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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

"Vines left speechless by book in his honor" says a Southwestern seminary news release

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary posted a news release entitled "Vines left speechless by book in his honor." The article states:

New Release--Preach the Word! A Collection of Essays on Biblical Preaching in Honor of Jerry Vines, edited by David L. Allen and Peter Lumpkins

Free Church Press just released its newest volume entitled Preach the Word! A Collection of Essays on Biblical Preaching in Honor of Jerry Vines.

Travis Dickinson on Doubt

Dr. Travis Dickinson, Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Christian Apologetics, at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, offers an excellent word for all of us who are plagued with what we might here call "doubting-thomas-syndrome." In part, he writes:   >>>

Adam Harwood and J.W. MacGorman’s “dangerous,” “unorthodox” doctrine inevitably leading to “heresy if not worse”

Recently, a Kentucky Southern Baptist pastor challenged Dr. Adam Harwood’s raising questions toward a particular seminary professor’s exclusive allegiance to imputed sinful guilt and whether the exclusiveness of the professor's view may be inconsistent with the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message.¹   

Southwestern seminary trustee defends the Allen Nomination

Dr. Bart Barber is Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Farmersville, Texas and a trustee of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. He has also served as adjunct professor at the seminary over which he now sits as trustee.¹ Barber is also my friend. I've appreciated his emboldened Free Church ecclesiology through the few short years I've known him.². And let's not forget the positive review he gave to Alcohol Today: abstinence in an age of indulgence   >>>

David Allen sets the record straight: Limited Atonement is biblically bankrupt, theologically insipient, and ethically unpreachable by Peter Lumpkins

Founders Ministries put together several theological worthies to write its latest apology for strict Calvinism, Whomever He Wills   >>>

Whomever He Wills: a scholar's review by Peter Lumpkins

  Perhaps you’ve considered my thoughts concerning Founders Press’ latest release, Whomever He Wills: a Surprising Display of Sovereign Mercy, edited by Drs. Matthew Barrett and Thomas J. Nettles.¹ My thoughts began with a short video presentation (I also mentioned one issue within the volume here). I plan another video book-note presentation shortly on Mark DeVine’s chapter entitled “Total Depravity”   >>>

The Salvation of Infants: a theological essay by C.W. Koller

Frequently, our Reformed-leaning Baptist brothers and sisters insist that the doctrine of imputed sin (i.e. “Original Sin”) as understood in the Augustinian-Calvinist theological trajectory is not only the biblical view, it is also the classic view among Southern Baptists. We’ve shown before that theologians of great stature among Southern Baptists have historically distanced themselves from Augustine on Original Sin. Nonetheless, many still accuse those of us who do not embrace Augustine’s theory of imputed Adamic guilt (based primarily upon Augustine’s skewed reading of Romans 5:12) of being “heretics” at worst and the “lessor” charge of “Semi-Pelagian” at best  >>>

W.T. Conner on the imputation of Adam's sin by Peter Lumpkins

W. T. Conner taught systematic theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary for 39 years beginning in 1910.  The bio from The Texas State Historical Association sums up his academic life well:

Calvinists recruit W.A. Criswell to their cause by Peter Lumpkins

Dr. Tom Ascol is Director of Founders Ministries, the largest network of Calvinists affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Founders Ministries maintains that since Southern Baptists have “lost the gospel”, it apparently will be up to like-minded Calvinists like themselves to assist us in finding the gospel*    >>>

*I remain very much aware I broke my own ususal standard in posting such a long piece. I only hope I have not presumed upon my readership for whom I am always thankful...

Al Mohler and Hyper-Calvinism vs.The Traditional Statement and Semi-Pelagianism by Peter Lumpkins

I’m told one of the high-lights of the 2006 Southern Baptist Convention Pastors’ Conference in Greensboro, North Carolina was the formal exchange between Drs. Al Mohler and Paige Patterson on the biblical doctrine of election.  Entitled “Reaching Today's World Through Differing Views of Election” each speaker took a different perspective on biblical election, Calvinistic and non-Calvinistic respectively. Especially enlightening are Al Mohler’s words defending Five Point Calvinism against the charge of Hyper-Calvinism  >>>

Reformed Theology coming under more published scrutiny by Peter Lumpkins

  The publication of Whosoever Will (edted by Drs. David Allen and Steve Lemke) was the result of The John 3:16 Conference held at the Woodstock First Baptist Church November 6-7, 2008.  Contra some Southern Baptist Calvinists' unwavering confidence, the scholarly contributions in Whosoever Will demonstrated that Reformed theology is not the only, viable theological kid on the block. In fact, the composite thrust of the contributors to Whosoever Will makes it fairly clear that strict Calvinism as a system must be abandoned for a more robust biblicism  >>>

I was saved through a sinner's prayer by Peter Lumpkins

Recently, the tattered, torn cloth of easy believism was draped once again over the shoulders of Southern Baptists by one of the young new lights shining among evangelicals—David Platt. He said in a “talk” excerpt at Verge 2012:

SBC name change: it's good...it's bad...it's ugly (part II) by Peter Lumpkins

Summarizing Part I, I explained the good, the bad, and some of the ugly stemming from this last attempt to change our name spawned by SBC president, Bryant Wright's appointing  of a "task force" to study the name change last September (2011). As for the good, "Great Commission Baptists" (GCB) surely captures the ideal of what and whom Southern Baptists have been throughout their history. From the moment of our beginnings in 1845, Southern Baptists have been, at their best moments, about carrying out the Great Commission of our Lord. Few, if any, imagined arguments could usurp this proposition  >>>