READING GUIDES
David C. Steinmetz, “The Theology of John Calvin,”
in The
1. What were the purposes
of Calvin’s Institutes?
2. What analogy did
Calvin use to describe the damage caused by sin?
3. To which OT sign does
baptism correspond?
[Karin Y. Maag, “Hero or Villain? Interpretations
of John Calvin and His Legacy,” Calvin Theological
Journal 41/2 (2006): 222-37.
Accessible through quest.]
1. What is the two-sided
historical legacy of John Calvin?
2. What are the three
main reasons why Calvin’s reputation has been under more sustained attack than
Luther’s or Zwingli’s?
3. What are the three
most controversial aspects of Calvin’s legacy?
[Muller, “How Many Points?” Calvin Theological Journal 28/2 (1993): 425-33. Accessible through quest.]
1. Why are the “five
points of Calvinism” (TULIP) not a sufficient summary of Reformed doctrine?
2. What are some other
non-negotiable doctrines of Calvinism?
Still Sovereign, pp.
13-19.
1. What is the motivation
behind this book?
Ronald J. Feenstra, “Reprobation,” Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 8:
272-76. [on reserve]
1. What is reprobation?
G. J. Hoenderdaal, “The Life and Thought of
Jacobus Arminius,” Religion in Life
29/4 (1960): 540-47. [on reserve]
1. Summarize Arminius’s
doctrine of predestination and the practical bias of his theology.
[Richard A. Muller, “Arminius and the Scholastic
Tradition,” Calvin Theological Journal
24/2 (1989): 263-77. Accessible through
quest.]
1. What distinguishes
Arminius as a “Protestant scholastic?”
Olson, Preface, Intro.
1. Define Calvinism.
2. Define TULIP.
3. Define Arminianism.
4. Define synergism and
monergism.
5. Who are the
Remonstrants?
Olson, ch. 3.
1. Olson distances
Arminianism from what ancient heresies?
2. What was Arminius’s
view of Scripture?
3. What is the “Wesleyan
Quadrilateral?”
4. Which mainline
denomination most faithfully propagated Arminius’s teachings?
Calvin, Institutes
III.xxi-xxiii. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.html
1. What are the prescriptions
and limits for speaking and preaching about predestination?
2. How does Calvin define
predestination?
3. What does Calvin say
about general election (of
4. How do some critics of
Calvin accuse God of injustice?
5. How do we know who the
elect are?
Peter Baro, “Summary of Three Opinions concerning
Predestination,” in Works of James
Arminius (
1. What is Baro’s goal?
2. What is his method?
3. Whom does Baro cite in
support of each opinion?
Arminius, Declaration
of Sentiments, “On Predestination,” in Works
1: 210-51. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/arminius/works1.html
1. Under the first
(supralapsarian) scheme of predest., for what are people condemned?
2. What are some of
Arminius’ more striking arguments against the first type of predestination
(supra)?
3. What is the point of
arguments #3 through #6?
4. Who are some of the
church fathers to whom Arminius appeals?
5. What are Arminius’
four decrees of predestination?
Louis Berkhof, Systematic
Theology, 100-25. [on reserve]
1. What biblical passages
are cited to justify speaking of God’s decrees?
2. Explain the difference
between the decree and its execution.
3. How does Berkhof
define election?
4. How does he define
reprobation?
5. What is the
distinction between supralapsarianism and infralapsarianism?
[Richard J. Mouw, “Another Look at the
Infra/Supralapsarian Debate,” Calvin
Theological Journal 35/1 (2000): 136-51.
Accessible through quest.]
1. What are three
objections to the traditional infra/supra debates?
2. How does Mouw respond
to each objection?
3. What were Karl Barth’s
concerns about the debate?
Keith D. Stanglin, “Arminius ‘avant la lettre’: Peter Baro, Jacob Arminius, and the Bond of
Predestinarian Polemic,” Westminster
Theological Journal 67 (2005): 51-74.
1. Summarize the
background and historical context of Baro.
2. What is the first type
of predestination opposed by both Baro and Arminius?
