Calvin's self-contradiction proves Sherlock Holmes was a much better logician

[Alfred Persson]

Unfortunately, Calvin was not a sound logician like Sherlock Holmes, if he were he wouldn't be blind to his own self-contradiction.

For example, Peter says:

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. (1 Pet. 1:1 KJV)

Calvin's self-contradiction:

After first admitting "elect according to the foreknowledge of God" means "God knew before the world was created whom he had elected for salvation". Calvin then smears as "sophist" and mere imagination the idea God elected according to His knowledge of the person He knew!!!

"However, he at the same time reminds us whence that election flows, by which we are separated for salvation, that we may not perish with the world; for he says, according to the foreknowledge of God. This is the fountain and the first cause: God knew before the world was created whom he had elected for salvation.

But we ought wisely to consider what this precognition or foreknowledge is. For the sophists, in order to obscure the grace of God, imagine that the merits of each are foreseen by God, and that thus the reprobate are distinguished from the elect, as every one proves himself worthy of this or that lot. But Scripture everywhere sets the counsel of God, on which is founded our salvation, in opposition to our merits. Hence, when Peter calls them elect according to the precognition of God, he intimates that the cause of it depends on nothing else but on God alone, for he of his own free will has chosen us. Then the foreknowledge of God excludes every worthiness on the part of man. We have treated this subject more at large in the first chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, and in other places."-Calvin, J., Translated by Owen, J. (2010). Commentaries on the Catholic Epistles (pp. 24–25). Logos Bible Software.

Sherlock might ask Calvin: "Can God really ignore what He knows when He elects?" Would not ignoring what one knows during the selection process be a sign of feeble-mindedness, or insanity? Can you produce examples of human creators who ignore what they know when creating or choosing materials?

Sherlock Holmes would have concluded from Peter's and Paul's statements:

Peter's "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God" and Paul's "Election is not according to anything we are or do now" implies TWO versions of the Elect are in existence:

One exists only in God's Foreknowledge, the other exists today in this fallen realm.

God could elect according to the "unfallen version" of us before He created the world, and not according to what we are now.

Scripture implies what God foreknew:

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Rom. 8:28-29 NKJ)

In God's Omniscience, He knows all who would come into existence by His creation. Like "highlighted text" that makes one see some words "before the others", God "foreknows those who loved Him after He loved them first", loving them even more. As for those who did not, God ignored them. That is why nothing is said about the Reprobate in Romans 8:28ff. They are irrelevant.

Predestination unto Salvation: Was Divine Election Conditional or Unconditional or Both? | End Time News, Today - Rapture Ready News

Predestination unto Salvation: Was Divine Election Conditional, Unconditional or Both? Scripture says divine election is conditioned "according to the foreknowledge of God" (1 Pt. 1:2): Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience...

endtimenews.net

 

[jeremiah1five]

Unfortunately, Calvin was not a sound logician like Sherlock Holmes, if he were he wouldn't be blind to his own self-contradiction.

For example, Peter says:

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. (1 Pet. 1:1 KJV)

Calvin's self-contradiction:

After first admitting "elect according to the foreknowledge of God" means "God knew before the world was created whom he had elected for salvation". Calvin then smears as "sophist" and mere imagination the idea God elected according to His knowledge of the person He knew!!!

"However, he at the same time reminds us whence that election flows, by which we are separated for salvation, that we may not perish with the world; for he says, according to the foreknowledge of God. This is the fountain and the first cause: God knew before the world was created whom he had elected for salvation.

But we ought wisely to consider what this precognition or foreknowledge is. For the sophists, in order to obscure the grace of God, imagine that the merits of each are foreseen by God, and that thus the reprobate are distinguished from the elect, as every one proves himself worthy of this or that lot. But Scripture everywhere sets the counsel of God, on which is founded our salvation, in opposition to our merits. Hence, when Peter calls them elect according to the precognition of God, he intimates that the cause of it depends on nothing else but on God alone, for he of his own free will has chosen us. Then the foreknowledge of God excludes every worthiness on the part of man. We have treated this subject more at large in the first chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, and in other places."-Calvin, J., Translated by Owen, J. (2010). Commentaries on the Catholic Epistles (pp. 24–25). Logos Bible Software.

Sherlock might ask Calvin: "Can God really ignore what He knows when He elects?" Would not ignoring what one knows during the selection process be a sign of feeble-mindedness, or insanity? Can you produce examples of human creators who ignore what they know when creating or choosing materials?

Sherlock Holmes would have concluded from Peter's and Paul's statements:

Peter's "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God" and Paul's "Election is not according to anything we are or do now" implies TWO versions of the Elect are in existence:

One exists only in God's Foreknowledge, the other exists today in this fallen realm.

God could elect according to the "unfallen version" of us before He created the world, and not according to what we are now.

