21 Questions for Calvinists

[Dave...]

21 Questions for Calvinists

1. Can God genuinely desire the salvation of those whom He, from eternity, unconditionally determined not to save, and is, in the words of Calvin, “pleased to exclude” and “doom to destruction”? O…

arminiantheologyblog.wordpress.com

Do you want to tackle this? It doesn't look too difficult. We can even give an official answer if you like.

1st question.

1. Can God genuinely desire the salvation of those whom He, from eternity, unconditionally determined not to save, and is, in the words of Calvin, “pleased to exclude” and “doom to destruction”? Or in the case of those who eschew the more passive doctrine of preterition and opt for the more active doctrine of reprobation, I ask: can God genuinely desire the salvation of those whom He has specifically created for the express purpose of destroying, who are, to quote Calvin, “doomed from the womb to certain death, whereby God is glorified by their destruction”?

This was the best list I could find. The first one listed too.

 

[Dave...]

2 Timothy 2:25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,
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1 Timothy 2:4 who (God) desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.




Should we pick one, and pretend the other one doesn't exist?

 

[electedbyHim]

21 Questions for Calvinists

1. Can God genuinely desire the salvation of those whom He, from eternity, unconditionally determined not to save, and is, in the words of Calvin, “pleased to exclude” and “doom to destruction”? O…

arminiantheologyblog.wordpress.com

Do you want to tackle this? It doesn't look too difficult. We can even give an official answer if you like.

1st question.



This was the best list I could find. The first one listed too.

1. Can God genuinely desire the salvation of those whom He, from eternity, unconditionally determined not to save, and is, in the words of Calvin, “pleased to exclude” and “doom to destruction”? Or in the case of those who eschew the more passive doctrine of preterition and opt for the more active doctrine of reprobation, I ask: can God genuinely desire the salvation of those whom He has specifically created for the express purpose of destroying, who are, to quote Calvin, “doomed from the womb to certain death, whereby God is glorified by their destruction”?

If I understand the question correctly, the writer is asking if God can change His mind on those that were prepared (fitted) for destructtion.

I would say no.

These people "prepared" or fitted for destruction by their own rejection of Him.

Romans 9:22 And what if God, wanting to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath having been prepared for destruction,

I may need correction on what I think the writer is asking.

 

[Dave...]

Sometimes their questions are rooted in their own theology, not in the Bible. In other words, sometimes, what seems like a contradiction, is only a contradiction with their own reasoning, not in the Bible. I noticed that a lot of their questions are like that. But, in this instance, there does actually appear to be two different things being said. Sometimes context can elaborate a little and help, but it doesn't always clear things up completely. Sometimes we just need to rest on scripture like Romans 11:33-34, and believe both.


Romans 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

34 " For who has known the mind of the LORD?
Or who has become His counselor?


Do we leave it here, or should we search to see what we can find out?

 

[electedbyHim]

Sometimes their questions are rooted in their own theology, not in the Bible. In other words, sometimes, what seems like a contradiction, is only a contradiction with their own reasoning, not in the Bible. I noticed that a lot of their questions are like that. But, in this instance, there does actually appear to be two different things being said. Sometimes context can elaborate a little and help, but it doesn't always clear things up completely. Sometimes we just need to rest on scripture like Romans 11:33-34, and believe both.


Romans 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

34 " For who has known the mind of the LORD?
Or who has become His counselor?


Do we leave it here, or should we search to see what we can find out?

Im open to this, just do not know how much time I can dedicate to it.

It will be interesting to see what others answer to some of these questions.

The website did not have a lot of comments and was dated. I did browse the questions but not in depth.

 

[Dave...]

That's about where I'm at too. We're in no hurry.

There are apparent contradictions everywhere in Scripture. Some are easily explained, while some need a bit of context. Like when Paul said...

Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

And Jesus said...

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' (Matthew 7:20-23)

A little more context reveals a lot. A genuine faith will be evidenced with the proper fruit of the Spirit. So homosexuals who proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior are not saved.

We'll need to look for more context with the question at hand. I don't know that well find anything, but God can show us something that He has never shown all the great theologians. I always like to approach scripture with that kind of optimism.

Dave

 

[Dave...]

Romans 9:22-23 What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory.

Isaiah 53:11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.

 

[Dave...]

My question

Why would I need to provide complete understanding of a tension in scripture for it to be true? I know that normally that's how we solve these problems. But the Bible doesn't guarantee that every thought in scripture will be understood. Like the Trinity. In this case, I would think that the burden of proof is showing that both sides of this tension are clearly taught in scripture, and go from there.

Do I need to pretend that one of these passages below does not exist for me to be in the good graces of our Arminian friends? That's really how they approach it. We recognize the tension, they pretend that it isn't there and pick the one that suits them.

2 Timothy 2:25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Timothy 2:4 who (God) desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

 

[electedbyHim]

My question

Why would I need to provide complete understanding of a tension in scripture for it to be true? I know that normally that's how we solve these problems. But the Bible doesn't guarantee that every thought in scripture will be understood. Like the Trinity. In this case, I would think that the burden of proof is showing that both sides of this tension are clearly taught in scripture, and go from there.

Do I need to pretend that one of these passages below does not exist for me to be in the good graces of our Arminian friends? That's really how they approach it. We recognize the tension, they pretend that it isn't there and pick the one that suits them.

2 Timothy 2:25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Timothy 2:4 who (God) desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

I agree with you, they pretend that the Reformed/Calvinists verses do not exist.

In fact, I am told that we make God a monster and He hates everyone.

I worship satan and the doctrines of demons.

In another forum, I have given scriptual proof of the 5 points and I am told that it is from satan, they wont even try to have a conversation about it.