3. Why is the “lapsarian
question” not the only way to distinguish different types of predestination?
4. What is the
distinction between, on the one hand, election and salvation, and, on the other
hand, reprobation and damnation?
Olson, 8
1. What does Olson mean
by saying that Arminius’ doctrine of predestination is Christocentric?
2. What are the Arminian
views of perseverance?
3. What is divine middle
knowledge?
4. Why does Olson think
that Arminius rejected the category of middle knowledge?
Calvin, “Commentary on Romans 8:28–9:33.” http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom38.html
1. What is the connection
between God’s election and his “purpose?”
2. What is the task of Christ
as Mediator?
3. What objection(s) does
Calvin make against the “schoolmen?”
4. What are some of
Calvin’s theological assumptions; especially which ones might be debatable
(e.g., the principle of theology “well known to all Christians,” 9:11, in loc.)?
5. What is the cause of
predestination, both from God’s perspective and humanity’s perspective?
Calvin, “Commentary on Ephesians 1:3-14.” http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom41.html
1. What is the twofold
purpose, or end, of predestination?
2. What is the fourfold
cause of salvation?
3. How does Calvin
address the problem of God’s purposes being hidden?
Arminius, Analysis
of the Ninth Chapter of Romans, in Works
3: 485-519. http://wesley.nnu.edu/arminianism/arminius/ze.htm
1. Arminius contrasts the
addresee’s (Snecanus’) view of predestination with that of whom?
2. Ishmael and Isaac,
Esau and Jacob, are types of what?
3. How can one be assured
of his own salvation?
4. What are the
distinctions that some theologians draw in God’s will, and how does Arminius
respond?
5. What does Arminius
think about God making a vessel for dishonor?
SS ch. 2
1. Where does Yarbrough
see divine election in the Johannine prologue?
2. How does Y. avoid the
implication of universalism in Jn. 12:32?
3. Where does Y. see
divine election in the second half of John?
4. What does Y. see as
positive contributions of Grant Osborne?
SS ch. 4
1. What two objections to
the Calvinist interpretation of Romans 9 does Schreiner address?
2. What is the evidence
that
3. What point does S.
make about the remnant?
4. How could Romans 9 be understood
to include both corporate and individual salvation?
SS ch. 7
1. What is the assumed
connection between God’s foreknowledge and determinism?
2. How does natural
theology reveal the fact of God’s foreknowledge to all people?
3. What are the two
different meanings of “foreknow” in Scripture?
4. What point does Baugh
draw from this second meaning of foreknowledge (in Rom. 8:29, et passim)?
Thomas McCall and Keith D. Stanglin, “S. M. Baugh
and the Meaning of Foreknowledge: Another Look,” Trinity Journal 26 ns/1 (2005): 19-31. [on reserve]
1. Why do Rom. 8:29 and 1
Pet. 1:2 initially seem to support an Arminian interpretation?
2. What three different
arguments against Arminianism do McCall and Stanglin see in SS ch. 7?
3. Given Baugh’s definition
of foreknowledge, why is Rom. 8:29 still not decisive against Arminianism?
1. If corporate election
is affirmed, what three soteriological systems are possible, and what
distinguishes them?
2. What is the effectual
call (vocatio interna)?
3. What does Ware say
about the “drawing” of the Father in Jn. 6:44?
4. What is the “burning
question” for our purposes, according to W.?
5. How does W. make sense
of Paul’s contrast between “the called” Jews and Gentiles and Jews and Gentiles
in general?
Olson ch. 6
1. What is Arminius’ view
of post-fall humanity?
2. Olson compares
Arminianism’s doctrine of original sin and depravity with that of which
reformers?
3. Thomas Summers viewed
Arminianism as a via media between
what?
4. Why do Peterson and
Williams accuse Arminians of denying original sin?
Olson ch. 9
1. Arminius expressed his
agreement with whose doctrine of justification?
2. What is the
instrumental cause of justification?
3. Why did Wesley
emphasize sanctification perhaps more than justification?
4. Most Arminians think
justification entails the imputation of whose righteousness?
SS ch. 9
1. What are the Wesleyan
arguments in favor of prevenient grace?
