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Alan Clifford is a pastor in the Norwich Reformed Church. He is an outspoken proponent of Amyraldism, or four-point Calvinism.
Clifford was born in 1941 and grew up in Farnborough, Hampshire. Out of Anglicanism, he embraced Puritanism through the direct influence of Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones in 1963. After a career in mechanical and electrical engineering at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, he pursued a BA in philosophy at University of Wales, Bangor, 1966-69; followed by MLitt in philosophy of religion in 1978; PhD in historical theology in 1983. With his ordination to the congregational ministry in 1969, Dr Clifford has pursued pastoral ministry in Northampton, Gateshead, Gt Ellingham, Norfolk and Norwich. [1]
His doctoral thesis was published by Oxford University Press in 1990. He has written several influential books on theologies of Reformation, Calvinism, Calvinistic Methodism and Evangelical Protestantism [2] such as:
In 2012 he was stopped from holding a weekly bookstall in Norwich following a complaint it was producing "hate-motivated" literature against Islam. [6] In 2013 he was investigated by the police after describing the Norwich Pride celebrations as an “unashamed carnival of perverted carnality”. [7]
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.
Edmund Calamy was an English Presbyterian church leader and divine. Known as "the elder", he was the first of four generations of nonconformist ministers bearing the same name.
Philip Doddridge D.D. was an English Nonconformist minister, educator, and hymnwriter.
Reformed Baptists, Particular Baptists and Calvinistic Baptists, are Baptists that hold to a Calvinist soteriology. Depending on the denomination, Calvinistic Baptists adhere to varying degrees of Reformed theology, ranging from simply embracing the Five Points of Calvinism, to accepting a modified form of federalism; all Calvinistic Baptists reject the classical Reformed teaching on infant baptism as a sign and seal of the covenant of grace. The first Calvinistic Baptist church was formed in the 1630s. The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith is a significant summary of the beliefs of Reformed Baptists. The name "Reformed Baptist" dates from the latter part of the 20th century to denote Baptists who retained Baptist ecclesiology, and reaffirmed more historic Baptist biblical theology, such as Covenant theology.
James Robert White is a Baptist theologian, the director of Alpha and Omega Ministries, an evangelical Reformed Baptist Christian apologetics organization based in Phoenix, Arizona and a Christian scholar. He is the author of several books.
Michael Scott Horton has been the J. Gresham Machen Professor of Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California since 1998, Editor-in-Chief of Modern Reformation (MR) magazine, and President and host of the nationally syndicated radio broadcast, The White Horse Inn. Both Modern Reformation magazine and The White Horse Inn radio broadcast are now entities under the umbrella of White Horse Media.
In Christianity, salvation is the saving of human beings from sin and its consequences—which include death and separation from God—by Christ's death and resurrection, and the justification entailed by this salvation.
Limited atonement is a doctrine accepted in some Christian theological traditions. It is particularly associated with the Reformed tradition and is one of the five points of Calvinism. The doctrine states that though the death of Jesus Christ is sufficient to atone for the sins of the whole world, it was the intention of God the Father that the atonement of Christ's death would work itself out in only the elect, thereby leading them without fail to salvation. According to Limited Atonement, Christ died for the sins of the elect alone, and no atonement was provided for the reprobate. This is in contrast to a belief that God's prevenient grace enables all to respond to the salvation offered by God in Jesus Christ Acts 2:21 so that it is each person's decision and response to God's grace that determines whether Christ's atonement will be effective to that individual. A modified form of the doctrine also exists in Molinism.
Andrew Fuller was an English Particular Baptist minister and theologian. Known as a promoter of missionary work, he also took part in theological controversy.
Imputed righteousness is a concept in Christian theology proposing that the "righteousness of Christ...is imputed to [believers]—that is, treated as if it were theirs through faith." It is on the basis of Jesus' righteousness that God accepts humans. This acceptance is also referred to as justification.
Amyraldism is a Calvinist doctrine. It is also known as the School of Saumur, post redemptionism, moderate Calvinism, or hypothetical universalism. It is one of several hypothetical universalist systems.
New College London (1850–1980) was founded as a Congregationalist college in 1850.
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.
Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine is a book published by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1957 to help explain Adventism to conservative Protestants and Evangelicals. The book generated greater acceptance of the Adventist church within the evangelical community, where it had previously been widely regarded as a cult. However, it also proved to be one of the most controversial publications in Adventist history and the release of the book brought prolonged alienation and separation within Adventism and evangelicalism.
Herman Amberg Preus was an American Lutheran clergyman and church leader. Ordained in 1848, he became a key figure in organizing the Norwegian Synod.
Daventry Academy was a dissenting academy, that is, a school or college set up by English Dissenters. It moved to many locations, but was most associated with Daventry, where its most famous pupil was Joseph Priestley. It had a high reputation, and in time it was amalgamated into New College London.
John Brekell (1697–1769) was an English presbyterian minister and theological writer.
Garry John Williams is an English theologian and academic. He is currently the director of the Pastors' Academy, formerly known as the John Owen Centre, which is part of London Seminary. Williams also lectures on Systematic Theology at London Seminary. He is also visiting professor of Historical Theology at the Westminster Theological Seminary, Adjunct Professor of Historical Theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, and Fellow in Theology and History at Greystone Theological Institute, London.
The Marrow Brethren, also called Marrowmen, were a group inside Presbyterianism. The name is derived from the book "Marrow of Modern Divinity", which caused a controversy in the Scottish Church, called the Marrow Controversy. The leading figures of the Marrow Brethren included Thomas Boston, Robert Riccaltoun, James Hog, John Williamson, James Bathgate, and Ebenezer Erskine along with the author of the Marrow, Edward Fisher. The General Assembly condemned the Marrow for being antinomian.