DAVEH wrote: > I may be misunderstanding you, Dean.....Are you saying > God created mortal beings specifically for the purpose > of being burned in hell to glorify Himself??? That > to me seems to portray him as a dictatorial tyrant, > and I would find it hard to think any Christian could > believes their God of love would be so cruel. Do other > TTers view God in this way??? And, is the attitude > Jeff found in the Baptist preacher commonly believed > by Baptists and other Protestants?
Dave, Protestants are broadly divided over this issue, and even the Baptists are divided along these lines. There are "Reformed Baptists" which are Calvinists, but many Baptists are more Arminian. You might be interested in checking out www.aomin.org as an example of a modern Reformed Baptist by the name of James White. He is a Calvinist who likes to debate and he has been going to Salt Lake City for 20 years now passing out tracts at the LDS General Conferences. He has many articles about Mormonism on his website and agrees with you that Street Preachers are hurting Christianity. :-) The viewpoint Jeff mentions coming from this Baptist sounds like classic Calvinism. To many Protestants who are more Arminian in their viewpoint, you will find objections to what the Baptist said. However, among the Reformed Protestants who follow the theology of Calvin, you will find many amen's. These "amen's" would be especially prominent among Reformed Baptists and Presbyterians. You might want to note that the Calvinists are divided into two camps themselves, called supralapsarians and infralapsarians. The supralapsarians believe that before the world began, God first rejected the reprobates out of His sovereign good pleasure, then ordained the means of their damnation through the fall. I agree with you that such is a VERY distasteful viewpoint of God. :-) I suspect the Baptist Jeff met is of this variety. The infralapsarian Calvinists see the non-elect as fallen individuals damned solely because of their own sin. They emphasize their non-election as resulting from a "passing over" during the election process. Peace be with you. David Miller, Beverly Hills, Florida. ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.
