A Calvinist Fails His Church Membership Interview

[atpollard]

By your own definition each of these various stances are categories of Calvinism, therefore they fall under the umbrella of Calvinism. Ergo, a person who says they were saved before the foundation of the Earth is a Calvinist. A person that says they can't know if they are truly Elect until they die is a Calvinist. A person that says they believe they are Elect because they exhibit the fruits of the Spirit is a Calvinist. They may be a Particular Type of Calvinist, but they are Calvinists.

Only to the extent that anyone who calls themselves a Baptist, however heretical (in the actual theological sense and not just heterodox) their beliefs is a Baptist. Hypercalvinism is a heresy. No orthodox theologian would argue that God is the author of evil and preaching the Gospel is contra-Biblical.

#2 - #5 are all Orthodox or Heterodox beliefs.

 

[InTheLight]

Only to the extent that anyone who calls themselves a Baptist, however heretical (in the actual theological sense and not just heterodox) their beliefs is a Baptist. Hypercalvinism is a heresy. No orthodox theologian would argue that God is the author of evil and preaching the Gospel is contra-Biblical.

#2 - #5 are all Orthodox or Heterodox beliefs.

It is ironic that my original title of this piece was Pedantic Calvinist Fails Church Membership Interview.

Oh well...

 

[JonShaff]

Only to the extent that anyone who calls themselves a Baptist, however heretical (in the actual theological sense and not just heterodox) their beliefs is a Baptist. Hypercalvinism is a heresy. No orthodox theologian would argue that God is the author of evil and preaching the Gospel is contra-Biblical.

#2 - #5 are all Orthodox or Heterodox beliefs.

In this Video, James White says that God is the author of evil...

2 hour 11 min mark...

 

[TCassidy]

For instance: common grace

The rains fall on the just and the unjust. Christ's sacrifice did more than accomplish redemption. It also is the basis of all the blessing poured out on all people, lost and saved.

the free offer

The preaching of the Gospel is a legitimate call to all, not just the elect, and should be preached to all, without exception.

 

[atpollard]

In this Video, James White says that God is the author of evil...
2 hour 11 min mark...

I am not somewhere that video plays, so I will have to wait and view it in a few hours when I get home. In the mean time can you confirm that this is not a semantic bunny trail and Mr White is advocating what R.C. Sproul describes as follows:

The Double-Predestination Distortion

The distortion of double predestination looks like this: There is a symmetry that exists between election and reprobation. God works in the same way and same manner with respect to the elect and to the reprobate. That is to say, from all eternity God decreed some to election and by divine initiative works faith in their hearts and brings them actively to salvation. By the same token, from all eternity God decrees some to sin and damnation (destinare ad peccatum) and actively intervenes to work sin in their lives, bringing them to damnation by divine initiative. In the case of the elect, regeneration is the monergistic work of God. In the case of the reprobate, sin and degeneration are the monergistic work of God. Stated another way, we can establish a parallelism of foreordination and predestination by means of a positive symmetry. We can call this a positive-positive view of predestination. This is, God positively and actively intervenes in the lives of the elect to bring them to salvation. In the same way God positively and actively intervenes in the life of the reprobate to bring him to sin.

This distortion of positive-positive predestination clearly makes God the author of sin who punishes a person for doing what God monergistically and irresistibly coerces man to do. Such a view is indeed a monstrous assault on the integrity of God. This is not the Reformed view of predestination, but a gross and inexcusable caricature of the doctrine. Such a view may be identified with what is often loosely described as hyper-Calvinism and involves a radical form of supralapsarianism. Such a view of predestination has been virtually universally and monolithically rejected by Reformed thinkers.
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[JonShaff]

I am not somewhere that video plays, so I will have to wait and view it in a few hours when I get home. In the mean time can you confirm that this is not a semantic bunny trail and Mr White is advocating what R.C. Sproul describes as follows:

The Double-Predestination Distortion

The distortion of double predestination looks like this: There is a symmetry that exists between election and reprobation. God works in the same way and same manner with respect to the elect and to the reprobate. That is to say, from all eternity God decreed some to election and by divine initiative works faith in their hearts and brings them actively to salvation. By the same token, from all eternity God decrees some to sin and damnation (destinare ad peccatum) and actively intervenes to work sin in their lives, bringing them to damnation by divine initiative. In the case of the elect, regeneration is the monergistic work of God. In the case of the reprobate, sin and degeneration are the monergistic work of God. Stated another way, we can establish a parallelism of foreordination and predestination by means of a positive symmetry. We can call this a positive-positive view of predestination. This is, God positively and actively intervenes in the lives of the elect to bring them to salvation. In the same way God positively and actively intervenes in the life of the reprobate to bring him to sin.

This distortion of positive-positive predestination clearly makes God the author of sin who punishes a person for doing what God monergistically and irresistibly coerces man to do. Such a view is indeed a monstrous assault on the integrity of God. This is not the Reformed view of predestination, but a gross and inexcusable caricature of the doctrine. Such a view may be identified with what is often loosely described as hyper-Calvinism and involves a radical form of supralapsarianism. Such a view of predestination has been virtually universally and monolithically rejected by Reformed thinkers.
​

I cannot say for certain, because it is in conversation, but check it out later and let me know, thanks!

 

[Yeshua1]

I am not somewhere that video plays, so I will have to wait and view it in a few hours when I get home. In the mean time can you confirm that this is not a semantic bunny trail and Mr White is advocating what R.C. Sproul describes as follows:

The Double-Predestination Distortion

The distortion of double predestination looks like this: There is a symmetry that exists between election and reprobation. God works in the same way and same manner with respect to the elect and to the reprobate. That is to say, from all eternity God decreed some to election and by divine initiative works faith in their hearts and brings them actively to salvation. By the same token, from all eternity God decrees some to sin and damnation (destinare ad peccatum) and actively intervenes to work sin in their lives, bringing them to damnation by divine initiative. In the case of the elect, regeneration is the monergistic work of God. In the case of the reprobate, sin and degeneration are the monergistic work of God. Stated another way, we can establish a parallelism of foreordination and predestination by means of a positive symmetry. We can call this a positive-positive view of predestination. This is, God positively and actively intervenes in the lives of the elect to bring them to salvation. In the same way God positively and actively intervenes in the life of the reprobate to bring him to sin.

This distortion of positive-positive predestination clearly makes God the author of sin who punishes a person for doing what God monergistically and irresistibly coerces man to do. Such a view is indeed a monstrous assault on the integrity of God. This is not the Reformed view of predestination, but a gross and inexcusable caricature of the doctrine. Such a view may be identified with what is often loosely described as hyper-Calvinism and involves a radical form of supralapsarianism. Such a view of predestination has been virtually universally and monolithically rejected by Reformed thinkers.
​

Double predestination may have by held by Calvin and others, but its not found in the Bible!