Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. - Romans 5

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Limited Atonement

So this week I've been wracking my head over CMBT's midterm #2, but also on the concept of limited atonement, which is one of the five pillars of Calvinism (and some reformed versions of Calvinism will remove it). Its opposite is universalism, which I do not believe, but there are too many definitions of limited atonement making this topic quite complicated.

Here are some famous theologians speaking on the topic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u2RMyj-rxY - John Piper and Rick Warren
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4x2zYA3Wc0 - RC Sproul
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NVaOWJijik - John Mcarthur

As you can see, there are 3 different definitions of limited atonement with varying "absoluteness." John Mcarthur takes the fundamental Calvinist view, RC Sproul takes a reformed view, and John Piper seems to take a middle group (though I am sure opposite sites will interpret him as on their side). They all call themselves Calvinists by the way.

I cannot say I have a clear cut view, and that my theology is still immature on this. I hope to gain more light but in John Mcarthur's words, "there will always be tension."

 Note I only listed Calvinistic beliefs. Armenians and Catholics do not believe in any form of limited atonement at all. Also note I didn't put any scriptural references (which John Piper, Rick Warren, and John Mcarthur go over in their talks) for any of the sides because for me, reading the entirety of the bible, its too easy for me to go read a passage (say in Luke 9-10) where one verse seems to point to one side, and then the following verse would seem to point to the other side. Yes there are a handful of go-to verses for Calvinism used to justify limited atonement, and yes there another handful verses that seem to reject it completely, and people debate, and have debated for 2,000 years, over the interpretations and context and applicability of these verses to these theological notions.What is a nub like me to get caught up in all of this and forget about what is accepted by all parties as Truth: God the triune is sovereign and merciful, and Jesus has died for me to save me from my sin and so I may glorify Him.

Here are more videos related to this topic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlw2b3bqYG4 - Mark Driscoll
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19vsmE-i8_s - Darrin Patrick and Robert Peterson
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