Facebook Crap

"Soteriology 101" is a Facebook page that relentlessly promotes arminianism. Dr Flowers proclaims himself a former calvinist who has "seen the light" of free will. I responded to a post about how God does not determine our actions, and that we do indeed have free will.

logically, all you need is one example.

if you say, all men have free will all the time, then one example will refute this. then you have to say, "all men have free will some of the time", or "some men have free will all of the time". then where are you? how do you know who has free will? why do some men have free will all of the time? Is it because some men have some hidden ability that others lack? why would this be? are we not created equally? why would all men have free will some of the time? because of God. God has to be the determining factor. then ultimately we are subject to his will. bam: calvinism.

Response

Alejandro Roberto Gonzaga My problem is the examples I see aren’t actually destroying the free will of the person in question. And by the same token- all you need is one example of one person having free will in one instance to show it exists. — Manipulation is also not the same as determination or humans could be said to have the same power as God

My response
The will is not "destroyed" as if we're mere machines. Calvinists do not believe this. The will is _subject_ to a greater will, God's. "The kings heart is like channels of water in the hand of God". "He leads the nations as with a hook in the mouth". "He raises up and he brings down". True, one person having free will should conclude all do. But what does scripture say is universally true? We are sinners. We are slaves to sin. We are dead in sin. This description is the opposite of someone who trusts, loves, or hopes in God. Sinners by definition do not trust in God. They have a will, no doubt. But it is not free to love God. "Every perfect gift is above". "None are good but God alone". Any example of a man who loves God and turns to faith is an example of a man whose sinful nature has been redeemed, whose heart of stone has been replaced. The scripture does not say we are good at our core, but that we are evil. "Traditionalism" is humanism.

But God does determine. This is the problem we all have with calvinism initially. Self determination is a western ideal. It is not a scriptural one. Yes we are commanded to live responsibly and we are held accountable for our actions, but we are vessels in his hands, for his purposes, for him to do as _He_ pleases, for either wrath or mercy. This is why Paul answers the question "why does he still find fault?" Because he knew the idea is baffling to our proud hearts. He answers, "who are you to answer back to God?" Why do you think we have nothing to boast of? Because every good thing we do is from him, and every evil thing is from us. The question is not why does he do these things and allow these other things, but will we trust him?

The free will camps

Let me give you free will-ians some additional information.
You are in the same camp as the Catholics. You sit beside every charismatic denomination, every prosperity teacher, every charlatan, and every false teacher of the gospel. Why do I say this? Because free will is attractive. It delights the fleshly  carnal human soul.
"I am free. I am not a slave to sin. Not really. I have the will to conquer my sin and reach for the garments of Christ on my own. I possess a core of invincible, immutable righteousness in my own self and there is a part of me, however small, that is able to defy the God of the universe and emerge victorious."
Why do you think the Catholics believe the church has authority over scripture, rather than scripture over the church? Why do you think the false teachers believer they can add to scripture whatever whim enters their deluded minds? Why do you think men believe they have authority (at their command, not that of the Holy Spirit) over poisonous snakes, over diseases, over the weather, and everything else they desire? They believe this because they believe the spark of their original righteousness is equal to God's.

logic can't help us

I'm an atheist by logic.

It may surprise you to hear that logic is not a religious system. Logic has nothing to say about religion, one way or another. Logic is a system for evaluating the truth of a statement.
"God exists" is a logical statement, but logic does not tell you whether the statement is true or not.

If the sky is blue, then the sun is out.

This is a logical statement, because it has an antecedent (condition) and a consequence. It is also a true statement.

If the sky is blue, then we will cry.

This is another logical statement, but we do not know if it is a true statement.

If the sky is filled with diamonds, then cows are green.

This statement is logical, but we do not know if it is true unless we know more about the sky, diamonds, and cows. On this planet, and in English, the statement is most likely false.

If green, then run.

Finally we have an illogical statement. The antecedent is not clear. If what is green? Neither is the consequence. Who should run? This statement cannot be evaluated even though we know what green is and what running is.
The statement "Water exists" is logically true because we know what water is. The complete statement would be

If water is a clear, liquid substance that exists in three states and is necessary for life, then water exists.

