Dr. Reynolds Constructs a Straw Man
Dr. Brad Reynolds is an associate professor at SEBTS and, like me, new to the blogging world. Dr. Reynolds appears to be a nice fellow and very passionate about his positions and interpretations. I think that Dr. Reynolds and I could get along well and be friends if we had time to fellowship more intimately.
This article is not about Dr. Reynolds singularly as much as it is about so many that Dr. Reynolds appears to represent. He speaks as one who is in step with many who deny the Doctrines of Grace. However, his misunderstanding of the subject matter is very disheartening for a man of his education and influence within the SBC. He appears to have embraced common straw man arguments against the Doctrines of Grace and thus perpetuates the problem.
He made the following statement at the founders blog recently:
"In fact, the BFM2K could pose some problems for 5 point Calvinists.I shall quote from the BFM2K with my Capitalization:
God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the FUTURE DECISIONS of His FREE creatures.
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who ACCEPT Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
Justification is God's gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ.
"Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the FREE AGENCY of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end."
Please, all who do not understand the Doctrines of Free and Sovereign grace: No one (especially within the SBC) embracing the Doctrines of Grace disagree with God's foreknowledge of all things including the future decisions of His free creatures, that salvation is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ, that all (and any) sinners who repent and believe in Christ are justified, or that election is inconsistent with man's free agency.
Sirs, this is a straw man. We affirm both God's sovereignty in salvation by free and sovereign grace and man's universal responsibility to repent and believe. We do not deny free agency but we do deny free will as having the capacity to choose spiritual good. Anyone, I mean anyone who repents and believes the gospel of Jesus Christ will be saved! Jusification is by grace through faith alone. Any, I mean any, sinner who repents and believes is justified.
We affirm man's total depravity - that man is corrupted in body (Rom 7:24), mind (Rom 8:7), and will (John 6:44) by sin. We affirm that for man to escape his bondage to sin (John 8:34), God's power must work to open his heart and mind to savingly understand the truth of the gospel and to agree with God regarding his sinful state and need for Christ as the only sufficient savior (John 3:3, 5, Titus 3:5). No sinful man has the natural capacity to understand the gospel truth and respond with true repentance and faith apart from the supernatural power of God which is given by His grace alone to whomever and whenever He chooses (John 8:36; Acts 13:48; Rom 8:30, 9:15-16).
I hope for a day when straw men cease to exist among Southern Baptists. By God's grace and for His glory, it may come.
This article is not about Dr. Reynolds singularly as much as it is about so many that Dr. Reynolds appears to represent. He speaks as one who is in step with many who deny the Doctrines of Grace. However, his misunderstanding of the subject matter is very disheartening for a man of his education and influence within the SBC. He appears to have embraced common straw man arguments against the Doctrines of Grace and thus perpetuates the problem.
He made the following statement at the founders blog recently:
"In fact, the BFM2K could pose some problems for 5 point Calvinists.I shall quote from the BFM2K with my Capitalization:
God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the FUTURE DECISIONS of His FREE creatures.
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who ACCEPT Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
Justification is God's gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ.
"Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the FREE AGENCY of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end."
Please, all who do not understand the Doctrines of Free and Sovereign grace: No one (especially within the SBC) embracing the Doctrines of Grace disagree with God's foreknowledge of all things including the future decisions of His free creatures, that salvation is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ, that all (and any) sinners who repent and believe in Christ are justified, or that election is inconsistent with man's free agency.
Sirs, this is a straw man. We affirm both God's sovereignty in salvation by free and sovereign grace and man's universal responsibility to repent and believe. We do not deny free agency but we do deny free will as having the capacity to choose spiritual good. Anyone, I mean anyone who repents and believes the gospel of Jesus Christ will be saved! Jusification is by grace through faith alone. Any, I mean any, sinner who repents and believes is justified.
We affirm man's total depravity - that man is corrupted in body (Rom 7:24), mind (Rom 8:7), and will (John 6:44) by sin. We affirm that for man to escape his bondage to sin (John 8:34), God's power must work to open his heart and mind to savingly understand the truth of the gospel and to agree with God regarding his sinful state and need for Christ as the only sufficient savior (John 3:3, 5, Titus 3:5). No sinful man has the natural capacity to understand the gospel truth and respond with true repentance and faith apart from the supernatural power of God which is given by His grace alone to whomever and whenever He chooses (John 8:36; Acts 13:48; Rom 8:30, 9:15-16).
I hope for a day when straw men cease to exist among Southern Baptists. By God's grace and for His glory, it may come.
posted by Christopher Redman at 3:51 PM
13 Comments:
CR
My friend I am disappointed. You seemed so reasonable. I trust you just misread my statement. Let me say it again
"this COULD pose SOME problems for 5 point Calvinists."
I did not say "this DOES pose NUMEROUS problems for 5 point Calvinists."
Personally, I don't believe it poses problems for many 5 point Calvinists. Thus, they sign them. But as L Russ Bush points out there is a tension between it and the Abstract that could pose problems...in fact, that is one of the questions he normally asked of new professors (as I made clear).
Even CT Lillies admits, on Founders Blog, the two seem incompatible. I disagree, but SOME Calvinists think so, just as I said!
I understand it is open season on me for my positions, and I assure you I can handle it. But you seemed to always have grace in your comments and thus I expected more. I shall assume it was an oversight. But these oversights, that are becoming numerous on Blogs are damaging to the cause of truth and Christ.
May the Lord bless you
BR
Dr. Reynolds,
I suppose the difference between "could pose some" and "does pose numerous" problems is an important distinction in your mind. I grant you there is a big difference.
However, the attention grabber is not this particular sentence for me but rather the mere suggestion that a calvinist would have problems with the statements you cite in the BFM.
