Category Archives: Searching for a Third Way

Searching for The Third Way: Baptism, Part 2

The case for baptism as the moment of salvation Okay. I’m sure this sounds like odd phrasing, but I’m trying to make a point. No one — no Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant — believes that the saving power is in … Continue reading

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Searching for The Third Way: Baptism, Part 1

Well, I wasn’t really intending to pick on the Calvinist-Arminian controversies for the entire series, but here’s another place where the two traditions disagree — and another place that needs a Third Way solution. Background The traditional view, going back … Continue reading

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Searching for The Third Way: Predestination, Part 4

The Third Way of Predestination In Christianity, there are essentially two views of predestination. The Calvinists teach that God decides who will be saved and then changes them, outside their own choosing, so they’ll have faith. Calvinists deny that we … Continue reading

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Searching for The Third Way: Predestination, Part 3

The scriptures that teach predestination I believe in predestination, because the Bible plainly teaches it. But I do not accept the Calvinist view. Nor do I accept the traditional view of non-Calvinists, such as most Church of Christ scholars. Rather, … Continue reading

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Searching for The Third Way: Predestination, Part 2

Space-time and God The answer to the question posed in the last post is found in a deeper understanding of the nature of God and his creation. God’s choice of a word to describe his existence is “eternal,” or aionios … Continue reading

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Searching for The Third Way: Predestination, Part 1

Finally! I’ve been wanting to post about predestination for a long time, and it just happens to be a great example of how Third-Way thinking can shed new light on a longstanding dilemma. You see, the commentaries have gobs of … Continue reading

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Searching for The Third Way: Once Saved, Always Saved, Part 3

[The following shares some material from a similar lesson under Amazing Grace in the Index, but has some new material.] The two-kinds-of-falling-away mistake Some teach two levels of falling away – (1) a temporary, easily fixed falling away where you … Continue reading

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Searching for The Third Way: Once Saved, Always Saved, Part 2

As I mentioned in the last post on this topic, I think Hebrews provides the solution to the great Calvinism vs. Arminianism debate regarding once saved, always saved. After all, Hebrews contains many of the great verses promising confidence and … Continue reading

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Searching for The Third Way: Once Saved, Always Saved, Part 1

In the first post of this series, I mentioned the classic conundrum of Calvinism vs. Arminianism as regards whether Christians can fall from grace. It’s a long-standing argument, and both sides are quite insistent on the subject. The Churches of … Continue reading

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Searching for The Third Way: The Trinity

Just to illustrate the nature of Third Ways, let’s start with a familiar example: the Trinity. I’m not going to say much new here, just point out how the Trinity exemplifies Third Way solutions. You see, the Trinity is the … Continue reading

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