Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

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.

Kevin Bauder Begins a Series on the History of Fundamentalism

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“Fundamentalism: Whence? Where? Whither? Part 1: Things Have Changed”

Some excerpts:

  • In 1986 [i.e., when “the last sustained history of fundamentalism” was “published by a fundamentalist”], neither Dave Doran nor Tim Jordan held the pastorates that have come to be associated with their names. Dan Davey and Mark Minnick were associate pastors in Virginia Beach and Greenville, respectively. Matt Olson was just a few years into the planting of Tri-City Baptist Church near Denver. John Hartog III was a college student, and Stephen Jones was still in high school.
  • In 1986, clear fissures were already evident within the fundamentalist movement.
  • Things have changed for fundamentalism. Indeed, they still are. Rapidly. For a generation there has been no comprehensive attempt to summarize the changes and directions within fundamentalism, to link them to the past, and to draw out the trajectories along which they may carry fundamentalist churches and institutions in the future.
  • These essays will neither defend nor denounce fundamentalism.
  • I do not intend to try to persuade anyone—least of all young leaders—that they must remain in the fundamentalist movement. I love the idea of fundamentalism, and I would like to persuade people of its beauty and utility. The fundamentalist movement, however, is at best an imperfect embodiment of the idea. Those who can find a better incarnation of the idea ought to pursue it. Ideas ought to command our allegiance, not party or institutional loyalties.
  • One underlying thesis of this series is that the fundamentalist movement no longer exists. The unraveling of the movement began in the 1960s and has continued virtually without interruption. At the present, little coherence remains among self-identified fundamentalists. The result is that no one can choose to be a fundamentalist simpliciter. In order to be a fundamentalist at all, one must choose among fundamentalist influences and institutions. The inevitable result is that all contemporary fundamentalists are modified fundamentalists, in the sense that they all require some modifier or qualifier to be attached to the name.

Note: Central Seminary emails Kevin Bauder‘s essays every Friday afternoon. You can join the mailing list (as well as access the archives) here.

Two New Books by Bryan Chapell

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Click the book covers for more information, including sample pages and endorsements from Tim Keller, D. A. Carson, Phil Ryken, Jerry Bridges, Al Mohler, and Tullian Tchividjian (click the “Endorsements” tab).

Bryan Chapell, who has served as president of Covenant Seminary since 1994, is best known to some as the author of Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon.

America’s Best Colleges 2009

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That’s the title of a recent article on Forbes.com that ranks 600 schools. (Cf. the ranking methodology.)

Some highlights (including #279):

HT: A. J. Gibson