2. Schreiner claims that Wesleyanism
is less dependent on Scripture than on what?
Olson ch. 7
1. According to Olson,
what is the key distinctive doctrine of Arminianism?
2. How does O distinguish
between free will and freed will?
3. Acc. to W.B. Pope,
what is the function of prevenient grace?
4. How did Miley
characterize free will?
Muller, “Grace, Election, and Contingent Choice:
Arminius’s Gambit and the Reformed Response,” in The Grace of God, the Bondage of the Will, vol. 2: Historical and
Theological Perspectives on Calvinism, ed. Thomas P. Schreiner and Bruce A.
Ware (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995), 251-78.
[on reserve]
1. What are distinctive
points in Arminius’ doctrine of predestination?
2. What restricts the
efficacy of Christ’s satisfaction?
3. What is synergistic about
Arminius’ doctrine of salvation?
4. What is distinctly
Arminian about the theory of middle knowledge?
5. In what ways do the
Reformed orthodox acknowledge or deny free will?
1. What is the precise
question being considered by Grudem?
2. How does G. explain
the metaphor of the field?
3. What are the
impossible interpretation of “better things,” and what are the implications of
G’s argument? What do you think about
this argument?
4. How does G’s
interpretation stack up with the rest of the NT?
SS ch. 10
1. What does
2. What is “lordship
salvation,” and what is Hodges’ objection to this?
3. What is transitory
faith?
4. What passages does C.
believe are relevant for discussing transitory faith? Do you think there are any glaring omissions,
i.e., any legitimate examples of transitory faith?
5. What parable indicates
many categories of faith and perseverance?
Stanglin, “The Undermining of Assurance,” in Arminius on the Assurance of Salvation,
145-93. [on reserve]
1. What is Stanglin’s
working definition of assurance (certitudo)?
2. What are Arminius’ two
“pests” of religion and of souls?
3. During the patristic
and medieval periods, what is the difference between certitudo and securitas?
4. What distinction did
Reformed writers begin to make in the concept of securitas?
5. How does Reformed
soteriology contribute to these two aberrations of assurance?
1. What are Piper’s two
aims in this chapter?
2. Does God delight in
the punishment of the wicked?
3. According to P, what
is the main difference between Calvinists and Arminians?
SS ch. 11
1. Why does Packer begin
with this quote from Voltaire? What is
the rhetorical value?
2. In what ways does God
show his universal love?
3. What is the main
difference between the Calvinist and Arminian theological models?
Olson ch. 4
1. What is the starting
point for Arminian soteriology, if not free will?
2. What does Olson mean
when he says that Arminianism is Christocentric?
3. Sum up the point made
by William MacDonald.
Olson ch. 5
1. List and describe the
three categories of God’s providence.
2. What did Limborch
teach about the limitations of God?
3. What were Richard
Watson’s two contributions to Arminian theology?
4. According to Dunning,
what is the main difference between Calvinist and Arminian views of divine
sovereignty?
Muller, “God, Predestination, and the Integrity of
the Created Order: A Note on Patterns in Arminius’ Theology,” in Later Calvinism: International Perspectives,
Sixteenth Century Essays and Studies, vol. 22, ed. W. Fred Graham (Kirksville,
MO: Sixteenth Century Journal Publishers, 1994), 431-46. [on reserve]
Read John Sanders’s Introduction to Open Theism on
the home page of http://www.opentheism.info/
1. What practical matter
does Sanders tie to the popularity of open theism? What is the connection?
2. What, in his mind, is
the watershed issue with God’s relationship to time?
Clark H. Pinnock, “From Augustine to Arminius: A
Pilgrimage in Theology,” in The Grace of
God, the Will of Man: A Case for Arminianism (Grand Rapids: Academie Books,
1989). http://www.twtministries.com/articles/1_cal_arm/pilgrim.html
1. Describe the first
challenge to Pinnock’s Calvinism, the “hole in the dike.”
2. How does Pinnock
portray the God of classical theism?
