Lance wrote:
... I appreciate Calvin. He is, I believe, one of
Christianity's important men of God. Have you read
him? Do you "know" the content of his work? If you
do please substantiate your apparent dislike of
him/his work. If you don't then please refrain from
the "shots".
Hi Lance. I like your attitude here of, "substantiate your dislike" or
"stop taking shots at him."
I believe, like Arminius did, that Calvin's view of predestination makes
God out to be an evil monster, personally responsible for every wicked
act of man on the face of the planet. He views every rape, every
murder, every vile act of man as being done by God Himself, who created
his creatures to act this way. Calvin's view of predestination attacks
God's virtue. Calvin basically said that we simply can't understand why
God does what he does, but we should just accept that if he does it,
then it is right. He refers to God's judgment on the wicked as
incomprehensible (see Institutes, Book III, Chapter XXI, Paragraph 7
[toward end of paragraph]).
Besides attacking God, Calvin's view removes all sense of vice or virtue
from the actions of man. If man acts wickedly, God made him that way
and decreed that he should operate that way. If man acts righteously,
God decreed that he should operate that way. In effect then, man is but
a robot, a computer, that is acting as God has programmed him to act.
How can man be responsible for his actions, or how can he be judged for
his decisions, if everything he does has been predetermined by God?
Calvin does not have an answer. From Calvin's perspective, it is
incomprehensible, but that is the way it is, so it must be good because
we know God is good.
Sorry, but I reject Calvin's theology. It makes no sense and it
justifies wickedness in the lives of the wicked because it is God who
created them to act that way. Christians under his system join the club
of the elect, and the sin they continue to do has been preordained of
God before they were even born. Of course, they are predestined to be
without sin, but that must come later, because Calvin himself did not
experience this grace of Christ.
Under Calvinism, man has no power to do what is right or to do what is
wrong. Under Calvinism, man is what God has made him. It is a form of
fatalism that has no place in the life of a believer who would seek to
please God and grow further in holiness.
I meant to give you some actual quotes that bother me, but the phone is
ringing a lot and I am not going to be able to get to it right now. I
think you can understand the gist of what I perceive to be wrong with
Calvinism from what I have just said. I think Jacobus Arminius does a
much better job of pointing out the problems with Calvinism, so read his
works to understand the problems with it. If I get some time later, and
you seem interested, I will try to post some quotes from Calvin for you.
Peace be with you.
David Miller, Beverly Hills, Florida.
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A big amen to the above David. There are too many "Whosoevers" in the
Bible to take Calvin seriously.
