Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 07036 The debate between Calvinism and Arminianism is one of the most enduring in Protestant theology, and it touches on questions that cannot be avoided by anyone who takes Scripture seriously: Is salvation ultimately God’s choice or the human’s? Does God’s rule over all things override human freedom, or do they coexist? Can a…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 07034 Predestination is a word that makes many people uncomfortable, whether because it suggests a rigid determinism that leaves no room for human freedom, or because popular presentations of it have been unnecessarily harsh. But the discomfort is not a good reason to avoid a concept that appears repeatedly in the pages of Scripture….
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 07033 Election is one of the most debated doctrines in Christian theology, and the stakes are genuinely high — because the way election is understood directly shapes how a person thinks about God’s character, human freedom, the gospel offer, and the basis of assurance. The word itself simply means choosing or selecting, and no…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 07096 Calvinism is one of the most influential theological systems in the history of Protestant Christianity. Named after the sixteenth-century Reformer John Calvin, though its roots extend further back into Augustine’s theology, it offers a comprehensive account of God’s dealings with humanity that centres on divine determination and unconditional election. Understanding what Calvinism teaches,…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 13003 John Calvin is one of the most influential theologians in the history of Christianity, and also one of the most polarising. His name has become synonymous with a particular approach to the doctrines of grace, predestination, and God’s dealings with humanity. For believers who do not hold his theological system, understanding Calvin as…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 02057 Molinism is a theological framework developed to explain how God can exercise complete providential control over history while human beings retain genuine freedom of choice. It has attracted considerable attention among evangelical theologians over recent decades and deserves both a fair explanation and a careful assessment. It asks genuinely important questions, though the…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 02058 Middle knowledge — Latin scientia media — is the theological concept at the centre of Molinism. It refers to God’s knowledge of what any free creature would do in any possible set of circumstances, including circumstances that never actually occur. Understanding it carefully is necessary before forming a view on whether it is…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 02033 The question has a sharp edge to it. If God knew before the world was made exactly what every person would ever choose, in every circumstance, across all of time — then in what meaningful sense are those choices really free? When you sat down this morning and decided what to have for…