Pinnock, “Systematic Theology,” in The Openness of God: A Biblical Challenge to
the Traditional Understanding of God (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press,
1994), 101-25. [on reserve]
1. What are the two
dominant models of God?
2. What does it mean for
God to share his power with the creature?
3. What does it mean to
say that God is “open?”
William Hasker, “The Openness of God,” Christian Scholar’s Review 28/1 (1998):
111-23. [on reserve]
1. What has Terence
Fretheim contributed to open theism?
2. How does Hasker
portray God’s compassion?
3. What are Hasker’s two
conclusions about the biblical descriptions of God’s emotions?
Alfred J. Freddoso, “The ‘Openness’ of God: A
Reply to Hasker,” Christian Scholar’s
Review 28/1 (1998): 124-33. http://www.nd.edu/~afreddos/papers/openness.htm
1. What does Freddoso say
about open theism’s handling of the classical theists?
2. What is F’s point
about metaphysical predispositions?
3. What point does F.
make about the incarnation?
Robert E. Picirilli, “Foreknowledge, Freedom, and
the Future,” Journal of the Evangelical
Theological Society 43/2 (2000): 259-71.
Accessible through quest.
1. What is Picirilli’s
thesis?
2. How does P. define and
distinguish certainty, contingency, and necessity?
3. How does P. see the
relationship between one certain future and foreknowledge?
Picirilli, “An Arminian Response to John Sanders’s
The God Who Risks: A Theology of
Providence,” JETS 44/3 (2001):
467-91. Accessible through quest.
1. According to
Picirilli, what are the three basic propositions of Sanders’ work?
2. What point does P.
make of the incarnation?
3. Acc. to P, what is
Arminius’ view of foreknowledge and predestination?
4. How does P respond to
the “logical problem” of foreknowledge and the future?
5. Acc. to P, what is at
the root of open theism’s error?
Steven M. Studebaker, “The Mode of Divine
Knowledge in Reformation Arminianism and Open Theism,” JETS 47/3 (2004): 469-80.
Accessible through quest.
1. How does Studebaker
argue for theological continuity between Arminianism and open theism on the
question of divine knowledge?
2. What is S’s
distinction between the theological and epistemological question, and thus, his
thesis about the discontinuity between Arminianism and open theism?
Ronald Highfield, “Does the World Limit God?
Assessing the Case for Open Theism,” Stone-Campbell
Journal 5 (2002): 69-92. [on
reserve]
1. What are the various
arguments for open theism, and how does Highfield respond to each?
2. On which points do you
find Highfield more persuasive, and on which points do you find the open theist
argument more persuasive?
3. What does H. say about
divine self-limitation?
Duane Warden, “Open Theism and Churches of
Christ,” in Evangelicalism and the
Stone-Campbell Movement, Volume 2: Engaging Basic Christian Doctrine, ed.
William R. Baker (
Olson chs. 1-2
1. According to ch. 1,
which Reformed theologians does Olson name as following the adjustments made by
Arminius?
2. According to Carl
Bangs, how can Arminius be described as a Reformed theologian?
3. What two links does O.
highlight between Arminius and Reformed theology?
4. What is Olson’s
problem with Muller’s interpretation?
5. According to ch. 2,
which parts of TULIP do Arminians reject?
6. How does Scripture
function in the debate?
Olson, Conclusion.
1. What suggestion does
O. make for the way forward?
John Mark Hicks, “Mediating the War between
Arminians and Calvinists on Election and Security: A Stone-Campbell
Perspective,” Stone-Campbell Journal
6/2 (2003): 163-84. http://www.stone-campbelljournal.com/archive/62/HicksFinal.pdf
1. What is the historical
connection between Calvinism and the Stone-Campbell movement?
2. How has assurance
functioned in the S-C movement?
3. What was J.W.
McGarvey’s attitude toward Calvinism?
4. How does Hicks
demonstrate the common ground of Christocentrism?
NB: On p. 174, the second
sentence of the first open paragraph should read: “Arminianism B believes that faith alone is the
principle and means of election, but A
believes that works are also a means of election.”
5. How does Hicks show
common ground between Calvinists and Arminians on justification and
sanctification?