And as I said, there is a special place for mystery in theology. I gave a few examples too.
You did, and I have not yet replied. I will do so presently
But mystery does not redeem hopeless contradictions. So Calvin may no more appeal to mystery merely because the inspired Paul appealed to it than he may pen an epistle just because Paul did.
This is complete nonsense.
1. The 'hopeless contradictions' are in your head because you will not submit yourself to Scripture.
2. What else should Calvin appeal to but Scripture? The Koran? The Kama Sutra? The Scriptures clearly state that God is sovereign in
all things, and yet He is not the author of sin. It is not for you or me to argue the point, but meekly to submit to the word of God.
Since you yourself have now quoted Scripture, I will repeat what I posted earlier:
If the most wicked act in history was the trial, torture and death of our blessed Lord, did God ordain it, or did He merely permit it? Acts 4:27-28.
27.
'For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus Christ, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together.........
28.
.......to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined beforehand to be done.'
I say that you have to believe both these verses absolutely. If you believe verse 27 but not v.28, you have a nasty little conspiracy to slay an innocent Man, and God is sitting by impotently, unable or unwilling to prevent it. Perhaps, because he's such a great chess-player, He turns the situation round to His own advantage, but He's reacting to circumstances outside either of His control or His interest.
If, on the other hand, you believe v.28 and not v.27, you make God the author of evil and men and women are merely ciphers. To gain a proper understanding, you have to accept both verses, and you will see that men are fully responsible and culpable, and God fully sovereign. Can we explain it? Perhaps not, but we accept it because the Bible teaches it. To quote Rogers and Hammerstein:
'Who can explain it, who can tell you why?
Fools may give you reasons; wise men never try!'
Nor is that the only instance that I might give. I keep posting John 6:37 on this subject and I apologize to those who have read this before.
"All that the Father gives Me will come to Me......." There is your Calvinism, predestination or whatever you like to call it. God the Father gave to the Son a people to redeem. He has redeemed them at measureless cost and they will come to Him, every single one.
"........and the one who comes to Me I will in no wise cast out." There is your general invitation. Whoever comes to Christ in repentance and faith, He will receive. There is no question of anyone being turned away.
Once again, if we accept the first statement and not the second, we have a rigid determinism that destroys the need for evangelism and even for faith, and if we believe the second statement and not the first, we have a wretched Pelagianism which dispenses with the need for the Holy Spirit. You have to believe both parts of the verse, despite their apparent contradiction, in order to understand the teaching of the Bible. BTW, the same teachings are found together in John 6:39-40 and Matthew 11:25-28.
If I developed a system of beliefs/theories that
1. Christ resurrected bodily from the grave, and
2. Christ's body is still in the grave
3. Appeal to mystery to 'cover' the logical contradiction of proposition #1 & #2
What would you make of my brazen lunacy?
I would say that it is not very different from your current brazen lunacy. The point is that the Scriptures do not teach that so the question does not arise.[/QUOTE][/QUOTE]