Science is what helps us to logically deduce that this statement is true. Science cannot help us with the statement that God exists, however.
Science tells us about nature, and God does not exist in nature. To put it another way, the existence of God does not logically follow from what science tells us about nature. If we define nature, or the natural world, as that which can be observed by the human senses (sight, taste, touch, smell, hearing, assisted or not), then science will never tell us about God. Note that science also does not tell us about what isn't in nature. Science cannot say for sure that unicorns or fairies do not exist. All a scientist can say is "I have never observed a unicorn or a fairy in nature". Also, the most a scientist can truthfully say against the existence of God is, "I have never observed God in nature". Logically, this is not equivalent to "God does not exist".
Science can say, "This is a natural process" or "This entity is found in nature" but in order for science to say "God does not exist", it has to change what it examines. Science does not observe, examine, or investigate entities outside of nature, so it can have make no definitive conclusion about God.

Introduction to the Institutes of the Christian Religion, Updated for Modern Readers

I am not a professional theologian. Not yet. Currently I am studying for my Masters in Theological Studies, but I am not a professional theologian yet. However, I am a theologian. We are all theologians.

All of us have a working theology. It begins when we are born and we experience God in the form of our parents. Did they love us? Did they care for us? Did they defend us or neglect us? Did they abandon us? In particular, these questions are answered through our relationship with our fathers. It is no accident that the Bible emphasizes primarily a male gender for God. Our first experience with God comes through our fathers. This is not always a beneficial experience.

As we grow older, we experience God in other ways. We experience the wonders of the natural world. We go to church or we do not. We learn about religion or we do not. We learn to enjoy the existence of God, to deny it, or to hate it. In every case, we form ideas about God. The ideas settle in our hearts and they shape our worldview, our behavior, and our relationships. This is our theology and this is why we are all theologians.

John Calvin was a human like any of us, but with a singular passion for Biblical truth. These kinds of passions are not haphazard but they are given to us by God. In the 16^th century, he published an enormous book and titled it, The Institutes of the Christian Religion. This book was written for men and women to possess a true theology, one not marred by the weakness of our world or the sinfulness of mankind. This book attempts to take the ideas in the Bible and place them in a logical, congruous system. It is not the Bible, but it is a wonderful work nevertheless.

The Institutes was written in French about 500 years ago, then it was translated into English by Henry Beveridge sometime later. The sentence structure is awkward, exhausting, and roundabout and much of the vocabulary is terribly out of date. Calvin’s passion is readily apparent in it, to relate Scriptural truth but also to defend it against long-forgotten naysayers. My goal in this revision is primarily to make Calvin’s meaning clear. I have made every attempt to leave his style intact, but where it conflicts with clarity, I have rewritten. I have also removed a lot of his railing against ancient falsehoods. Well, these kinds of falsehoods rarely die out completely, but I feel now that we need to focus on the truth, and not get bogged down by extraneous 500 year-old controversies that may or may not have much relevance today.

Please continue reading. This book will change your life. Read Scripture and compare what you learn here. Let it reshape your theology as you find out who God truly is and how much he has already done to show you how much he loves you.

Love

I love the clamor of the voices of my children
I love the rain
I love an open window in the middle of winter
I love the heft of a half dozen quilts on my frigid skin
I love pears
I love the smell of a new book
I love the smell of an old book
I hate newspapers
I love the laughter of my daughter
I love the strength of my sons
I love the glory of God in my lack
I love His words to my heart
I love the tenderness in His speech
I love my parents
I love coats and haircuts and a clean shave and clean clothes
I hate allergies

Post Election

What disturbs me most I think is what the other side thinks of Trump and by extension what they must think of people like me. But I don't think the problem is sexism or racism. That's a lazy way to dehumanize an opponent. The truth reaches much deeper than that. In the past eight years we've seen a lot. Too much to let slide:

We pulled out of a stable situation in Iraq and allowed Isis to rise, leading to hundreds if not thousands of horrible acts of murder and violence to happen everywhere, including here in the states.

We've seen a President take the side of violent criminals, sending a message to everyone that violence will be condoned. What did we get? Riots wholesale, bringing with them murder and a level of contempt and hatred for those sworn to protect us I could never have imagined.

We've seen a woman lie about the cause of an attack on one of our embassies while four men were brutally murdered and then callously ask, "What difference does it make?" as the media surrounded her and attempted to hide her ridiculous almost caricaturous attitude toward death.

We wanted no more.

We saw spending reach astronomic levels.

