External links
- Olson's faculty page Archived 2017-11-25 at the Wayback Machine
- Olson's personal blog
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Roger E. Olson | |
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| Born | Roger Eugene Olson February 2, 1952 Des Moines, Iowa, US |
| Spouse | Becky Sandahl (m. 1973) |
| Ecclesiastical career | |
| Religion | Christianity (Pentecostal · Baptist) |
| Ordained | 1975 |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater |
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| Thesis | Trinity and Eschatology (1984) |
| Doctoral advisor | Niels Nielsen [1] |
| Influences | |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Theology |
| Sub-discipline | Christian ethics |
| School or tradition | |
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| Website | patheos |
Roger Eugene Olson (born 1952) is an American Baptist theologian and Professor of Christian Theology of Ethics at the Baylor University.
Olson was born on February 2,1952,in Des Moines,Iowa. He is married and he and his wife have two daughters and one granddaughter. He is member of Calvary Baptist Church in Waco. [8]
Olson studied at Open Bible College in Des Moines,North American Baptist Seminary,and Rice University,where he obtained his Ph.D. in Religious Studies in 1984,under the supervision of Nields Nielsen. [1] He is also an ordained Baptist minister. [9]
He was influenced by:Donald G. Bloesch, [2] [3] Robert Jenson, [4] Jürgen Moltmann, [5] Bernard Ramm, [6] and Jack Rogers. [7]
Since 1999,Olson has been Holder of the Foy Valentine Professor of Christian Theology of Ethics at George W. Truett Theological Seminary of Baylor University,Waco,Texas. [9]
Olson identifies himself as a classical Arminian,and is known for his stance in favor of Arminianism. [10] [11] He has written several books including Arminian Theology:Myths and Realities (2006) in which he defined and defended his vision of Arminianism. [12] Olson fundamentally defines Arminianism by God's "limited" mode of providence and by God's "predestination by foreknowledge" mode of election. [13] [14]
According to him,adherence to classical Arminianism is defined by being classically Protestant,affirming total depravity,conditional election,unlimited atonement,prevenient grace,and that God is in no way,and by no means the author of sin and evil but that these are only permitted by him. [15] [16] Olson's definition,without taking a position on the conditional preservation,is close to the view of the Remonstrants prior to 1618. [17]
For Olson,"classical Arminianism" as defined is centered on God's Grace [18] [19] and sovereignty, [20] [21] and is intrinsically an evangelical theology. [22] Olson also refers to "classical Arminianism" as "evangelical synergism": [23] "Synergism" referring to cooperation between God and creature [24] [25] and "evangelical" to distinguish it from Catholic or Eastern Orthodox synergism. [15] [26]
Olson says that the first principle of Arminianism is "Jesus Christ as the full and perfect revelation of the character of God". [27] This principle has a particular significance within the Calvinism-Armininian debate,where the character of God (and especially his love) as revealed by Jesus-Christ,is for Olson,better represented by the Arminian view. [28] [29] Olson says that,as a consequence of this point,Arminians only believe in libertarian free will to avoid making God the author of sin and evil,and because it is an experienced reality necessary for responsibility. [12] [30]
Olson wrote a popular and widely acclaimed survey of Christian theology titled The Story of Christian Theology (1999). [31]
He is noted for a broad view of what constitutes Protestant "orthodoxy." For example,on annihilationism he commented that some evangelical theologians have "resurrected the old polemical labels of heresy and aberrational teaching" in order to marginalize other evangelicals holding the view The mosaic of Christian belief,(2002). [32]
Olson is one of the writers who sees two "loose coalitions" developing in evangelical theology. [33]
Olson coined the label "Pannenberg's Principle" for Wolfhart Pannenberg's argument (1969) that God's deity is his rule - "The divinity of God and the reign of God in the world are inseparable." [34]
He was the editor and author of the Handbook of Denominations in the United States,14th edition (2018). [35]
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Arminianism is a movement of Protestantism initiated in the early 17th century, based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the Remonstrance (1610), a theological statement submitted to the States General of the Netherlands. This expressed an attempt to moderate the doctrines of Calvinism related to its interpretation of predestination.
Calvinism, also called Reformed Christianity, is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Calvin and various other Reformation-era theologians. It emphasizes the sovereignty of God and the authority of the Bible.
Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby God's omniscience seems incompatible with human free will. In this usage, predestination can be regarded as a form of religious determinism; and usually predeterminism, also known as theological determinism.
Total depravity is a Protestant theological doctrine derived from the concept of original sin. It teaches that, as a consequence of the Fall, every person born into the world is enslaved to the service of sin as a result of their fallen nature and, apart from the efficacious (irresistible) or prevenient (enabling) grace of God, is completely unable to choose by themselves to follow God, refrain from evil, or accept the gift of salvation as it is offered.
In theology, divine providence, or simply providence, is God's intervention in the Universe. The term Divine Providence is also used as a title of God. A distinction is usually made between "general providence", which refers to God's continuous upholding of the existence and natural order of the Universe, and "special providence", which refers to God's extraordinary intervention in the life of people. Miracles and even retribution generally fall in the latter category.
