A Calvinistically Warped Mind -- B. B. Warfield on John Miley

In light of Gary Johnson's review of Roger Olson's new book on Arminianism (Click here: Pyromaniacs: Arminianism: Semi-Pelagianism?), and because Dr. Olson chose to respond on this blog to my comments about being "dissed" by him (Click here: Riddleblog - The Latest Post - Dissed by Roger Olson), I thought that it might be useful to post that section from my Ph.D. Dissertation (The Lion of Princeton) which deals with Warfield's review of John Miley's Systematic Theology.

To read "A Calvinistically Warped Mind -- B. B. Warfield on John Miley, click here

Comments

[Ketch]

Warfield seems more wiley than Miley when he defends Calvinism against being “inconsistent with the divine goodness to create souls whose rejection of salvation is certainly foreknown…” Wonder why Warfield, seeking clarity, avoided the term “decreed”?

I also found the bit about the Atonement, from Warfield’s stance, a tad strained. This may be, of course, due to not having read the entire work, but it’s enough of a hint for me to suspect a confirmation of something. The two weakest points of Calvinism, that I see, are the “horrible doctrine” (Calvin’s own words, of course) of unconditional election and reprobation; and limited atonement which simply runs aground on too many clear Scriptures.(Actually, there's a third, perhaps the heart of it all, which is Calvinism's misunderstanding of biblical sovereignty)

From what I’ve read here from Warfield, I’m thinking Olson’s book is going to have merit. It does look like Warfield was either a bit unfair or less than precise in some places. In any event, Olson’s sold another copy.

[Chris Coleman]

KR,

Does Warfield say anything about R.A. Torrey directly? Being a Biola grad, I'd be interested in a Princetonian's view of Biola's founder.

Maybe I should just read your disertation!

[a golem]

you should - it's fantastic.