Soteriology 101 w/ Dr. Leighton Flowers

Dr. Flowers reads through Augustine's debate with Fortunatus the Manichean prior to Augustine's conversion to compatibilistic determinism in order to demonstrate to Calvinists, like James White, that (1) Manichean doctrine opposed the Early Church's teachings on free will, (2) Manichean did appeal to some of the same texts as Calvinists do to support their views of man's innate inability and (3) that this issue preceded the Pelagian controversy.

Eric Kemp joins Dr. Flowers once again to discuss a recent interaction with James White... Join us for a LIVE discussion with a time for Q&A.

Dr. Flowers demonstrates how Genesis 50:20 cannot support the unique claims of Calvinistic compatibilists by walking through a video by Dr. James White.   To better understand compatibilism, please watch this short video: https://youtu.be/EgBvRCxsXcE   To see more on the other proof texts mentioned in this video please go here: https://soteriology101.com/2017/06/29...   For a video answering James White's views on Isaiah 10, watch this short video: https://youtu.be/2Ee4uCxMm30

Dr. Flowers responds to Dr. John Piper's repeated assertion that God predestines all sin by engaging with this sermon clip from Desiring God: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSYVP...   Followed by a time of Q&A from listeners...

Dr. Leighton Flowers responds to some prominent Calvinists who use Isaiah 10 as a demonstration of divine determinism (i.e. "compatibilism" ...see video link below). For more on this topic please read: https://soteriology101.com/2017/06/29... For more about compatibilism, please watch this short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgBvR...

Dr. Brian Wagner joins Dr. Flowers to study the biblical doctrine of Free Will. Join us live as we will be interacting with your questions and comments! For more on this topic please read: https://soteriology101.com/2017/11/03... and... https://soteriology101.com/2017/07/24...

Dr. Leighton Flowers welcomes back Dr. Ken Wilson to defend his Oxford Thesis from over 15 hours of mostly fallacious and unfounded attacks by Dr. James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries. The Common Misconceptions in this Debate So Far: 1. Wilson's argument rests on Manicheanism and Augustinianism being the same worldview: This is untrue. It is not at all unreasonable to suggest that just one aspect of Manicheanism (i.e. its adherence to theistic determinism) might have influenced Augustine's interpretation of the scripture. 2. Wilson is saying Augustinianism is untrue because of its similarities with Manicheanism: This is inaccurate. It is possible for false worldviews to adhere to some aspects of truth, therefore proving that Calvinism has some link to Manicheanism doesn't prove Calvinism is false. Wilson is saying Augustinianism is not rooted or founded in the early church writings therefore it most likely originated from other gnostic, neoplatonic and Manichean roots, which brings into question its validity as the correct interpretive grid. 3. Wilson is arguing Augustinianism imports Manicheanism into Christianity because it uses similar words: This is also untrue. Just because Mani spoke of "the elect" and Calvinists also emphasize "the elect" does not mean they are necessarily linked, or even have the same definitions. Wilson is not attempting to argue that all aspects or jargon of the Manichean worldview are linked to the all aspects or jargon within the Calvinistic worldview. Wilson is only looking at the one common point of connection, namely deterministic philosophy, which was first introduced by Augustine, a former Manichean. 4. James White's criticism has accurately portrayed Wilson's arguments and showed Wilson's bias: This is demonstrably untrue as will be shown in this video and in many of the articles posted at www.soteriology101.com. 5. If it can be proven that Wilson held to preconception of the ECFs and Augustine's beliefs before doing his research, then his subsequent research is invalid: Again this is false. Even if it could be proven beyond all reasonable doubt that Wilson firmly believed the ECFs denied TULIP theology and that Augustine was the first to introduce it, this does not make his findings invalid. One would still need to demonstrate that Wilson's bias lead to poor research. ---------- Here are quotes from Reformed historians who validate the foundational claims of Wilson's work: Herman Bavinck: "In the early church, at a time when it had to contend with pagan fatalism and gnostic naturalism, its representatives focused exclusively on the moral nature, freedom, and responsibility of humans and could not do justice, therefore, to the teaching of Scripture concerning the counsel of God. Though humans had been more or less corrupted by sin, they remained free and were able to accept the proffered grace of God. The church’s teaching did not include a doctrine of absolute predestination and irresistible grace." Loraine Boettner: “It may occasion some surprise to discover that the doctrine of Predestination was not made a matter of special study until near the end of the fourth century....They of course taught that salvation was through Christ; yet they assumed that man had full power to accept or reject the gospel. Some of their writings contain passages in which the sovereignty of God is recognized; yet along side of those are others which teach the absolute freedom of the human will. Since they could not reconcile the two they would have denied the doctrine of Predestination... They taught a kind of synergism in which there was a co-operation between grace and free will... this cardinal truth of Christianity was first clearly seen by Augustine..." Robert Peterson and Michael Williams of Covenant Theological Seminary: "The Semi-Pelagians were convinced that Augustine's monergistic emphasis upon salvation by grace alone represented a significant departure from the traditional teaching of the church. And a survey of the thought of the apostolic father's shows that the argument is valid... In comparison to Augustine's monergistic doctrine of grace, the teachings of the apostolic fathers tended toward a synergistic view of redemption" (36). Louis Berkhof: "Their representations are naturally rather indefinite, imperfect, and incomplete, and sometimes even erroneous and self-contradictory. Says Kahnis: "It stands as an assured fact, a fact knowing no exceptions, and acknowledged by all well versed in the matter, that all of the pre-Augustinian Fathers taught that in the appropriation of salvation there is a co-working of freedom and grace." Berkhof goes on to admit that "they do not hold to an entire corruption of the human will, and consequently adhere to the synergistic theory of regeneration..." (130).   In other words, despite White's assertions to the contrary, there were no "monergists" before Augustine.

Listen to how James White slanders Dr. Flowers and the entire Texas Baptists State Convention by means of ad hominem and notice the double standards.... watch to the end, it's only 10 mins long!

Dr. Leighton Flowers, Director of Evangelism for Texas Baptists, walks through yet another critique brought against Provisionism by Dr. James White on a recent Dividing Line Program... The original Dividing Line can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqwLI...

Dr. Leighton Flowers welcomes our very own Eric Kemp to talk about his hunt for the elusive "hyper-Calvinist." To read up on Eric's journey to find this obscure and difficult to describe creature take some time to read his article here: https://soteriology101.com/2020/04/09...