8/12/2019 1989 Issue 8 - Book Review, An Antidote Against Arminianism - Counsel of Chalcedon

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in the street

What a Bozo.

What

an idiot

And there is, alas, more, much more.

Twaddle-Talking Ted's CNN TV

net-

work program "World Report" has run

stories hailing the virtues

of

Bulgarian

communism and "proving," supposed

ly

that fanner Cuban political prison

er, Annando Valladares, lied about be

ing

tortured

in

Fidel Castro's jails.

Twaddle-Talking Ted has personally

praised Mr. Castro as

a

great guy."

And he has said (in the July 7, 1986,

Fortune magazine): "Communism is

fme with me. It's

part

of the fabric of

life

on

this planet."

What a Bozo. What

an idiot

Communism is a part of the fabric

of

death on this planet

Twaddle-Talking Ted has

also

accused

the United States of being "a colonial

power"

and

"raping the rest

of

the world

economically" to pay for our "bloated

military machine." And when we bomb

ed Libya to retaliate for

its terrorism

against our citizens,

he

accused us

of

be

ing "terrorists ourselves."

What a Bozo. What an idiot.

Twaddle-Tallcing Ted once said that

rather than fighting

in

the last war,

Italians would "rather be involved in

crime and just making wine and having

a good time." And his superstation in

Atlanta

aired

a pro-Soviet portrait

of

the

Soviet Union that was

so

bad even The

Washington Post's

Tom

Shales panned

it, calling

it

"more like a postcard from

Binky and Bi ff at Camp Whitewash."

AndTwaddle-TalkingTed--confessing

a creed which one

must admit he has

lived by--once told

a

college commence

ment audience: "You don't need to

know anything about anything to do

anything you want."

What a Bozo. What

an

idiot

[John Lofton

is

a columnist for The

Washington Times. This article is re-

printedfrom the

July 26

1989 issue of

that

newspaper ]

n

~ A special"thanks" ~

~

to all

of

you who have

~

supported this ministry

fmancially, this year and ~

~

in

years past Please know that ~

your help in

the future

is essential

~

~ for continuing The Counsel. ~

~

AN

ANTIDOTE

AGAINST

ARMINIANISM, by Christopher

Ness (1621-1705). Still Waters Revival

Books, (1988). 12810-126St. Edmon

ton, Ab., Canada Y5L OYl. 126 pp.

$6.95. Reviewed by the Rev. T. Mark

Duncan, Virginia Beach, Virginia.

"An antidote against Arminianism?

Who does Christopher Ness think he

is? He is offending an overwhehning

majority

of

the conservative and evan

gelical Church

To

maintain that Armin

ianism needs an antidote is to imply it

is poisonous "

Is Arminianism spiritual poison?

That is the question begged by the title

of Ness' short but significant work. In

the author's preface, Arminianism is

described as a "plague

and

leprosy," a

phrase which grates the ears of many in

our age of hypocritical civility.

t

is

not, however, through spirited rhetoric

that Ness demonstrates the toxicity of

Arrninianism but through logical and

scriptural argumentation.

There are perhaps many reading this

review who disagree with Anninian

theology but would stop short

of

call

ing

it

poison. Ness, using much scrip

ture and little comment, demonstrates

Arminianism's noxious side effects.

He

forces the reader to deal with the logical

implications of the system. Anninian

ism is venomous because

it

cuts the

heart

out of

Christianity.

For

if God

has done all

He

can to save sinners,

i

Christ has died for everyone, and

if

the

ultimate determinerof man's eternal des

tiny rests with man's autonomous will,

then God is unable to save

man.

Man

mu

st save himself. This is nothing

other than theological humanism.

The

autosoteriological implications

of

Ar-

minianism annul two

of the

foundation

al truths of Christianity: salvation

by

grace alone and the atoning work of

Christ Arminianism is spiritually dead

ly because it is the soteriological equiva

lent

of

Satan's oldest lie: "You can be

like God."

Ness argues that Anninianism neces

sarily impugns the nature of God. He

logically builds an argument from Scrip

ture demonstrating,

on

the the basis

of

God's nature, the impossibility of Ar

minian theology.

The

doctrine of man's

free will

is

totally inconsistent with an

infinite, eternal, and unchangeable God

who has a purpose. Ness quotes Vors

tius the Arminian to illustrate this fact:

"Things may happen that

may

bring

God

to

grief having tried all things in

vain." (p. 54) The God of Arminianism

has both hands tied behind His back by

the thongs of man's will.

The Scriptural and logical argument

Ness provides against that most sacred

of

Arrninian cows, universal atone

ment, is itself worth the price of the

book. The reasoning is most compel

ling and may he

just

the ticket to per

suade even the

mo

st militant Arminian

to embrace the doctrine of Definite

Atonement.

