Philosophical Debates Over Calvinism
2008 May 13
This is a simple request for information. I am looking for debates (preferably online) between Calvinists and non-Calvinists that have been conducted in the philosophical arena. Such debates include the topics of middle knowledge, libertarian freedom, moral responsibility and the divine attributes. I am interested in both formal and informal debates, but prefer that at least one of the debaters have an advanced degree in either philosophy or theology. I also prefer longer debates. I count a back-and-forth exchange between blogs as being a debate. If you know of any such debates, please mention them in the comments.
For an example of such a debate see the exchanges between Victor Reppert and Triablogue.
I think Boars Head had some links to Calvinism vs. Emerging debates recently. I’m not sure if that’s what you want.
Might be. It would depend what issues they were discussing and whether they were discussed in a philosophical manner. I will check it out and see.
There’s a debate between Bill Craig and an atheist where the atheist equates Christianity with Calvinism. Craig responds by critiquing Calvinism and in the process mentions Shank’s “Elect in the Son”, says he’s more in the Wesleyan stream of Christianity, etc.
I forget the atheist’s name, but it should be on Craig’s website.
I found it really helpful when I was against Calvinism.
Outside of that, I’m not really sure. There’s Paul Helm’s contribution to 4 views on Divine Foreknowledge. He interacts with Craig there, albeit quite poorly.
Most of the debates I’ve seen have been exegetical.
The Craig-Curley debate is found at http://www.reasonablefaith.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5283
Curley is definitely an easy target. He does not manage to actually defeat Craig in any way. Hopefully, Paul Helm is a better opponent for him. (This is what I was looking for.)
There are no debates on this topic here, but frame-poythress.com has some innovative arguments for Calvinism from a Van Tillian P.O.V.
The site is actually http://www.frame-poythress.org
The closest that I could come to finding actual Calvinism related philosophy were articles on Free Will & Moral Responsibility, Open Theism and Rationality in the Calvinist Tradition. Perhaps you were thinking of his book “Doctrine of God”?
In any case, Frame is an easy opponent. All you need to do is point out that his understanding of libertarian freedom is a straw man. He lacks well-thought out reasons against it. My Calvinist friend (now in Texas) is way better than him at this.
You should be able to find some leads at:
http://www.monergism.com/
They have links to anything concerning reformed theology.
That is definitely a good link. Unfortunately, it is one-sided. A debate needs two sides. I suggest the this site (it also has plenty of links):
http://arminianperspectives.wordpress.com
Hi Matthew,
I have collected all the back-and-forth between us and Reppert into a single post. Perhaps this will be helpful:
http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2008/06/calvinism-vs-arminianism.html#comments