Other "Evangelical" Humanists
Listed below are indeterminists who are not uncomfortable with rejecting the biblical truth of the sovereignty of God. Their arguments often seem to straddle the fence--the "balanced approach" to their mind. One moment they can testify of God's 'so-called' sovereignty and in the next breath the absolute "libertarian" freedom of God's creatures. Yet by simple definition, both creature and Creator cannot be sovereign. These individuals appear to suffer from a form of theological and philosophical schizophrenia.
HENRY C. THIESSEN - Dr. Thiessen's Introductory Lectures in Systematic Theology, (Grand Rapids, MI.: Eerdmans, 1959) was THE standard Arminian dispensational view during the 20th century.
"By election we mean that sovereign act of God in grace whereby He chose in Christ Jesus for salvation all those whom He foreknew would accept Him."
SAMUEL FISK - Mr. Fisk was a Baptist pastor, teacher, and missionary with influence primarily along the west coast of the United States and in Fundamentalist, Baptist, and non-denominational Arminian circles. In 1973, he wrote Divine Sovereignty and Human Freedom (Loizeaux) and later Calvinistic Paths Retraced (BEP) in 1985. Both books are convoluted attempts to provide support for 4-point Arminianism (inconsistently clinging to "eternal security") in contrast to their nemesis--hyper-Calvinism. Fisk viewed God's sovereignty and human autonomy as "complementary truths" simultaneously held by "well-known men of God." This is simply not true based on my nearly 45 years of research and the numerous evangelical volumes sitting on my library shelves.
DAVE HUNT - For seven years, Dave Hunt was a charismatic. His testimony is documented in the book On The Brink (formerly Confessions of a Heretic: Story of an Excommunicated Fundamentalist), Logos International, 1972. The theological effects of this association are engrained deeply, in my opinion. Hunt's thinking is similar to the highly-confused writings of Samuel Fisk and Arminian Open Brethren author William MacDonald. To read Hunt in his newsletters, there is an uncanny similarity to Samuel Fisk. The February 2001 cover article for THE BEREAN CALL is entitled "What a Sovereign God Cannot Do". Dave argues against the hard determinist (hyper-Calvinist) position, but fails to recognize the existence of or acknowledge the possibility of soft determinism--i.e. philosophic compatibilism. He harshly has labeled those who reject his views "reprobates" who have "blaspheme" the character of God. With regard to the sinner's "free will", he repetitively uses phrases like "freedom of genuine moral choice", "real choice" "genuine, independent choice", without clearly explaining what he means by genuine, real, or independent. His passion against all things Calvin and Calvinism is accompanied by much obfuscation.
Hunt writes:
"Believing firmly in God's foreknowledge, [Martin] Luther wrote THE BONDAGE OF THE WILL to prove that the very idea of man's free will is a fallacy and an illusion. In fact, BONDAGE is full of fallacies, both logical and biblical, which I point out in Sovereignty, Mercy, and Love, my book in defense of God's character, currently in process of publication." Feb. 2001 (The book's title was changed to What Love Is This?)
It gets far worse...
"Once it is admitted that man has a will, it is impossible to maintain either that it is in bondage or to explain how it was delivered except by it own choice. No one is made willing against his will but must have been willing to be made willing." Mar. 2001
Like so many, Dave Hunt blurs the distinction between volition and free will. However, when his writings are taken as a whole, the evidence overwhelmingly points in the direction of indeterminism and humanistic error. Tragically, a very large percentage of the current-day Open Plymouth Brethren (Dave's realm of fellowship?) would be in agreement with his doctrinal position. For an interesting and enlightening look into the background of the controversy among the Open Plymouth Brethren, read Professor Mark R. Stevenson's scholarly EARLY BRETHREN LEADERS AND THE QUESTION OF CALVINISM. Mark Stevenson is professor at Emmaus Bible College [Open Brethren].
In 2002, Dave Hunt published his humanistic diatribe--What Love Is This? Calvinism's Misrepresentation of God. He would have salvaged his ministry had he been receptive to Miles Stanford's concerns more than a decade earlier (1991-1993) entitled DAVID HUNT & Dispensationalism* or had he taken Dr. Chafer's poignant admonishment to heart:
"It is thus demonstrated that the erroneous exaltation of the human ability in the beginning becomes man's effectual undoing in the end. Over against this, the man who is totally incompetent, falling into the hands of God, who acts in sovereign grace, is saved and safe forever."
Without the Cross for the self-life and Pauline Dispensationalism as its framework, Dave Hunt may inevitably continue his downward spiral...possibly into some form of rationalistic "Open Theism".
Since the end of the '90s, vigorous debates have arisen. Christian humanist Dr. Norm Geisler published Chosen But Free, Reformed Calvinist James White responded with The Potter's Freedom. Dave Hunt then published What Love Is This? and most recently Hunt and White co-authored Debating Calvinism. The Internet is brimming with commentary over the wrestling matches between these individuals. For a more comprehensive exposé of Dave Hunt's teachings, see Dave Hunt: General Teachings/Activities.
___________________________* This MJS Polemic Paper, and several more, were left out of the Galaxie Software production of The Complete [albeit incomplete] Works of Miles Stanford. Being generally computer illiterate, Stanford was never aware of these deceptive and covert deletions.
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