Chosen But Free: A Balanced View of God’s Sovereignty and Free Will ( 2nd Edition) PDF
Preview Chosen But Free: A Balanced View of God’s Sovereignty and Free Will ( 2nd Edition)
Table of Contents A Selection of Books by Norman L. Geisler Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Acknowledgements CHAPTER ONE - Who Is in Charge? THE CHARACTERISTICS OF GOD THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD HOW THEN ARE WE FREE? CHAPTER TWO - Why Blame Me? WHO DONE IT? THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT WHO MADE THE DEVIL DO IT? WHO MADE THE DEVIL? DID GOD MAKE ME DO IT? WHO MADE ME DO IT? WHO CAUSED ME TO DO IT? WHY DID I DO IT? HOW CAN AN EVIL NATURE CHOOSE GOOD? FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE, WHOSE FAULT IS IT? WHAT SAITH THE SCRIPTURES? EITHER/OR OR BOTH/AND? CHAPTER THREE - Viewing the Alternatives THE TWIN TRUTHS OF SOVEREIGNTY AND RESPONSIBILITY SOVEREIGNTY AND RESPONSIBILITY THREE VIEWS ON SOVEREIGNTY AND RESPONSIBILITY SUMMING IT ALL UP CHAPTER FOUR - Avoiding Extreme Calvinism A DEFINITION OF EXTREME CALVINISM AVOIDING EXTREME CALVINISM’S VIEW OF TOTAL DEPRAVITY AN EVALUATION OF VERSES USED TO SUPPORT THE EXTREME CALVINISTS’ VIEW OF TOTAL DEPRAVITY AVOIDING EXTREME CALVINISM’S VIEW OF UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION AN EVALUATION OF VERSES USED TO SUPPORT THE EXTREME CALVINISTS’ VIEW OF ... SOME CONCLUDING THOUGHTS CHAPTER FIVE - Avoiding Extreme Calvinism AVOIDING EXTREME CALVINISM’S VIEW OF LIMITED ATONEMENT AN EVALUATION OF VERSES USED TO SUPPORT THE EXTREME CALVINISTS’ VIEW OF LIMITED ATONEMENT THE EXTREME CALVINISTS’ GOD IS NOT REALLY ALL-LOVING AVOIDING EXTREME CALVINISM’S VIEW OF IRRESISTIBLE GRACE AN EVALUATION OF VERSES USED TO SUPPORT THE EXTREME CALVINISTS’ VIEW OF ... GRACE IS NOT IRRESISTIBLE ON THE UNWILLING GRACE IS IRRESISTIBLE ONLY ON THE WILLING AN UNSUCCESSFUL MANEUVER EXTREME CALVINISM POSITS A COERCIVE GOD AVOIDING EXTREME CALVINISM’S VIEW OF THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS EXTREME VS. MODERATE CALVINISM ON PERSEVERANCE SOME CONCLUDING THOUGHTS CHAPTER SIX - Avoiding Extreme Arminianism WHAT IS ARMINIANISM? AVOIDING EXTREME ARMINIANISM THE NEW KID ON THE BLOCK A DENIAL OF GOD’S TRADITIONAL ATTRIBUTES A DENIAL OF GOD’S FOREKNOWLEDGE OF FREE EVENTS A DENIAL OF GOD’S IMMUTABILITY (UNCHANGEABILITY) A DENIAL OF GOD’S ETERNALITY A DENIAL OF GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY SOME CONCLUDING THOUGHTS CHAPTER SEVEN - A Plea for Moderation EXTREME VS. MODERATE CALVINISM A MODERATE CALVINIST’S UNDERSTANDING OF T-U-L-I-P A DEFENSE OF ETERNAL SECURITY ANSWERING OBJECTIONS RAISED BY ARMINIANS THE PROMISE OF SALVATION IS CONDITIONAL BELIEF IS A CONTINUAL PROCESS SYMMETRICAL NATURE OF FAITH VERSES USED BY ARMINIANS TO SHOW ONE CAN LOSE HIS SALVATION PROFESSING BUT NOT POSSESSING BELIEVERS TRUE BELIEVERS LOSE REWARDS, NOT SALVATION TRUE BELIEVERS MANIFEST EVIDENCE OF THEIR FAITH THE ROOTS OF MODERATE CALVINISM THE BOTTOM LINE CHAPTER EIGHT - What Difference Does It Make? A WORD TO THE WISE SOME PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCES OF EXTREME CALVINISM A NATURAL REACTION SOME PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCES OF EXTREME ARMINIANISM A FINAL WORD APPENDIX ONE - Great Christian Church Fathers on Free Will APPENDIX TWO - Was Calvin a Calvinist? APPENDIX THREE - The Origins of Extreme Calvinism APPENDIX FOUR - Answering Objections to Free Will APPENDIX FIVE - Is Faith a Gift Only to the Elect? APPENDIX SIX - Bibilical Support for Unlimited Atonement APPENDIX SEVEN - Double- Predestination APPENDIX EIGHT - An Evaluation of the Canons of Dort (1619) APPENDIX NINE - Jonathan Edwards on Free Will APPENDIX TEN - Is Regeneration Prior to Faith? APPENDIX ELEVEN - Monergism vs. Synergism