107 Responses to “January 27, 2010”

1. Ben KC says:

   February 5, 2010 at 9:01 am

   When Dr. Brown said “God willing”, Dr. White kind of questioned the statement like as if thats not a proper theological statement. Correct me if I am misunderstanding Dr. White but heres what I read:

   1 Peter 3:17
   It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
2. Nathaniel says:

   February 6, 2010 at 12:36 am

   Ben,

   Dr. White’s point was the use of “God willing” in a debate about Calvinism. Do you understand?
3. Ben KC says:

   February 6, 2010 at 5:47 am

   Feel free to explain.
4. Ben KC says:

   February 6, 2010 at 6:02 am

   Are you saying Dr. Brown did not use the term properly?
5. Dr. Michael L. Brown says:

   February 6, 2010 at 10:33 am

   Nathaniel and Ben KC,

   As I think I made clear on the broadcast, I used in God willing in this sense: James 4:13-16

   13 Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” 14 How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. 15 What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” 16 Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.

   And, I believe, Dr. White was joking about my usage of the phrase. On the serious side, however, any Calvinist who thinks its incongruous for a non-Calvinist to to say “God willing” has no clue what non-Calvinists believe.
6. Ben KC says:

   February 6, 2010 at 11:00 am

   Ive been trying to find that passage. Thanks for confirming.
7. Chuck says:

   March 12, 2010 at 11:12 pm

   I know this comes a bit late but, have tried to get in contact with Dr. White many times regarding a book called “Did Calvin Murder Servetus” by Stanford Rives.

   Is Dr. White aware of this book and the arguments for John Calvin [whom I believe is a hero to Dr. White] being an Arian?

   Here are excerts from the book you can read in full free here: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=MlPrYQ5srKEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=did+calvin+murder+servetus&cd=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false

   Caroli, first Doctor of the Sorbonne and pastor at Lausanne[1], “objected because [the Confession of Faith of Geneva] did not contain the words Trinity or Person…”[2] In his letter of February 1537—the month of this trial of Calvin—Pastor Caroli wrote: “Away with new confessions and let us rather subscribe to these three creeds”, i.e., Apostle’s Creed (140A.D.), the Nicene Creed (325A.D.) and the Athanasian Creed (9th Century).”[3]

   Calvin responded: “We have pledged ourselves to faith in the One God, not to faith in Athanasius, whose Creed was never received the approbation of any rightful church.”[4]

   …it is important to note that Calvin never backed down. He refused to agree to alter the Geneva Confession or to sign on to the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds to the displeasure of the pastors at Starsbourg, including the famous Lutheran Pastor Bucer.” pp 213-215

   Footnotes
   —————————————————————————
   [1] Fn. 404…Caroli had joined the Protestant cause, causing him to lose his teaching post. He later became a Protestant pastor. When Caroli laid the charge against Calvin, Calvin at first said “it was a few days ago I dined with Carol; I was then his very dear brother.”…Hence, Calvin had no doubt of Caroli’s authenticity of being a Protestant right up to the time Caroli made his accusation. Calvinists try to insinuate that Pastor Caroli was an intense Protestant all along. This is unfair. Rather, Caroli made his Protestantism contingent on it not rejecting the trinity doctrine. This was his litmus tests. When Bucer would not back up orthodoxy on the trinity, Caroli returned to Catholicism.

   [2] Thomas Henry Dyer, The Life of John Calvin (Harper, 1855) at 67.

   [3] Gaston Bonet-Maury & Edward P. Hall, Early Sources of English Unitarian Christianity (1884) at 16 fn. 20, citing A. L. Herminjard, Correspondance des reformateurs dans les pays de langue francais (Geneva: 1878) Vol. 4, at 185.

   [4] Id. Citing Herminhard, supra, Vol. 4, at 185.