Free Republic

Christian entertainment company 4HisGlory Amusements has announced an exciting new escape room experience based on Calvinist theology. Participants will be entirely unable to do anything to escape the room and instead must wait for an actor playing Jesus to unlock the door and let them out.

An Unloving Unnecessary Monstrous Interpretation Of Matthew 7:13-14 By JAG May 30, 2021 Matthew 7:13-14 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Humans put forth their own interpretation of Matthew 7:13-14 and their own interpretation has consequences. Their own interpretation of Matthew 7:13-14 also tells us what they think God is like in His nature. The interpretation of Matthew 7:13-14 presented by the...

JAG Writes: How does God simultaneously , , , {A} maintain and respect our Human Free Will , , , while at the same time , , , {B} often working in our lives where we do His Sovereign Will? One way is that He presents the "outside inducements" and controls the external circumstances in such a way where both {A} and {B} occurs and is the sustained reality. Let me give you one example where you could do that same thing with your son {assume you have an 8 year old son} A Father & Son & A Strawberry...

p>It is natural and normal for people to reject the Christian faith. Moreover, the Bible isn’t shy about telling us that.Courtesy of Robin SchumacherRegarding the gospel message, Paul says: “Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness” (1 Cor. 1:22-23).To the Jews back then, a crucified Messiah was a contradiction in terms and still is today. To everyone else, the gospel literally sounds ‘moronic’; the Greek term Paul uses (mória) for ‘foolishness’ is where we get our word for ‘moron’. But the Bible also tells...

Well I finally got around to it – I am reading through some of the Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin. I say “some” because the complete work spans more than 1500 pages and deals with some of the most weighty and complex theological issues known to mankind. I have chosen for now to plod my way through the most controversial aspects of Calvin’s writings; the topics of predestination and election. Most of my friends who call themselves Calvinists are eager to disassociate themselves from the doctrine of “double predestination”. They state that God has predestined some to...

Msgr. Charles Pope 12/30/2015 Augustine and Calvin? Q. I know that St. Augustine wrote about predestination, and that John Calvin wrote about double predestination. Can you explain what they both taught and what the Church says about it? What are some things to think about as we reconcile free will with God’s omniscience? Graham, via e-mail A. Predestination is a proper biblical concept which indicates that God chose us and called us before we were ever made to be His own. It does not deny that we freely chose Him, but it does insist that He first chose us,...

Full Title: Predestination: Should We Even Talk About It? Is the doctrine of predestination an obstacle to the usefulness of preaching? I’d like to begin a series on—get ready—predestination. Yes, I said that word. I know this is not the most popular topic to bring up among polite company; in fact, it’s downright divisive, isn’t it? In the fifth century, Augustine recounted in his letters that some said, “The doctrine of predestination is an obstacle to the usefulness of preaching.” And who wants an obstacle? In the sixteenth century, John Calvin had to go out of his way to state...

For whom did Jesus die? For the sins of the entire humanity or only for the elect? This was the topic of a live debate between Messianic Jewish apologist Dr. Michael L. Brown and Alpha and Omega Ministries Director Dr. James White on RevelationTV.com Friday evening. The issue boils down to what the intention of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit was in Christ going to the cross, said White, who heads the Phoenix, Ariz.-based evangelical Reformed Christian apologetics organization, as the debate began Friday at 9 p.m. EST. "Jesus' death on the cross was a covenantal death,"...

By an utterly free and mysterious decree of his own wisdom and goodness, the eternal Father created the whole world. His plan was to dignify men with a participation in his own divine life. When in Adam men had fallen, he did not abandon them, but ceaselessly offered them help to salvation, in anticipation of Christ the Redeemer, ‘who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature’. All the elect, before time began, the Father ‘foreknew and predestined to become conformed to the image of his Son, that he should be the firstborn among many brethren’.

The commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the birth of the great Geneva Protestant Reformer, John Calvin, took place this past July 10, 2009. Without question, Calvin was a giant among men used by God to rediscover and expound on biblical truth that long had been forgotten and rejected by Rome. His influence on all spheres of life is immeasurable, and today, his understanding of theology is making a huge comeback within certain quarters of the Christian community. However, what Americans do not realize immediately is that the birth of the American republic is steeped in Calvinist presuppositions, and perhaps...

Election—its Defenses and Evidences (No. 2920) A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 1905. DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, IN THE YEAR 1862. "Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. For our Gospel came not unto you in word only, but also inpower, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance... And you became followers of us, and of the Lord having received the word in much affliction, withjoy of the Holy Spirit." 1 Thessalonians 1:4-6. AT the very announcement of the text, some will be ready to say, "Why preach upon so profound...

Predestination and Calling Delivered on Sabbath Morning, March 6th, 1859, by the REV. C. H. Spurgeon at the Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens. "Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called."—Romans 8:30 HE GREAT BOOK OF GOD'S DECREES is fast closed against the curiosity of man. Vain man would be wise; he would break the seven seals thereof, and read the mysteries of eternity. But this cannot be; the time has not yet come when the book shall be opened, and even then the seals shall not be broken by mortal hand, but it shall be said, "The lion...

The report sets out liturgy for a civil partnership blessing, along with the traditional view of marriage. A report for the Church of Scotland on same-sex relationships has suggested an order of service for a civil partnership blessing.The liturgy contains ideas for scripture readings, including passages about David and Jonathan, and Ruth and Naomi. The report by the special Theological Commission, which was appointed in 2011, also presents the traditional view of marriage as between a man and a woman.Opinion The Church of Scotland said the report described the breadth of theological opinion that existed and did not represent...

Romans 9:15-24 15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. 17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. 18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom...

The other day I was talking to Kipp Greggory, our morning talk show host, during whose program this radio blog broadcast airs. We do not see each other very often, but when we do, it’s a fast-paced gab fest! He brought up a point of aggravation to him that amazed me, because it is something that bothers my husband and me, as well, and I have not heard anyone else make the point. It is the profusion of advertising that appeals to the prevalent sense of entitlement that infects many people in our society today. You have heard the ads...

How the Peace of Jerusalem Will Be Established As of late, we have seen the world led by the United States seeking to strip from Israel it present day borders and bullying them into a forced agreement with those who absolutely abhor them and seek their utter destruction. Sadly, America (who is governed at the moment by the progressive Left) has always been Israel’s strongest ally but at present has forsaken Israel and thrown them under the Middle East Islamic bus. With an anti-Israeli Europe and now a current anti-Israeli U.S. administration, Israel’s back is totally up against the wall...

Predestination is the doctrine that God alone is the One who chooses who is saved, that He ordains the means, the time, and the circumstances of salvation and that without His predestination, no one would ever be saved. In part this is because human nature is so completely corrupted by sin that no person is capable of choosing God unless God first regenerates that person. But any Bible student will soon discover there are verses which say God wants all men to be saved. For example, "This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be...

Unconditional election The doctrine of unconditional election means God does not base his choice (election) of certain individuals on anything other than his own good will [13]. God chooses whomever he pleases and passes over the rest. The ones God chooses will desire to come to him, will accept his offer of salvation, and will do so precisely because he has chosen them. To show that God positively chooses, rather than merely foresees, those who will come to him, Calvinists cite passages such as Romans 9:15-18, which says, "[The Lord] says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I...

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.(Romans 8:29-30)We have looked at the tremendously comforting promise of God, that He will make “all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are the called according to His purpose”. All too often this amazing promise is half quoted in an almost glib way,...

Praise God for 5 point Calvinism Jesus Christ affirms TULIP in the Scriptures. Hey, Catholics, these are all in your Old Testament Scriptures (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John).