Scripture implies what God foreknew:

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Rom. 8:28-29 NKJ)

In God's Omniscience, He knows all who would come into existence by His creation. Like "highlighted text" that makes one see some words "before the others", God "foreknows those who loved Him after He loved them first", loving them even more. As for those who did not, God ignored them. That is why nothing is said about the Reprobate in Romans 8:28ff. They are irrelevant.

Predestination unto Salvation: Was Divine Election Conditional or Unconditional or Both? | End Time News, Today - Rapture Ready News

Predestination unto Salvation: Was Divine Election Conditional, Unconditional or Both? Scripture says divine election is conditioned "according to the foreknowledge of God" (1 Pt. 1:2): Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience...

endtimenews.net

First, God deemed His elect in His Mind in eternity.

Then, by virtue of man's creation those deemed in the Mind of God were blown into the nostrils of Adam and placed into his loins, and by virtue of this act of placing His elect into Adam's loins they are now outside the mind of God and are "lost."

That's why Christ is called the RE-deemer.

One more thing the term "lost" always applies to God's elect.
In context, that is.
"The LOST sheep of the House of Israel."

 

[Alfred Persson]

First, God deemed His elect in His Mind in eternity.

Then, by virtue of man's creation those deemed in the Mind of God were blown into the nostrils of Adam and placed into his loins, and by virtue of this act of placing His elect into Adam's loins they are now outside the mind of God and are "lost."

That's why Christ is called the RE-deemer.

One more thing the term "lost" always applies to God's elect.
In context, that is.
"The LOST sheep of the House of Israel."

That is a theory I never heard. And don't believe. At conception the divine spark of life causes "a living being", body soul and spirit to come into existence.

 

[jeremiah1five]

That is a theory I never heard. And don't believe. At conception the divine spark of life causes "a living being", body soul and spirit to come into existence.

Not a theory. Fact. Reason it out. It's not hard. Well, maybe for some who are rigid in their beliefs and too proudful to learn.

And, no...God created Adam body, soul, and human spirit - not Holy Spirit - and when he ate the fruit he died. His human spirit died. The only thing Adam cannot pass on to his children is a human spirit. Christ rules the spiritual realm. Everyone from that time is born body and soul. No human spirit.

BUT when a person becomes born-again God creates a new human spirit in the person and in this are restored to the image of God: body, soul, and human spirit. Now, as a born-from-above Christian the human spirit allows the person to process spiritual phenomenon among other spiritual 'things' like prayer and worship. Take note that after Adam sinned the communication in the relationship with God changed.

 

[Alfred Persson]

Not a theory. Fact. Reason it out. It's not hard. Well, maybe for some who are rigid in their beliefs and too proudful to learn.

And, no...God created Adam body, soul, and human spirit - not Holy Spirit - and when he ate the fruit he died. His human spirit died. The only thing Adam cannot pass on to his children is a human spirit. Christ rules the spiritual realm. Everyone from that time is born body and soul. No human spirit.

BUT when a person becomes born-again God creates a new human spirit in the person and in this are restored to the image of God: body, soul, and human spirit. Now, as a born-from-above Christian the human spirit allows the person to process spiritual phenomenon among other spiritual 'things' like prayer and worship. Take note that after Adam sinned the communication in the relationship with God changed.

Your theory the human spirit died is contradicted by Paul:

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thess. 5:23 NKJ)

 

[atpollard]

Calvin's self-contradiction:

After first admitting "elect according to the foreknowledge of God" means "God knew before the world was created whom he had elected for salvation". Calvin then smears as "sophist" and mere imagination the idea God elected according to His knowledge of the person He knew!!!

Are you or Sherlock Holmes familiar with the concept of "First Cause"?

• God is the FIRST CAUSE ... the UNCAUSED CAUSE. God does nothing for any reason external to Himself (or that reason becomes a "cause" for God's action/decision. This would make that reason the FIRST CAUSE of God's action and make God either a SECOND CAUSE or part of a DUALITY (two FIRST CAUSES ... two "gods" ... a yin-yang relationship). SINCE GOD is GOD and the FIRST CAUSE, he cannot be influenced by any external causes. Thus all of God's decisions must have their origin within God.
• Romans 9: For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOMEVER I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL SHOW COMPASSION TO WHOMEVER I SHOW COMPASSION.” So then, it does not depend on the person who wants it nor the one who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY REASON I RAISED YOU UP, IN ORDER TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE EARTH.” So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.
• Corrie Ten Boon: "God does as He pleases and He does it right well".

(All three state the same truth.)

 

[jeremiah1five]

Your theory the human spirit died is contradicted by Paul:

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thess. 5:23 NKJ)

Paul is speaking to believers. Only believers have a human spirit created in them by God. This is called a trichotomy.
Only unbelievers who are unsaved and dichotomy, that is, two-part (body and soul - no human spirit - are cast into hell and eventually, the Lake of Fire.

28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Mt 10:28.

