Friday, November 23, 2007

"Building Bridges" Conference And Myths About Calvinism

Brother Bob Ross recently sent this article to his email list and, as usual, he hits a home run with it. I hope those attending the conference take Brother Bob's words to heart.

Charles
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"BUILDING BRIDGES" CONFERENCE AND "COMMON MYTHS ABOUT CALVINISM WHICH YOU HAVE HEARD" [11/16--2007]

I recently noticed the following on Tom Ascol's Founders blog in regard to a Conference on Southern Baptists and Calvinism which is scheduled for the very near future:

>>
Nathan Finn writes about the Building Bridges Conference coming up November 26, 2007 at Ridgecrest, NC. He will be speaking on "Southern Baptist Calvinism: Setting the Record Straight." He is also asking for examples of common myth about Calvinism that people have heard. Click over and offer him your insights as he plans to help build bridges in the SBC.
>> >http://www.founders.org/blog/<

On his own website, Nathan Finn, who is a Professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, says:

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The title of my address and the related essay is “Southern Baptist Calvinism: Setting the Record Straight.” I will be discussing some of the most prevalent myths about Southern Baptist Calvinists. As I finish up my preparation for the conference, I am interested in hearing from some of you. What are the most common myths you have heard bandied about in SBC circles about Calvinism?
>> >https://nathanafinn.wordpress.com/<

I accepted the "invitation" to respond to their request to mention some of the "most common myths" I have heard bandied about in SBC circles about Calvinism. I emailed the following articles to both Nathan Finn and Dr. Daniel Akin, who is President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and a participant in the "Building Bridges" Conference, and I hope these issues get addressed:

Myth # 1 -- REGENERATION IN RELATION TO FAITH IN CALVINIST THEOLOGY:
Or, the Myth That "Regeneration Precedes Faith" Is Calvinism.

Myth # 2 -- SOUTHERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY STUDENTS
ATTACK INVITATIONS:
Or, the Myth that "Invitations" Are Unscriptural.

Myth #3 -- ARE YOU SURE YOU LIKE SPURGEON?
Or, the Myth that "Founders Ministries" Represents
the Type of "Calvinism" Held by C. H. Spurgeon
.

Myth #4 -- BEWARE OF WHAT PASSES TODAY AS "MONERGISM"
Or, the Myth that the Pedobaptist Idea of "Monergism" is True Monergism.


These myths are some of the primary ones which theologically divide Creedal Calvinists (Confessional Baptists) from the current crop of professed Calvinists who advocate a certain type of non-creedal post-17th century Pedobaptist-contrived Calvinism (Presbyterian, Reformed, the Founders, and some Reformed Baptists). This latter type of "Calvinism" has been promoted by the likes of pedobaptist W. G. T. Shedd, Louis Berkhof, R. C. Sproul, the Banner of Truth Trust, and followers such as the Founders Ministries, James White, Tom Nettles, some faculty at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, a number of Bloggers, etc.

What are the chances that these myths will be discussed at this Conference?

Perhaps the most representative body of the latter type of Calvinism is the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Scott Lamb recently examined the statistics of this group of "Calvinist" churches and found that they averaged 1.5 adult baptism per church for the year 2005.

Lamb remarks:

>>A Calvinism that produces only 1.5 adult conversions per church is not something to be proud of. . . . Those who would be happy with 1.5 baptisms a year per church as long as most of the folks who professed membership give continual evidence of salvation, let us repent, for something is truly wrong. I don’t care if you are Arminian or Calvinist - that incredible lack of adult conversion is an indication that there is an incredible deficiency in the call to evangelism and outreach, otherwise known as “The Great Commission.”>> [Thoughts & Adventures, Archives, October 10, 20007, Conversion & Calvinism, Evangelism & Ethics] >http://www.thoughtsandadventures.com/<

C. H. SPURGEON:
"I believe, most firmly, in the doctrines commonly called Calvinistic, and I hold them to be very fraught with comfort to God's people; but if any man shall say that the preaching of these is the whole of the preaching of the gospel, I am at issue with him.

Brethren, you may preach those doctrines as long as you like, and yet fail to preach the gospel; and I will go further, and affirm that some who have even denied those truths, to our great grief, have nevertheless been gospel preachers for all that, and God has saved souls by their ministry.

The fact is, that while the doctrines of election, final perseverance, and so on, go to make up a complete ministry, and are invaluable in their place, yet the soul and marrow of the gospel is not there, but is to be found in the great fact that "God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit," and so on.

Preach Christ, young man, if you want to win souls. Preach all the doctrines, too, for the building up of believers, but still the main business is to preach Jesus who came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost." [Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volume 13, Year 1867, #786, excerpts from pages 706-708].

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Do Presbyterians Survive By Infant Baptism?

The below is from Brother Bob Ross and factually demonstrates the results of following the heresy of infant baptism by using the PCA's own statistics. An amazing piece of work.

Charles
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DO PRESBYTERIANS SURVIVE BY INFANT BAPTISM? [11/02--2007]

I have often raised the question as to how long the Hybrid Calvinist Presbyterians would survive if their churches only added members who first became believers before being baptized, as Baptists practice.

Former Houston Oiler NFL football coach, Jerry Glanville, once confronted a Referee on the sidelines during a game, and remarked to the Ref that "NFL" meant "Not For Long" for his coaching career if the Referee kept making bad calls like the Ref had just made against Glanville's team.