There simply is no problem.
Listen, I am not interested in "open season" on you any longer. I may have been tempted in the past but not any longer.
I am only interested in explaining the clear and consistent truth of what we (I) believe. After all, this post is only "my view and observation".
I am interested in your defining your understanding of total depravity and the doctrine of election.
I am particularly interested in your understanding of conditional vs. unconditional election. Irresistible grace is also of interest since you have indicated your understanding of the doctrine to be "coercion" of the sinner's will.
Blessings my friend.
CR
BTW, I am sorry for disappointing you. It was not my intent. I made a specific effort to express kindness toward you personally and will continue to do so.
CR
You have shown grace and Christian maturity in your correction.
We have 5 point Calvinists on campus who signed BFM2K and see no problems either. But as Josh said on Founders:
"Mr. Bridges
As I said I would do on a previous thread I have read both the Abstract of SBTS and the BFM2K and written a rather lengthy comparison. I am afraid that I must stand by my original assessment that the two documents are incompatible."
Some Calvinist's do "apparently" disagree on this issue.
I am hesitant about stating my beliefs on blogs, because of the semantical syntactical parsing of every possible meaning of every word that seems to follow such statements. But it will take place on my Blog soon. And I have a feeling it will surprise many.
However, I do believe only the elect will be saved, but anyone can be saved...I can't reconcile the two in my mind for it is supralogical. Since God's Revelation employs analogical language rather than univocal or equivocal, I approach it with caution, realizing God's ways are higher than men's even as the heavens are higher than the earth.
Thus, when contemplating God's salvation of men I have arrived at the point of Romans 11:33-36.
God bless you my friend
BR
Dr. Reynolds,
I doubt you are still checking in here but may I comment to your statement: "I do believe only the elect will be saved, but anyone can be saved..."
May I say:
1) All of the elect will be saved, every last one! (2 Peter 3:9)
2) No one can (moral ability) come to Me (be saved by believing in Me) unless the Father who sent Me draw him (effectual grace) and I will raise him up at the last day (eternal life in glory). (John 6:44)
3) Therefore, I have said to you that no one can (moral ability) come to Me (believe in Me) unless it has been granted to Him (free and sovereign grace) by My Father. (John 6:65)
I assume that you are speaking of "natural ability" when you state that "anyone can be saved" but not of "moral inability" because of man's depravity and willful rejection of God in his natural state.
Jesus spoke of "moral inability" when He said, "No one can come to Me..."
CR
Pastor Redman
I read somewhere, and I can't figure where, Dr. Reynolds saying that he couldn't agree with total depravity if it were connected with irresistable grace? Or something like that? Maybe it was over at the Founders Blog. Anyway, is he--or you, Dr. Reynolds if you happen by--talking about double predestination? and how does that connect up with the comment about the elect being saved and everyone being saved? I'm a little sketchy on the details but most of the folks I've discussed this with are concerned about that one. I certainly don't have all the details down.
Thanks for the encouragement, btw.
Much Grace
Josh
I don't think that double predestination is what Dr. Reynolds has in mind. I believe that he affirms a milder version of total depravity and believes that man somehow is capable of deciding for or against Christ on thier own free will. Thus, Irrisitible grace is unnecessary and intrusive. Also, I think that he believes that Irrisistible grace is coercive on the human will and thus the old saying, "God doesn't drag anyone kicking and screeming against their will into the kingdom."
Anyway, this is speculation on my part based on my interaction with Dr. Reynolds previously. I am going to address the falacies and objections to Irresistible Grace soon.
My view is that the doctrines of grace stand together or fall together. That is why Dr. Reynolds feels it necessary to redefine the 3 points that he affirms. However, he can't actually affirm them because they don't stand without the others. He apparenlty taks a softer, milder, free will type approach to the subject.
CR
Pastor
Thank you for that. I agree, though, that they stand or fall together. It seems to me though that if you can affirm Original Sin Total Depravity isn't that big of a step.
Josh
You are correct in your observation regarding Original Sin and Total Depravity. However, men like Dr. Reynolds and Page Patterson believe that there is a contradiction between God electing certain sinners and God desiring for all men to be saved. Therefore, they feel it necessary to make man's acceptance or rejection the ultimate determiner of whether a person is saved or not. It is their way of reconciling what they believe to be a contradiction. The problem is that all men universally reject Christ because of their depravity and therefore all men are jusltly condemned. And God bestows saving grace upon whomever He will and does not violence to His justice or righteousness.
I do not believe there is a contradiction at all. I believe that sound exegetical principles will produce a consistent theology that holds all of God's revelation in balance.
That balance is: God is absolutely sovereign and man is fully responsible. Both truths must be held.
CR
C R,
Dr. Page Patterson made a contribution in the writing of the Believer Study Bible and written various Book.
I think PRIDE keeps people from retracting or restating there position on issues.
Only the ones for TRUTH will make a retraction, Like Dr. Albert Mohler and Dr. Frank Page.
A Brother in CHRIST
Pastor Redman
You have your finger in the sore brother, though it troubles me. All these doctrines are hard on a Baptist. However, I cannot get away from the horror of the idea that we have not been giving God his due for something like a hundred years now?
I can understand a little about how Josiah must have felt when they brought the book to him. Its hard to explain.
Much Grace
Josh
Josh my friend,
We haven't even scratched the surface. BTW, get a copy of "By His Grace and For His Glory" by Tom Nettles. It is scholarly and heavy reading but worth the effort.
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who ACCEPT Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
Interesting. I think the 4.5 point Arminians in the SBC would have more trouble than 5.0 point Calvinists with that sentence. That sentence only affirms that Christians are offered salvation. It seems to me that the Arminians would want to say that salvation is offered to everyone, not just those who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
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