With

ten arguments, Ness

demonstrates that a universal atonement

is no atonement at all. The crowning

tenth argument forces the reader to con

clude that an atonement which has men,

for

whom Christ

died,

in

Hell reduces

Christianity

to

a laughing stock. (p.

71)

n Antidote Against

Annin

wmsm

is exceptionally easy

to

read;

rare for a

3

year

old

Puritan work. It

is

written in

a

concise, non-technical,

style. Still, Antidote s arguments are

persuasive. The theological novice can

easily grasp Ness' reasoning. The Bible

scholar will also find the book helpful.

Personally, Ness reinforced

in

my mind

the fact that Calvinism

is

nothing more

than Biblical Christianity. Antidote

provides

me

with a concise ready-refer

ence with which to

de f

end the Doctrines

of

Grace.

I cannot recommend the book too

highly.

It

is an ideal book to give to an

Arminian friend who is willing to

examine his belief in light

of

Scripture.

Ness' reasoning is not only impeccably

logical, there

is

little to which a pro

fessing Bible believer can object be

cause

of

the volume of Scripture quot

ed

. In four chapters, Ness sets forth the

The Counsel

of

Chalcadon October 1989 page 25

8/12/2019 1989 Issue 8 - Book Review, An Antidote Against Arminianism - Counsel of Chalcedon

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Biblicat

teaching . of Predestination,

Christ's ' Atonement, Free Will and

Final P e r s e v e r ~ c e He then contrasts

the Biblical teaching o these doctrines

With

the Arirtinian

PoSition

and con- .

e t u d e ~ each chapter b answering com

moo objecti.OilS

tO

the Calvinistic view.

Although Ness, a

contemporary

of

John Owen, penned

t is

volume almost

300

years

ago,

his

words

are

as

llllich

needed now s ever. We live in an age

when man's free choice has become a

god. The murder of unborn babies is

euphemistically

tenned

pro-choice.

Men desire the power to choose to live

under their

law

rather than God's law.

The

:

westmiiister Cofifession's Regula

tive Principle of Worship is largely

disregarded in favor of worship ac

cording to the imagination (free-choice)

of

men.

Could tlle elevation of man's

choice td a osition

of

deity be ~ e t l y

attributable'

to

a theological system

which teaches that man's will super-

cedes God's sovereignty?

Just

as

a wise snake handler keeps

antitOxin

readily available in a safe

place, so should every pastor keep a

case of

Antidnte in

his study. It is

the

ideal short work on the Doctrines of

Grace. It should be required reading in

membership classes of every Reformed

Church. Besides, it

is

important

to

have

Antidote available because

a

faithful

pastor should never be SUiprised

when

the noxious fumes of Anninianism

seep through the

doors of the chuteh. It

should never be

forgotten:

that Anniniart

vapors, though they smell :sweet to

fallen

man,

are

dangerous to the

soul.

Whai: is

th

antidote to Arminianism

of which Ness writes?What is th

. antitoxin to the poisoning

of

the

soul?

Ness demonstrates unequivocally that

the only antidote to Arminianism is the

Word of God. Only

th

Whole Counsel

of

God can counter

the

t6xin

of

human-

ism in all its dangerous forms.

0

~ i t a t t tlasilit

N

ANTIDOTE

AGAINST

ARMINIANISM

Written by Christopher Ness and first published in 1700,

Antidote is still looked to as a standard work, regarding the

sovereignty

of God,

almost three centuries .after

ii

was originaly

permed.

Ness 'does a .masterful

job

of exposing the errors of

Anninianism while

at

the same time exalting the free and

sovereign

_grace of the Lord Jesus Chr ist.

A

scripture index has been added to

this e d i t i o n ~ which should make it a valuable addition to the library

of all erious students of the Holy Scriptures.

Oider

from:Your local Christian bookstore or

STILL

W TERS

REVIVAL BOOKS

12810-126st Edmonton, AB.

Caruida.T5L

Yl

Call (403) 454-9162

$6.95 each (U;S. funds), please add $1.00 per book for postage and handling.

~ e n t i c i n : The Counsel of Chalcedon and .receive your copies post paid. The .

first four issues of CHRISTIAN RECONSTRUCTION TODAY and the

first two issues of the REVIVAL REVIEW

newsletters

shipped free

with

eaeh

order.

Our

.

second . book now available:

CALVINISM

N

HISTORY

by N.

M c e t r i d g e ~ $7.95 u'.S. This bOok is highly recommended

by Dr.

i..orcrlne

Boettner. '

The

Counsel

of

Chalcedon

October,

1989

page

26