Scott Lamb, who has high praise for the PCA (Presbyterian Church in America), has recently given some attention to the statistics of the PCA denomination, and they seem to indicate that the PCA's survival would be "Not For Long" were it not for infant baptism.

See Scott's article Conversion & Calvinism, Evangelism & Ethics? reflections on baptism statistics from the MBC [Missouri Baptist Convention] and the PCA [Presbyterian Church of America] at --
http://www.thoughtsandadventures.com/

Scott points out that the PCA's own statistics for 2005 reveal the following:

>>
2005 entire PCA Total number of infant baptisms 5,279
Total number of adult baptisms 2448
Total baptisms in PCA 7,727


2005 entire PCA Average baptisms per church (including infants) 4.8

2005 entire PCA Average adult ("believers") baptisms per church 1.5

>>

From a Baptist perspective, this means that of every 4 to 5 persons baptized and added to the PCA churches, at least 3 to 4 of them are unsaved infants. Is it any wonder that apostasy has been so prevalent among Presbyterians over the years, resulting in numerous splits and splinters? Is it any wonder that Presbyterians oppose aggressive evangelistic efforts as used by Baptists to get adults converted?

Yet we find that many of our modern "Calvinists" such as the Flounders, "Reformed Baptists," Tom Nettles, Tom Ascol, Mark Dever, and R. Albert Mohler like to play footsies with the pedos.

"Sacramental efficacy and baptismal regeneration, ALL SPRING FROM THE FIRST ERROR OF INFANT BAPTISM" (C. H. Spurgeon, New Park Street Pulpit, Volume 6, page 168).

Saturday, November 03, 2007

Southern Seminary Students Attack Invitations

The false doctrine of "born again before faith" that is taught at Southern Seminary has produced students which theologically are at odds with the Southern Baptist churches that help pay their tutition. In this article, Brother Bob Ross finds Southern students attacking the historic and God honoring practice of having invitations during church services. Southern Baptists wanting a defense of altar calls should read Brother Bob's comprehensive writings on the subject.

It's strange that the real founders of the Southern Baptist Convention wholeheartedly supported giving invitations. When are Southern Baptists going to do something about Southern Seminary?

Charles
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SBTS STUDENTS ATTACK INVITATIONS

Bob to Charles:

I noticed, Charles, that some students at Southern Seminary are attacking public invitations, despite the fact that Seminary Founders, such as John A. Broadus, endorsed the use of invitations.

Do you suppose they are disciples of Professor Tom Nettles, one of the most pronounced of the Hybrid Calvinists on the Faculty? See Invitations: John A. Broadus versus Tom Nettles.

What percentage, Charles, of these students do you suppose made public professions of faith in Christ at services where an invitation was given -- 99% or 100%?

I read enough of the website materials by the SBTS students to conclude that the vast majority of their objections are "hybridized" from pedobaptist Iain Murray. Murray endorses invitations to parents to bring forth their infants for baptism and church membership, on the presumption that the offspring of pedobaptist believers inherit salvation, but he repudiates invitations to the unsaved to accept Christ and come forward to confess Him.

I have A REPLY to Murray's booklet on our Pilgrim Publications website, as follows: http://www.pilgrimpublications.com/invite1.htm

Also, there are a number of my articles which respond to anti-invitationalism on the following website at --

http://writingsofbobross.tripod.com/1toc1.html

Here are the titles of my articles:

A REFORMED BAPTIST WRITES:
IS MURRAY'S PEDOBAPTIST "INFANT BAPTISM INVITATION SYSTEM" MORE LIKELY TO PRODUCE CONVERTS THAN SOUTHERN BAPTISTS

ALTAR CALL ARTICLE REBUTTED

ANOTHER ANTI-INVITATION ARTICLE

ANY SCRIPTURE FOR WALKING THE AISLE

COMMENT ON ZASPEL'S ALTAR CALL ARTICLE

DANGERS OF NO PUBLIC INVITATION

EVANGELISM AT CHS' TABERNACLE

IAIN MURRAY ON THE LACK OF EVANGELISM

INSTRUMENTS INVITATIONS

MARTYN LLOYD-JONES' METHOD

MURRAY'S CRAFTY MISUSE OF SPURGEON

MURRAY'S MURKY MIRAGE

REPLY ON MURRAY'S BOOKLET

RESPONSES TO RECENT ARTICLES FROM THOSE WHO OPPOSE PUBLIC
INVITATIONS

SPURGEON OPPOSED PEDOBAPTIST INVITATIONS

SPURGEON PRESSED FOR DECISION

SPURGEON'S PLEA FOR EVANGELISM

TESTIMONY OF BORN-AGAIN PEDOBAPTIST

WHAT GROUPS OPPOSE INVITATIONS

SPURGEON'S REBUKE OF SOME "ULTRA-CALVINISTIC" BRETHREN REGARDING
GOD'S HEARING PRAYER

THE SINNER'S PRAYER -- AS USED BY C. H. SPURGEON AT SERVICES AT METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE

WHAT'S WRONG WITH MODERN CALVINISM?


Anti-invitationalism is just another one of the fruits of the "born again before faith" heresy of the Pedobaptists and Hybrid Calvinist "Reformed."