Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Andy Naselli

Do We Have a Free Will?

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This summer my church, CrossWay Community Church in Kenosha, Wisconsin, hosted a “Difficult Issues Series” on Wednesday nights. I addressed this topic: “Do We Have a Free Will?”

  1. MP3 (1 hour and 45 minutes including Q&A)
  2. Handout (7-page PDF)
  3. Condensed Essay (4-page PDF, which Reformation 21 reprinted today)

Here’s the basic outline (the handout is more detailed):

Introduction

Question 1. Why should we study “free will”?

Question 2. What are some challenges with studying “free will”?

1. What is “free will”?

1.1. Will

1.2. Constraining and Non-Constraining Causes

1.3. Incompatibilism vs. Compatibilism

1.4. Indeterminism vs. Determinism

1.5. Libertarian Free Will vs. Free Agency

1.6. God’s General Sovereignty vs. God’s Specific Sovereignty [Read more…] about Do We Have a Free Will?

Al Mohler: The Cost of Conviction

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These two MP3s from Sovereign Grace’s 2003 Leadership Conference include Al Mohler’s “testimony about his call to the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in order to highlight key points of his messages”:

Mark Ward:

It doesn’t get much better in your earbuds than Mohler’s comeback to the postmodernist faculty member who refused to interpret the Bible straightforwardly but insisted on a rigorously literal interpretation of his contract—followed by C. J. Mahaney’s uproarious laughter. I was edified (and, I admit, entertained). I highly recommend these two MP3s.

Updates:

1. See my review of Gregory A. Wills, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1859–2009 in Themelios 34 (2009): 403–5.

2. Mohler before He Became President of Southern: “I Intend to Age”

3. Mohler contributed to this debate-book I co-edited: Four Views on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism.

4. Sean DeMars interviews Al Mohler for his “Room for Nuance” podcast:

Fundamentalism : Historic Christianity :: Hamburger : Filet Mignon

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“Comparing Fundamentalist faith and practice to the faith and practice of historic Christianity is like comparing a hamburger to a filet mignon. The two obviously have something in common, but it would be misleading to say that everything in the steak is also in the hamburger.”

–Kevin Bauder, “Fundamentalism: Whence? Where? Whither? Part 2: Fundamentalism and History”

Getting Authenticity

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Jim Hamilton, “What I Learned in My First Pastorate,” Towers (August 17, 2009): 4:

You don’t get this from wearing cool clothes, having a trendy name for your church or learning to preach from comedians. If it comes—and if the authenticity about “big” sins is accompanied by authenticity about “acceptable” sins—it will come by the power of the Spirit through the preaching of the Word.