Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Do Calvinists really believe in human responsibility?

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Justin Taylor’s gentle, respectful response to John Piper notes this:

(1) The fact that God ordains all things (i.e., his secret will) has a limited effect on our decision making. It can’t prescribe how we act, but it can prevent us from having the wrong perspective (e.g., anxiety, fear, despair, misplaced trust, etc.). But in terms of interpreting events, the main way to read providence is backwards (as John Flavel wrote: “Some providences, like Hebrew letters, must be read backward”).

(2) The fact that God ordains means ensures that our actions have significance. The ordained outcome can never be seen as an excuse for complacency or fatalism.

Calvinists believe in God-ordained means. This is not merely a platitude. John M. Frame says it well in Apologetics to the Glory of God: An Introduction (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 1994):

The relation of divine sovereignty to human responsibility is one of the great mysteries of the Christian faith. It is plain from Scripture in any case that both are real and that both are important. Calvinistic theology is known for its emphasis on divine sovereignty—for its view that God “works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Eph. 1:11). But in Calvinism there is at least an equal emphasis upon human responsibility.

An equal emphasis? Many would not be willing to say that about Calvinism. . . . God’s sovereignty does not exclude, but engages, human responsibility. Indeed, it is God’s sovereignty that grants human responsibility, that gives freedom and significance to human choices and actions, that ordains an important human role within God’s plan for history (pp. 14-15, emphasis added).

“The Word Became Flesh” CD, Narrated by R. C. Sproul

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Jenni and I recently enjoyed listening several times to a new CD by Ligonier Ministries: “The Word Became Flesh,” created by Dan and Heidi Goeller and narrated by the familiar voice of pastor-theologian R. C. Sproul.

This new album is a musical interpretation and celebration of the incarnation of the Son of God. The biblical narrative from creation through the fall to redemption is retold as familiar hymns, Christmas carols, and new choral pieces are performed, resulting in an epic presentation of salvation that resonates in mind and heart.

Available November 28, 2008

The traditional music is beautiful, and Sproul’s Scripture readings seamlessly weave throughout the moving 46-minute story. (It’s available for pre-order now for $12.)

Bullmore on Confidence in Human Government

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Yesterday morning, Mike Bullmore prefaced his sermon with an outstanding 135-second pastoral exhortation in light of the upcoming election on November 4.

An excerpt:

Let there be no loss of security, whoever is in office. . . . There’s no cause no matter what happens—ever—for those who belong to God to worry or complain or whine.

Listen to the whole thing (2:15 min.).

John vs. Matthew and Acts Films on DVD

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This weekend my wife and I watched parts of DVDs dramatizing the Gospel According to Matthew and Acts word-for-word from the NIV. Our hopes were high because we enjoy “The Gospel of John” film so much. If on a scale of 1 to 10 the “The Gospel of John” film is an 8 or 9, then the Matthew and Acts films are a 1 or 2—and that’s being generous. (That’s why we “watched parts” of them!)

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Related: See this previous post on “The Gospel of John” film for an overview, evaluation, and links to other reviews.

4 Reflections on Suetonius’s “The Twelve Caesars”

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Over the last  couple of days, I read The Twelve Caeasars (cf. Wikipedia) by Suetonius. I marked up my print copy while listening to a 13-hour audio book. It is a gossipy chronicle with a fascinating perspective on the lives of the first twelve Roman Caesars that significantly intersects with Second Temple Judaism and the birth and spread of Christianity: [Read more…] about 4 Reflections on Suetonius’s “The Twelve Caesars”

The Altar Call

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An altar call is an “invitation” to “come forward” after a sermon to make a spiritual decision or commitment. I’ve endured hundreds of emotionally charged invitations characterized by man-centered manipulation. Unfortunately, my experience is not unusual.

Christian History just published a brief, impartial history of the altar call by Doug Sweeney and Mark Rogers: “Walk the Aisle.”

The most thorough treatment I’ve read on the altar call is this:

David Bennett. The Altar Call: Its Origin and Present Usage. New York: University Press of America, 2000. 261 pp.

Mark Noll describes Bennett’s work in the foreword as “the best sort of engaged history . . . . thorough . . . . fair . . . . unusually stimulating” (pp. v–vi). This work is a revision of Bennett’s (b. 1942) M.Th. thesis entitled “The Public Invitation System in Evangelism” for the Australian College of Theology in Sydney.

  • Part 1 examines the evangelistic practices of John Wesley, George Whitefield, and Jonathan Edwards and concludes that they did not use the altar call. Bennett then traces the altar call’s origins and early history in the final sixty years of the 1700s, its development into the invitation system in American camp-meetings, and its popularization by Charles Finney.
  • Part 2 examines the altar call’s modern usage, rationale, counseling and follow-up, results, and problems. Bennett makes calculated recommendations and conclusions.

Here are some useful and brief analyses of the altar call:

  1. Iain H. Murray, The Invitation System (1967).
  2. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the Altar Call (early 1970s).
  3. Paul Alexander, “Altar Call Evangelism.” This article ends with recommended reading: “If you’d like to read more about method in evangelism, go to Mark 5 on Evangelism at 9Marks Ministries. For more on the invitation system … read Iain Murray’s booklet entitled The Invitation System, published by Banner of Truth. For a historical treatment of evangelistic method and its role in the ecumenical movement over the last 50 years, read Iain Murray’s Evangelicalism Divided (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2000). If you are interested in the historical roots of the invitation system, read Iain Murray’s Revival and Revivalism (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1994).”
  4. Ryan Kelly, “Ten Reasons We Don’t Do Altar Calls”
  5. Jonathan Leeman, “Should Churches Perform Altar Calls?”

Updates:

1. Sadly humorous:

2. How to Manipulate People to Make (Fake) Professions of Faith

Kevin Bauder on the Dissolution of Pillsbury

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Earlier this week Pillsbury Baptist Bible College, a fundamentalist college in Owatonna, Minnesota, published this announcement:

The Pillsbury Baptist Bible College Board of Trustees has announced that the college will cease academic activities on December 31, 2008. National economic conditions combined with deficits caused by declining enrollment have exhausted Pillsbury’s financial reserves, leaving the college without funds to complete the school year.

[Read more…] about Kevin Bauder on the Dissolution of Pillsbury