APPENDIX TWELVE - Extreme Calvinism and Voluntarism APPENDIX THIRTEEN - A Response to James White’s The Potter’s Freedom BIBLIOGRAPHY SUBJECT INDEX SCRIPTURE INDEX Thank you for selecting a book from BETHANY HOUSE PUBLISHERS A Selection of Books by Norman L. Geisler Unshakable Foundations (Bethany House, 2000) Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Baker, 1999) Chosen But Free (Bethany House, 1999, 2001) Legislating Morality (Bethany House, 1998) Creating God in the Image of Man? (Bethany House, 1997) When Cultists Ask (Victor, 1997) Love Is Always Right (Thomas Nelson, 1996) An Encyclopedia of Christian Evidences (Victor, 1996) Roman Catholics and Evangelicals (Baker, 1995) In Defense of the Resurrection (rev. by Witness Inc., 1993) Answering Islam (Baker, 1993) When Critics Ask (Victor, 1992) Miracles and the Modern Mind (Baker, 1992) Matters of Life and Death (Baker, 1991) Thomas Aquinas: An Evangelical Appraisal (1991) In Defense of the Resurrection (Quest, 1991) The Life and Death Debate (Greenwood, 1990) When Skeptics Ask (Victor, 1990) Gambling: A Bad Bet (Fleming H. Revell, 1990) Come Let Us Reason (Baker, 1990) Apologetics in the New Age (Baker, 1990) The Battle for the Resurrection (Thomas Nelson, 1989) Christian Ethics (Baker, 1989) The Infiltration of the New Age (Tyndale, 1989) Knowing the Truth About Creation (Servant, 1989) Worlds Apart (Baker, 1989) Christian Apologetics (Baker, 1988) Signs and Wonders (Tyndale, 1988) Philosophy of Religion (revised, 1988) Introduction to Philosphy (Baker, 1987) Origin Science (Baker, 1987) The Reincarnation Sensation (Tyndale, 1986) A General Introduction to the Bible (revised, Moody Press, 1986) False Gods of Our Time (Harvest House, 1985) To Drink or Not to Drink (Quest, 1984) Explaining Hermeneutics (ICBI, 1983) Is Man the Measure? (Baker, 1983) Miracles and Modern Thought (Zondervan, 1982) What Augustine Says (Baker, 1982) The Creator in the Courtroom—Scopes II (Baker, 1982) Decide for Yourself (Zondervan, 1982) Biblical Errancy (Zondervan, 1981) Options in Contemporary Christian Ethics (Baker, 1981) Inerrancy (Zondervan, 1980) To Understand the Bible, Look for Jesus (Baker, 1979) The Roots of Evil (Zondervan, 1978) A Popular Survey of the Old Testament (Baker, 1977) From God to Us (Moody Press, 1974) Chosen But Free Second Edition Copyright © 1999, 2001 Norman L. Geisler Cover design by Eric Walljasper ® Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION . Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. The “NIV” and “New International Version” trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society. Scripture quotations identified NKJV are from the New King James Version of the Bible. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations identified KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible. ® Scripture quotations identified NASB are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE , Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the publisher and copyright owners. Published by Bethany House Publishers A Ministry of Bethany Fellowship International 11400 Hampshire Avenue South Bloomington, Minnesota 55438 www.bethanyhouse.com Printed in the United States of America by Bethany Press International, Bloomington, Minnesota 55438 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Geisler, Norman L. Chosen but free / by Norman L. Geisler . p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-441-20808-8 (pbk.) 1. Predestination. 2. Free will and determinism. 3. Providence and government of God. 4. God—Omniscience. 5. Calvinism. 6. Arminianism. I. Title. BT810.2.G45 2001 233’.7—dc21 2001002518 To all my students who for the past forty-two years have asked more questions about this than any other topic.
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