2 Peter 3:9, Arminianism, and Kent Hovind

Although 2 Peter 3:9, Arminianism, and Kent Hovind are all related (Hovind BADLY misrepresented reformed theology many a times), it was a total coincidence that all three ended up in the same blog. First, read 2 Peter 3:9 and find out what you believe about this verse:

"The Lord is not slow about His promises, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to parish but for all to come to repentance."

Does this verse teach that God wants and tries to save every single individual who has ever lived? Ok, figured out what you think it means? Great. Now watch this video:



So what do you think? I think this puts to rest the typical arminian responses such as, "Calvinist like to insert their Calvinism into the text and it doesn't work because they have to redefine words: 'All' doesn't mean 'all' anymore, 'world' doesn't mean 'world' anymore, etc. etc." 2 Peter 3:9 is very clear. It isn't saying that God wants every single individual who ever lived to be saved. The "YOU" in verse 9 is referring to God's elect. But, of course, Arminians will continue to cite 2 Peter 3:9 against Calvinism until the cow's come home. So what are ya gonna do? Well, I will continue to make it my goal to be consistent in my exegesis and not read my traditions into the Scripture. And hopefully others will see that and will seek to be consistent as well.

And what of Kent Hovind? Very few know this about me, but it was Kent Hovind who lighted that "spark" in me that continues to this day. It was that cold day when me and some of my friends drove waaayy down to south GA to watch this guy speak who I had never heard of before. And since that day, I have been persistent in searching out what I believe and why I believe it. It might even be safe to say that if i had never seen Kent Hovind speak, then I would have never felt the need to search out my faith.

While I agreed on a foundational level with Kent Hovind on the issue of Creation and the age of the earth, I probably had more disagreements than agreements. For example, I always disagreed with his stance on the King James being the only Bible that Christians should use. I also disagreed with pretty much all of his "conspiracy theories," such as where he tried to show that Doctors are trying to get more people sick so that they can make more money. So, needless to say, many of his ideas were just plain silly.

But i'm not writing this to simply express my theological disagreements with Kent Hovind. I'm writing this to say that today was a very sad day. This man, who I had looked up to for so long, was sentenced to over 200 years in prison for tax fraud. Unfortunately, I always sensed this was coming, as he was always dealing with some very questionable law suits. But I never knew it was with such a serious matter as this. To sum it up, Kent Hovind felt that he didn't need to pay taxes because:

1) he was not a citizen (totally untrue)
2) he held zero income (totally untrue)
3) he worked for God

There were more reasons, but these stuck out. It turns out that Kent Hovind was just a guy that didn't want to pay his taxes. Hey, I don't like it either, but you gotta pay if you live here!

You can visit Kent Hovind's website here. And you can read the article here.

*please note* I do not say all this just to spread the word for people to hate this man. I've met Kent Hovind several times and he was always gracious and kind to me. He ALWAYS made himself available to anyone who needed guidance theologically, scientifically, or spiritual. If you know you Kent Hovind or didn't know him, let's not just label him as another "fallen evangelist" and cast him into the seventh level of hell. He is a sinner just like you and me. And who knows, he might be innocent? Remember Jim Bakker? It turned out he wasn't a crook after all, which many still accuse him of today. So, let's remember Kent Hovind for what he was; a man who's true passion was for people to come to know the Lord.