We saw our healthcare costs skyrocket despite numerous lies to the contrary.

Through all of this we watched a President golf, go on talk shows, cavort with celebrities, and treat the office of the Presidency like his own personal dictatorship, executing orders without process like no one in the history of this country.

There are apparently two different countries existing in America right now. We have two entirely sets of values. Some of us value "social justice". These values include fairness and equality, but with no regard to values that the rest of us feel are more important, like honesty, truth, or upholding the law. Those of us that feel this way wonder how can fairness and equality have any meaning if there is no honesty or truth or law.

I think what we like most about Donald Trump is his honesty. There is no compassion without honesty. There's no tolerance. There's no trust. There's nothing of any value in a person without honesty. But this is not what we have received from the Democratic Party for the past 8 years. We've been told nothing but lies. Even though I do not believe Donald Trump is a buffoon I'd rather have an honest buffoon than a compassionate liar

I could go on, but like some of you right now, I feel sick.

So, yeah, it must be racism. Or sexism. Whatever.

The New

There are a few things I remember vividly about being a child. Disneyland was wonderful the first time I went. The first time I hit a homerun was amazing. I thought Tanya in the 5^th grade was the prettiest girl I had ever known, and when she was friendly to me I literally lost my mind—mostly my words. I lost my words. Painful things are just as vivid.

My best friend in the 5^th grade was Chris, and that time I somehow offended him, and he suddenly wanted to fight me, I was devastated. I had not cried at school since probably preschool. 

When my father would call me and my brother “stupid” for not doing our chores, I was deeply wounded. It’s the new things that affect us.

There is little that is new anymore. I am dead to everything because it has happened dozens of times before. Disneyland isn’t as exciting. Having a crush on a girl is more agony than anything else. I avoid new friendships because it is difficult to trust new people. I don’t even play baseball anymore; I’m not sure that I would be able to contribute effectively to any team anyway. I just can’t find any new things to see or listen to or do anymore.

But that doesn’t stop me from trying. There is little that is truly new, but there are many new things. Entertainment offers relatively new experiences every now and then. Music, television, movies, and books present a nice diversion from the monotony of adult existence, but I’ve seen it all before in different masks many, many times. In entertainment, we find love, revenge, adventure, agony, heroism, friendship and other worthwhile yet repetitive themes. Maybe watching a sport will have something new! Wait. No.

Sin offers lots of new experiences. Sin abounds with new stuff. We have pornography, murder, abuse, power, deception, hatred…all of these and each of them in countless forms. I could go on but I won’t. We are all desperate for what is new, sometimes even if it means indulging in destructive behaviors. We need to be children again. We need to feel something. I know this firsthand.

What is it that new experiences offer? Rest, I think. Relief. Freedom, possibly. In new experiences we find purpose for existence.

I have not felt this before. I am glad I have existed long enough on this earth to experience this. What else am I missing?

New things remove me from the humdrum of life and they also give me relief from the anxieties therein. For a brief moment, I can enjoy what I have never known before. When I was a child there was much more to discover, either at home, or at school, at play, everywhere, but now...now there is life to live. There is no time to discover. There are responsibilities and commitments and duties and (for most people) significant relationships and none of these ever end.

Can I ever have anything new anymore? I most definitely can vicariously. I can create little versions of myself, or possibly adopt another’s child and mold him into a tiny version of myself. Then I can discover the world again through their eyes. Yes, it is definitely possible, though secondhand-ish.

Can I myself ever experience a single new thing? Is innocence possible again at this late stage? Can I unlearn the things I have learned? Can I trust? Can I risk a friendship or as a single man, a crush? Does only sin offer anything new? I think I may have some idea.

God is incomprehensible. His ways are inscrutable. They are always new. I always try to figure out God and predict what he will do, but I am always surprised. He is always new. I have discovered in 400-year-old Puritan texts things about Him that affect me more than Disneyland ever did. I find what is new in Him.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

We are new in Christ. We discover ourselves in Christ as we trust Him and as we become like Him. We discover purpose for our lives. We find rest and relief from the monotonous drudgery of existence. What we seek from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon we find in Him and in our hearts, not only on the weekend, but every day. He recreates innocence in us so that our mind is awake with wonder, and we do not need to indulge in self-destructive behavior any longer. He renews our trust in others by teaching us to trust Him. We no longer have anything to fear and we are free to discover His creation as if we were children again.