editor Kelly Boggs prepared in light of some of the unfounded criticism he received toward his editorial entitled "Situation at LC unfolds." Particularly, Joshua Breland, a Louisiana College graduate and now Caskey School of Divinity student, posted a rousing critique of Boggs' piece claiming it "misrepresents and misconstrues facts" surrounding the unfortunate turmoil taking place on the Baptist campus. Yet as I stated in a brief mention of Breland's criticism, the Caskey divinity student not only "misfires by offering not a single, legitimate complaint" against Boggs' editorial, but also demonstrates, in part, why young Calvinists like Breland remain rooted in the controversy over Calvinism in the SBC and will never become a viable part of the solution to the problem of Calvinism in the SBC unless they change both their attitude and approach toward those with whom they disagree.

Louisiana's Message republishes "The Calvinists are here" by Georgia's Christian Index editor, Gerald Harris

The Baptist Message recently posted a series of articles on the purported issue over Calvinism at Louisiana College. I received permission from The Message editor to re-post the four articles in full on my site since many Southern Baptists outside Louisiana are watching with concerned interest the fiasco taking place on the Baptist campus. Yet since so few of us outside Louisiana subscribe to The Message, we were left completely in the dark as to the content of the articles. You may find the first and second articles linked after the editorial below.

Editor Kelly Boggs implores, "Please, just the facts" concerning the controversy at Louisiana College

"Please, just the facts" is the second editorial recently posted by Louisiana's The Message dealing with the purported claim that Louisiana College is embroiled over Calvinism. Both articles are republished at SBC Tomorrow by permission of The Message. The full text follows:¹

"Situation at LC unfolds" by Kelly Boggs

Below is the first of four articles appearing in Louisiana's The Baptist Message,  articles addressing the alleged controversy over Calvinism at Louisiana College. The first article appearing March 12, 2013 is by editor Kelly Boggs and entitled "Situation at LC unfolds." The full text follows below.¹

 UPDATE: see below

Louisiana Baptists' state paper finally weighs in on the embroiled Louisiana College issue allegedly concerning Calvinism

According to Kelly Boggs, editor of Louisiana's The Baptist Message, in a piece just now posted entitled "Situation at LC unfolds,"