 

[Alfred Persson]

Paul is speaking to believers. Only believers have a human spirit created in them by God. This is called a trichotomy.
Only unbelievers who are unsaved and dichotomy, that is, two-part (body and soul - no human spirit - are cast into hell and eventually, the Lake of Fire.

28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Mt 10:28.

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Gen. 2:7 KJV)

Man is made of two elements, earthly material (dust) and the Divine Spirit (God's breath). The soul originates in the flesh, and it is the Spirit of God that animates it.

Unlike the souls of animals which came into existence by the creative Word only, man's soul is a combination of Creative Word and Holy Spirit, so man became a living being (soul). The substance of the human soul is the spirit that animates it, so the entire is person himself, the "me" in a person:

The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life. (Job 33:4 NKJ)

You are right Christians partake of divine nature and their spirit is changed into an "inner man", whereas the unregenerate spirit is weak and a "shade or shadow" of what it should be. But its still there.

The new birth gives life to our spirit, quickens our spirit, God breathes into it the "breath of lives" via the new birth.

Because the spirit animates the soul, Jesus can speak of body and soul as encompassing the whole person, but Paul's words prove body soul and spirit are distinct:

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thess. 5:23 NKJ)

Your inference is from select scriptures, not an analysis of all the scriptures. That's why its wrong.

 

[Alfred Persson]

Are you or Sherlock Holmes familiar with the concept of "First Cause"?

• God is the FIRST CAUSE ... the UNCAUSED CAUSE. God does nothing for any reason external to Himself (or that reason becomes a "cause" for God's action/decision. This would make that reason the FIRST CAUSE of God's action and make God either a SECOND CAUSE or part of a DUALITY (two FIRST CAUSES ... two "gods" ... a yin-yang relationship). SINCE GOD is GOD and the FIRST CAUSE, he cannot be influenced by any external causes. Thus all of God's decisions must have their origin within God.
• Romans 9: For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOMEVER I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL SHOW COMPASSION TO WHOMEVER I SHOW COMPASSION.” So then, it does not depend on the person who wants it nor the one who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY REASON I RAISED YOU UP, IN ORDER TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE EARTH.” So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.
• Corrie Ten Boon: "God does as He pleases and He does it right well".

(All three state the same truth.)

Calvin contradicted himself and moved on.

Moving on was a mistake, he should have sought to resolve the contradiction.

That is what Sherlock Holmes would do, let every detail speak, and then conclude from all the facts the picture that created the facts.

I think its elementary, as Peter says God elected based on what He foreknew in us, and Paul says God didn't elect based on what we are now, that there must be two versions of us, only then can both Peter and Paul's words be 100% correct.

1. The uncreated unfallen version God foreknew before He created, which version He refuses to lose because this fallen world or Satan deceive them.

2. The fallen version we are now that is saved by grace through faith and not by works or because of anything we are or do now.

Predestination unto Salvation: Was Divine Election Conditional or Unconditional or Both? | End Time News, Today - Rapture Ready News

Predestination unto Salvation: Was Divine Election Conditional, Unconditional or Both? Scripture says divine election is conditioned "according to the foreknowledge of God" (1 Pt. 1:2): Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience...

endtimenews.net

 

[jeremiah1five]

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Gen. 2:7 KJV)

Man is made of two elements, earthly material (dust) and the Divine Spirit (God's breath). The soul originates in the flesh, and it is the Spirit of God that animates it.

Unlike the souls of animals which came into existence by the creative Word only, man's soul is a combination of Creative Word and Holy Spirit, so man became a living being (soul). The substance of the human soul is the spirit that animates it, so the entire is person himself, the "me" in a person:

The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life. (Job 33:4 NKJ)

You are right Christians partake of divine nature and their spirit is changed into an "inner man", whereas the unregenerate spirit is weak and a "shade or shadow" of what it should be. But its still there.

The new birth gives life to our spirit, quickens our spirit, God breathes into it the "breath of lives" via the new birth.

Because the spirit animates the soul, Jesus can speak of body and soul as encompassing the whole person, but Paul's words prove body soul and spirit are distinct:

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thess. 5:23 NKJ)

Your inference is from select scriptures, not an analysis of all the scriptures. That's why its wrong.

The soul is separate from the flesh.
Although God breathed into Adam's nostrils the breath of life The Holy Spirit did not remain in Adam.

Again, Paul is speaking/writing to believers. It is they who have been restored to a trichotomy of body, soul, and human spirit. Unbelievers who are not converted are only body and soul (Matt. 10:28).

 

[Alfred Persson]

The soul is separate from the flesh.
Although God breathed into Adam's nostrils the breath of life The Holy Spirit did not remain in Adam.

Again, Paul is speaking/writing to believers. It is they who have been restored to a trichotomy of body, soul, and human spirit. Unbelievers who are not converted are only body and soul (Matt. 10:28).

The Holy Spirit quickened, not stayed.

You're entitled to your theory, I think it unscriptural for the reasons I cited.