Luther on Free Will

(This is a re-post from September, 2017) If you know a few things about Martin Luther, you probably know that he wrote Bondage of the Will in response to Erasmus' book about the freedom of the will (Discussion Concerning Free Will).  Luther argued from Scripture that man, since Adam's fall, is born in sin, dead …

The Need for an Effectual Call (Hoekema)

 I really like these reflections by Anthony Hoekema on the effectual call of God.  Hoekema first gives an objection, then a clear answer and an illustration.  This post is a bit longer than my usual ones, but it's not too tough to read/follow - and it's comforting! A final objection which could be raised is …

Vos on Predestination

    In Reformed Dogmatics, Geerhardus Vos explains predestination in a most wonderful way.  Here’s part of it (edited very slightly): The doctrine of human inability after the fall is inseparably connected with predestination, so that one must maintain them both together or drop them both together. One of the two; it depends on God or …

Augustine, Pelagius, and Kids

This book, Augustine of Hippo, is one of the better biographies of the great church father (Peter Brown's new edition w/epilogue [Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2000]).  This is a longer book (just over 500 pages), but it is well worth reading for an extensive and readable account of St. Augustine. Here's a summary …