There Are No Atheists in Foxholes…Or Anywhere? According to journalist Nury Vittachi, writing for the web site Science 2.0 (Google it), “Scientists discover that atheists might not exist, and that’s not a joke.” Of course, the “joke” is the old saying “There are no atheists in foxholes”—meaning under threat of death everyone prays to some god. Vittachi’s essay reports on the studies of atheist scientist Graham Lawton (writing in New Scientist) that indicate everyone is hard wired to believe in... Read more

A Few Words about this Bog and My Policies and Practices Regarding Posting Comments and Responding to Them Every once in a while I interrupt the “flow” of posting my theological musings here to comment about discussions in this space. If you intend to contribute to the discussion with a comment or question, please observe the following rules of thumb: 1) This is my space and no one has a “right” to have their comment or question posted here. I... Read more

Arminianism FAQ 5 (Everything You Always Wanted to Know…) This is the final installment of this series. I realize that I will not have answered every conceivable questions about Arminianism. “FAQ” means “frequently asked questions,” but not even every frequently asked question about Arminianism can be answered in one series such as this. Readers should realize that these are my answers, not necessarily the answers every Arminian would give. However, I have been researching, speaking and writing about Arminianism for... Read more

FAQ: How does Arminianism explain Romans 9? A: This is without doubt one of the most asked questions by hard core Calvinists, but even many Arminians want to know as they have always only heard the Calvinist interpretation of Roman 9. First, it’s important to pay attention to the fact that Romans 9 was never interpreted as teaching unconditional double predestination to salvation and damnation before Augustine in the early fifth century. For four centuries Christians read the New Testament including Romans... Read more

FAQ: Doesn’t Arminianism lead to open theism? A: Open theists and Calvinists both think so, but classical Arminianism don’t think so. According to classical Arminianism, God knows the future exhaustively–as already settled in his own mind although not already determined. How God can know future free decisions and actions (ones not already determined by anything) is a mystery classical Arminians are willing to live with because they believe it (divine simple foreknowledge without comprehensive divine determinism) is taught in Scripture and... Read more

FAQ: What’s the difference between Arminianism and Wesleyanism? A: Not all Arminians are Wesleyans. Certainly Arminius wasn’t! He lived a century before Wesley. Free Will Baptists, many Pentecostals (e.g., Assemblies of God), and Restorationists (e.g., Churches of Christ/Independent Christians) are Arminians without being Wesleyans. But all Wesleyans (that I know) are Arminians (although not all like that label). Wesleyans ADD to Arminianism the idea of “Christian Perfection” (which different Wesleyans define differently). Non-Wesleyan Arminians do not believe in “entire sanctification.” (Although, interestingly,... Read more

For those of you who have access to articles in Christianity Today (available on line by subscription and also, of course, in hard copy by subscription)… The current issue (July/August) contains my article “Water Works: Why Baptism Is Essential” (not my title). There I argue that water baptism is an essential part of Christian discipleship and suggest ways in which pedobaptists and credobaptists can begin to understand and become more accepting of each other. Civil feedback about the article and... Read more

Arminianism FAQ 1 (Everything You Always Wanted to Know…) Today begins a summer series on Arminianism and Arminian theology. Over the past twenty plus years of promoting a correct understanding of classical Arminianism I have been asked numerous questions about the subject. There seems to be much misunderstanding about it. Here, in this series of blog posts, I will try to answer every “frequently asked question” about classical Arminianism. My aim is to keep the questions and answers clear, concise... Read more

Deist John Toland Was Right! Even Religion Must Be Intelligible. Some of my student balk when we are studying Deism/Natural Religion and I tell them I think John Toland, author of Christianity Not Mysterious was partly right. Some years ago Tony Campolo wrote a book with the intriguing title We Have Met the Enemy and They Are Partly Right. Before that, evangelical theologian Bernard Ramm (with whom Campolo studied theology) wrote The Devil, Seven Wormwoods, and God. Both books describe... Read more

A Philosophical Historical Novel about Evil: The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell I am usually reading one historical novel and listening to another one on my ipod. I like ones that include philosophical and theological themes. But they are somewhat rare. And I like to read/listen to books about World War 2 and the Holocaust (and their aftermath). I suppose that’s because those 20th century events especially raise philosophical and theological questions. Recently I stumbled quite by accident on an... Read more