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Augustine and Southern Baptists: Part 6B: Augustine's Critics and Legacy by Dr. Jim Gifford

Dr. Jim Gifford This is the final installment of Dr. Gifford's series on Augustine and Southern Baptists. I want to thank him for lending us his scholarship and pursuing this series at SBC Tomorrow. Be assured that the engagement in the comments did not accurately reflect either the number of readers Gifford's series had nor the significance of the series for future discussions about Original Sin, imputed guilt, original guilt, total depravity, free will, divine sovereignty, determinism, or any number of other subjects usually under the head of philosophy of... Read more →

The 2013 John 3:16 Conference is almost here

In November, 2008, the First Baptist Church, Woodstock, Georgia hosted an insightful conference called The John 3:16 Conference, an event promising a scholarly evaluation of the recent Calvinist Resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention >>> Past president of the Southern Baptist Convention and Pastor Emeritus of First Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Florida, Dr. Jerry Vines, led the scheduled event at Woodstock. And, it did not disappoint. Subsequent to the conference, B&H Academic published the papers and sermons delivered in 2008 in a book entitled Whosoever Will: A Biblical-Theological Critique of Five-Point... Read more →

Augustine and Southern Baptists Part 4: The Upshot of Augustine's Assumptions: Divine Determinism by Dr. Jim Gifford

Dr. Jim Gifford The third assumption in Augustine's thinking is his experience, based on personal observation, that some humans are not saved. In his own life, Augustine observed that some babies die before being baptized. For Augustine, reconciliation to God in Christ is impossible without baptism.1 Not everyone who was baptized was ultimately saved, but baptism for him was a "condition sine qua non" for salvation.2 Therefore anyone who died without baptism likewise died without hope of salvation. Combined with his views of God's unlimited power and humanity's helplessness, Augustine... Read more →

Mark A. Rathel on the Calvinist-Arminian divide in the Southern Baptist Convention by Peter Lumpkins

Dr. Mark Rathel is Associate Professor of Theology and Philosophy at The Baptist College of Florida. Rathel is a graduate of William Carey (B.A.), New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div, Ph.D), and Biola University (M.A.) >>> The Florida Baptist Witness plans to publish a 12 Part series by Dr. Rathel the purpose of which, in its words, is "addressing the always controversial theological issues surrounding how Southern Baptists understand the doctrine of salvation". Dr. Rathel adds his own vision he possesses for the series in his first installment of the... Read more →

The Security of the Believer and Apostasy (part VI) by Steve Lemke

In five prior issues, I have been presenting the biblical rationale for the belief that once we are genuinely saved, we are saved forever. We call this belief the security of the believer. The five reasons presented to support belief in the security of the believer’s salvation are: we cannot lose our salvation: (1) because salvation is not ours to lose since God provides it, not we ourselves, (2) because it is based upon a life-changing salvation experience with God, (3) because eternal salvation is a Scriptural promise, and (4)... Read more →

Why Your Faith Is Secure: It Is Based on an Unchanging Status of Relationship (part V) by Steve Lemke

In this series of articles about the Biblical reasons supporting the security of the believer, we have already seen four that we cannot lose our salvation: (1) because salvation is not ours to lose since God provides it, not we ourselves, (2) because it is based upon a life-changing salvation experience with God, (3) because eternal salvation is a Scriptural promise, and (4) because eternal salvation is a logical necessity. This week we look at a fifth reason from Ephesians 1 and other Scriptures that we can have confidence that... Read more →

Why Your Faith is Secure: It is a Logical Necessity by Steve Lemke

In this series of articles about the Biblical reasons supporting the security of the believer, we have already seen three reasons based in Ephesians 1 that we cannot lose our salvation: (1) because salvation is not ours to lose since God provides it, not we ourselves, (2) because it is based upon a life-changing salvation experience with God, and (3) because eternal salvation is a Scriptural promise. In this article we examine the fourth reason that we can have confidence that once we are genuinely saved, we are saved forever:... Read more →

Why Your Faith Is Secure: It is a Scriptural Promise by Dr. Steve Lemke

We have been examining reasons for the security of the believer – that persons who are genuinely saved are saved forever. We have seen two reasons in previous articles why the Bible teaches that we cannot lose our salvation: (1) because salvation is not ours to lose since God provides it, not we ourselves, and (2) because it is based upon a life-changing salvation experience with God. In this third article of the series is the most compelling reason why we believe that we cannot lose our salvation – because... Read more →

Why Your Faith Is Secure: It Is Based upon a Life-Changing Experience with God by Dr. Steve Lemke

Can you lose your salvation? This is the second in a series of six articles exploring the biblical teaching that that once you are genuinely saved, you are saved forever. In the last issue, we saw that we cannot lose our salvation because salvation is simply not ours to lose. God took the initiative in our salvation and He accomplished our salvation, not we ourselves. We did not earn or deserve our salvation; God provided it for us. The second reason that we can be assured in our salvation is... Read more →

Theology Focus by Peter Lumpkins

Over the next several weeks, we’ll observe a theological focus on what Baptists have come to call the “security of the believer.” In pursuing our focus, I am glad to post a six-part series only recently published by The Baptist Message, Louisiana Baptists’ state paper. Written by Dr. Steve Lemke, Provost and Professor of Philosophy and Ethics, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and republished by permission, the series, while scholarly, is not written for scholars but for the widest readership possible. Hence, some finer points within Dr. Lemke’s presentation may... Read more →

John Calvin Goes to Berkley: An Unusual Twist in the Calvinist-Arminian Debate: A Book Note by Peter Lumpkins

Student minister, James G. McCarthy, who’s served on five university campuses (including Berkeley) has authored four books, the last of which is his first novel, John Calvin Goes to Berkeley. Being the first in the University Christian Fellowship Series, this volume was published by City Christian Press, San Jose, California, 2010. The plot centers around five students who are a part of the University Christian Fellowship Bible studies. Peace reigns in the fellowship until the inevitable issue surfaces concerning predestination. Then, division becomes deeply embedded, and the only solution is... Read more →

"Whosoever Will" Getting Good Press by Peter Lumpkins

As I posted late last week, Whosoever Will: A Biblical-Theological Critique of Five-Point Calvinism edited by Drs. David Allen and Steve Lemke and published by B&H Publishing Group is already on backorder (//link). More good news is, reviews are beginning to come in with positive results. The Southern Baptist TEXAN has two reviews, one by TEXAN correspondent, David Roach and the other by Editor, Gary Ledbetter (respectively here and here). Of the volume overall, Ledbetter concludes: “Some who read articles by members of the Founders’ movement or hear messages from... Read more →

The John 3:16 Conference

One week away, November 6-7, The John 3:16 Conference (J316) will be held at the Woodstock First Baptist Church, Woodstock, Georgia. Some have wondered whether or not the conference would succeed. Evidently, J316 has not only settled that ambiguity, registration is now limited: "Registration for the conference with meals has ended due to reaching capacity. You may still register for the conference only." Thus, if you were planning to come to beautiful North Georgia and reap theological rewards but procrastination got the better of you, you can still come, and... Read more →

John 3:16 Conference

The John 3:16 Conference is one conference you need to make this Fall. Mark the dates--November 6-7, at First Baptist Church, Woodstock, Georgia. You can sign up here. J316C promises to be a scholarly evaluation of the recent Calvinist Resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention. And, with the heavy weights involved, I do not personally see how it can miss. Scholars delivering papers at this conference include: Dr. Paige Patterson (President of SWBTS) on Total Depravity Dr. Richard Land (President of ERLC) on Unconditional Election Dr. David Allen (Dean at... Read more →