Do Calvinists REALY Believe IN God as A puppet Master?

[JesusFan]

That He is the Master, we are His robotic slaves, compelled to obey Him against our will?

 

[jbh28]

That He is the Master, we are His robotic slaves, compelled to obey Him against our will?

no, that's only a straw man used.

 

[quantumfaith]

I think it is a rather harsh and calloused manner of describing "hard determinism" held by some, usually reformed in theology. Better adjectives are

hard determinist
soft determinist
libertarian
open

Just my opinion.

 

[Skandelon]

That He is the Master, we are His robotic slaves, compelled to obey Him against our will?

I think that is the way it appears to many who don't fully understand the more compatibistic explanations of how men make choices, which wouldn't be "against our will," but it would be casually determining one's nature/desires, which in turn would determine our will. IOW, they don't typically say that God makes people obey "against their will" but instead that he makes them willing by changing their nature/desires.

I've actually heard some Calvinists respond to this charge as saying something like, "Well, better being a robot or slave than a lump of clay, which is what scripture compares us to."

 

[Iconoclast]

I think that is the way it appears to many who don't fully understand the more compatibistic explanations of how men make choices, which wouldn't be "against our will," but it would be casually determining one's nature/desires, which in turn would determine our will. IOW, they don't typically say that God makes people obey "against their will" but instead that he makes them willing by changing their nature/desires.

I've actually heard some Calvinists respond to this charge as saying something like, "Well, better being a robot or slave than a lump of clay, which is what scripture compares us to."

Skandelon, and others...

Keep in mind.....In the bible the word doulas was a willing bondslave
Christians are referred to in this way very often.....

The Lord Jesus Christ.....is the Servant of The Lord....

16Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

17But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

18Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

Being "made willing" is to our benefit...as we would never be in and of ourselves.