peterlumpkins.com

Does God Desire All to Be Saved? Adam Harwood reviews John Piper's proposal

Among many interesting articles in the latest edition of the Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry (JBTM, available free of charge at http://www.baptistcenter.net), Dr. Adam Harwood, Associate Professor of Theology at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, reviews John Piper's little volume, Does God Desire All to Be Saved? (John Piper. Wheaton: Crossway, 2013. 56 pages. Paperback, $9.99). After rehearsing the flow of Piper's volume, Professor Harwood concludes: The strength of this book is that it seeks to address an Achilles heel in Reformed theology, namely the charge that affirming unconditional... Read more →

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 6A: Augustine's Critics and Legacy by Dr. Jim Gifford

Dr. Jim Gifford This is the last installment of my series on Augustine. I wanted to say at the outset of this post that I really appreciate all of you who took the time to read it. A great big thank you to Peter for graciously posting it on his blog. I also want to thank Ben Simpson, Ken Hamrick, and David Allen for helpful suggestions and feedback. Thanks to Christiane and Lydia for insights and links. Thanks also to Eric Hankins, Malcolm Yarnell, and Adam Harwood for kind words... 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 →

Why Calvinism is not for me...Take Two by Peter Lumpkins

I put up a post last week in which I quoted a single passage from Calvin which illustrates well my theological rejection of Calvinism. The statement was not meant to constitute an argument but state a conclusion to which I've come regarding the Calvinistic system. The bottom line is, regardless of all the protest to the contrary, Calvinism reduces to pure determinism. From my standpoint, rigid Calvinism is as much about philosophy as theology and unhealthily depends upon both for its warrant to exist in lieu of sound, consistent biblical... Read more →

Whomever He Wills: a brief discussion on Dr. Andrew Davis' chapter--"Unconditional Election" by Peter Lumpkins

Below is the first review video in a short series on "Unconditional Election" in Whomever He Wills, the latest book on Calvinism from Founders Press. "Unconditional Election" is chapter three in the book and was written by Dr. Andrew Davis, Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church, Durham, North Carolina >>> Read more →

Salvation and Sovereignty: a Molinist Approach: An Extended Book-look (part I) by Peter Lumpkins

Dr. Kenneth Keathley is Professor of Theology and Senior Vice President for Academic Administration/Dean of the Faculty at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. His book, Salvation and Sovereignty: A Molinist Approach (SSM, B&H, 2010, $24.99) contributes a unique approach among Southern Baptists toward solving the classic dilemma between God’s Sovereignty and human free will. In fact, unless I am mistaken, Dr. Keathley is the first writing Southern Baptist theologian who embraces the historical theological position known as Molinism >>> SSM begins with a foreword written by Dr. Paige Patterson who hails... Read more →

Calvinists Critique Morris Chapman's Clarification: Part II by Peter Lumpkins

Morris Chapman offered a clarification of intent on his controversial statements concerning Calvinism at this year’s SBC in Louisville, KY (//link). And, while one should be glad Dr. Chapman clarified his comments, the predictable moans amounting to too little, too late came pouring in. SBC Voices, James Galyon, and Founders’ chief scribe, Timmy Brister offered critiques of Chapman’s comments. In Part I, I gave a few initial comments to Todd Burus’ response on SBC Voices (//link). Because Brister spends an exceedingly generous amount of time on Chapman’s brief commentary, this... Read more →

When Truth Bites

If your journey with God is similar to mine, sometimes we descend into a murky hole, glibly asking God to make His will and His will alone known in our life, a sorta "I-just-want-your-will-to-be-done" kind of prayer. Many times our Lord's response is to bite, mashing down hard in a way we faintly expected. We wrongly assumed God's Word is always gentle...soothing...relaxing. It is that alright, but not always. Sometimes the Bible is more of a beast. When I saw the following clip, I got a belly-busting laugh. Later, I... Read more →

Calvinism: A Southern Baptist Dialogue: A Brief Critique: Dr. Greg Welty: Part III

This is the the third post I offer on Dr. Greg Welty's paper in the Building Bridges Conference collection (see links below) I recommend this series as a great resource in understanding some of the issues surrounding the Calvinist Resurgence within the Southern Baptist Convention >>> As I stated in Part I, Dr. Welty is an admirable scholar who offered, within the collection Lifeway published, by far, the most sophisticated presentation from the Calvinist perspective. And, even though the exchange on Part I, along with a subsequent email exchange between... Read more →

Knowing God's Will: A Sermon by Peter Lumpkins

A few years ago, I preached a sermon series entitled "Has Anybody Seen The Will Of God? I've Misplaced It." This message, entitled "Six Keys to Understand the Will of God" was one within the series. Perhaps it may be helpful in some way to you. Grace. With that, I am... Peter Read more →