In Christian theology, synergism is the belief that salvation involves some form of cooperation between divine grace and human freedom. Synergism is upheld by the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Churches, Anabaptist Churches and Methodist Churches. It is an integral part of Arminian theology common in the General Baptist and Methodist traditions.
Irresistible grace is a doctrine in Christian theology particularly associated with Calvinism, which teaches that the saving grace of God is effectually applied to those whom he has determined to save and, in God's timing, overcomes their resistance to obeying the call of the gospel, bringing them to faith in Christ. It is to be distinguished from prevenient grace, particularly associated with Arminianism, which teaches that the offer of salvation through grace does not act irresistibly in a purely cause-effect, deterministic method, but rather in an influence-and-response fashion that can be both freely accepted and freely denied.
The Remonstrants is a Protestant movement that split from the Dutch Reformed Church in the early 17th century. The early Remonstrants supported Jacobus Arminius, and after his death, continued to maintain his original views called Arminianism against the proponents of Calvinism. Condemned by the synod of Dort (1618–1619), the Remonstrants remained a small minority in the Netherlands. In the middle of the 19th century, the Remonstrant Brotherhood was influenced by the liberal Dutch theological movement.
Thomas Clark Oden (1931–2016) was an American Methodist theologian and religious author. He is often regarded as the father of the paleo-orthodox theological movement and is considered to be one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. He was Henry Anson Buttz Professor of Theology and Ethics at Drew University in New Jersey from 1980 until his retirement in 2004.
Prevenient grace is a Christian theological concept that refers to the grace of God in a person's life which precedes and prepares to conversion. The concept was first developed by Augustine of Hippo (354–430), was affirmed by the Second Council of Orange (529) and has become part of Catholic theology. It is also present in Reformed theology, through the form of an effectual calling leading some individuals irresistibly to salvation. It is also in Arminian theology, according to which it is dispensed universally in order to enable people to respond to the offer of salvation, though it does not ensure personal acceptance.
J. Kenneth Grider was a Nazarene Christian theologian and former seminary professor primarily associated with the followers of John Wesley who are part of the Holiness movement.
The governmental theory of the atonement is a doctrine in Christian theology concerning the meaning and effect of the death of Jesus Christ. It teaches that Christ suffered for humanity so that God could forgive humans without punishing them while still maintaining divine justice. In the modern era it is more often taught in non-Calvinist protestant circles, yet also bearing in mind that Arminius, John Wesley and other Arminians never speak clearly of it. It is drawn primarily from the works of Hugo Grotius and later theologians like John Miley and H. Orton Wiley.
The Five Articles of Remonstrance or the Remonstrance were theological propositions advanced in 1610 by followers of Jacobus Arminius who had died in 1609, in disagreement with interpretations of the teaching of John Calvin then current in the Dutch Reformed Church. Those who supported them were called "Remonstrants".
The history of the Calvinist–Arminian debate begins in early 17th century in the Netherlands with a Christian theological dispute between the followers of John Calvin and Jacobus Arminius, and continues today among some Protestants, particularly evangelicals. The debate centers around soteriology, or the study of salvation, and includes disputes about total depravity, predestination, and atonement. While the debate was given its Calvinist–Arminian form in the 17th century, issues central to the debate have been discussed in Christianity in some form since Augustine of Hippo's disputes with the Pelagians in the 5th century.
Ben Witherington III is an American Wesleyan-Arminian New Testament scholar. Witherington is Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary, a Wesleyan-Holiness seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky, and an ordained pastor in the United Methodist Church.
Regeneration, while sometimes perceived to be a step in the ordo salutis, is generally understood in Christian theology to be the objective work of God in a believer's life. Spiritually, it means that God brings a person to new life from a previous state of separation from God and subjection to the decay of death. Thus, in Lutheran and Roman Catholic theology, it generally means that which takes place during baptism. In Calvinism and Arminian theology, baptism is recognized as an outward sign of an inward reality which is to follow regeneration as a sign of obedience to the New Testament; as such, the Methodist Churches teach that regeneration occurs during the new birth.
Ordo salutis refers to a series of conceptual steps within the Christian doctrine of salvation.
The Canons of Dort, or Canons of Dordrecht, formally titled The Decision of the Synod of Dort on the Five Main Points of Doctrine in Dispute in the Netherlands, is the judgment of the National Synod held in the Dutch city of Dordrecht in 1618–1619. At the time, Dordrecht was often referred to in English as in local dialects as Dort or Dordt.
Sovereignty of God in Christianity can be defined as the right of God to exercise his ruling power over his creation. Sovereignty can include also the way God exercises his ruling power. However this aspect is subject to divergences notably related to the concept of God's self-imposed limitations. The correlation between God's sovereignty and human free will is a crucial theme in discussions about the meaningful nature of human choice.
The Confession or Declaration of the Pastors which are called Remonstrants, or Remonstrant Confession, was the confession of faith of the Remonstrant brotherhood, published in 1621.
