In an op-ed published in the Baylor Lariat, Roger Olson, professor of theology at George W. Truett Theological Seminary, takes on John Piper and Calvinism.
Olson definitely throws a few punches…..
A snippet below:
The God of Calvinism scares me; I’m not sure how to distinguish him from the devil. If you’ve come under the influence of Calvinism, think about its ramifications for the character of God. God is great but also good. In light of all the evil and innocent suffering in the world, he must have limited himself.
Well, at last we have found commonality between conservatives and moderates. They both misunderstand and villify Calvinism. *Sigh*
Les
I’m a fan of Olson’s. But the “distinguish Him (Calvin’s God) from the Devil” statement is too far.
Though I completely agree with Olson (I, too, am Arminian, if not outright Pelagian), our goal as collegial theologians is to find common ground with our brothers and sisters in Christ, not do demonize each other, much less to demonize anohter’s God.
barely a prof
Thank God for Roger Olson.
Roger Olson rocks!
Roger and Piper have quite the acrimonious history… I went with a Waco church to Glorietta when I was a sophomore at Baylor, and John Piper was the main speaker… I came back to Waco incredibly confused by what Piper said, so I sat down at a Wednesday night church dinner and asked Roger about it. He was quite helpful. Anyway- I am completely not a fan of John Piper (he helped found the complementarian group ‘The Council on Biblical Manhood and Biblical Womanhood’ opposing Christians for Biblical Equality). But at the conference I went to, what I mostly heard him say was that God sent Jesus not to die for our sins, but for God’s own glory, and that is the only reason God does things- for His glory, not out of love for us. Anyway, just a tidbit of extra information!
Prof,
I agree that Olson’s closing punch was too much. Though, I suspect Olson was being honest about his feelings. Cranky Calvinists (the Piper fanatics and Founders types) need to be kicked around every now and again. Not a big reader of the Lariat but that was the first time I’d seen the word CALVINIST in a college paper! Might not have been the best venue….
I often struggle to understand how some fundamentalist Baptists (SBC variety) will agree to disagree over soteriology but kick and scream at the idea of a woman being ordained. The former seems to be a much more significant theological issue….
I especially appreciated all the scripture Dr. Olson used to support his position.
Oh, wait…
I’ve been interested in knowing what a Calvinist would reply to the following questions:
Does God initiate all events?
Is God able to create beings who are able to initiate some events?
Can thoughts and impulses be considered events?
Does God initiate all thoughts and impulses of human beings?
If God does initiate all thoughts and impulses does that collapse the Creator-creation distinction in the sense that created beings may have material existence separate from God but their thoughts and impulses are ultimately originative from God himself? Does that make human beings into “meat puppets”?
Does Calvinism logically collapse into panentheism?
Just wondering how a Calvinist would respond
Dr Olson atatcks on calvinism are ourtright elementary, says alot about a his knowledge of History of Theology, Guys you have to go back to Baptist roots. (im not a Baptist) but please see the Life of Charles Spurgeon ( a staunch Calvinist) yet many thousands came to hear the gospel in his church, read about A.W. Pink (not a Baptist) and his biography by Ian Murray, A.W. Pink was known as the “unknown spurgeon” the state of Christendom was so bad they couldnt give him a pulpit to preach in most of his later life, so he wrote, “The sovereignty of God” Olson arguments are too elementary he should have read more into history of the Puritans of John Calvin, If anyone looks into those sources you will notice that Olsens arguments dont measure up.
Read
Read
http://www.puritanlibrary.com
http://www.monergism.com
Thanks Paul Washer
for teaching me on The Total Depravity of Man, i know, cause i acknowledge my sinfullness and utter inability to come to Christ.
and remember im not a Baptist.
JM
If salvation has anything to do with me I am screwed!!! I know me better than you do.
All Calvinists eventually come to the point of stating, as John Calvin, John Piper, A.W. Pink have stated that man has no free will whatsoever and that God controls everything, including sin…Calvin said that man doesnt have a single thought, or speak a single word or do anything without the secret instigation of God…If the God you worship has ever been responsible for a murder, or a rape…then the God you worship is the devil and you do not know Jesus…To speak such evil of God, as Job’s friends did, incurring God’s wrath, is not only unwise, but dangerously close to blasphemy of the Holy Spirit…