The Anti-Calvinist Rant

Posts

UGW Question 2: Cause vs Allow

"Understanding God's Will" Question 2:

2.Well, what about verses like Proverbs 16:4: “The Lord works out everything for his own end ... ”Doesn’t this mean that He causes everything that happens for His own reasons?

I don’t think that’s what it means.It doesn’t say He causes everything that happens for His own reasons; it says He works them out for His own ends.(I’ll break this down further in later posts.) God has an end goal, and He knows how to take whatever we do and work it together to reach that end.But this doesn’t necessarily mean that He causes us to do what we do for His own reasons (because if He did then He would be responsible for our sins, not us) or that He causes the tragedies that we face for a reason.

Now keep in mind as you read this series that I am not challenging the whole “Everything happens for a reason” idea for those who face trials in the quiet, optimistic assurance that there is some deep, unknown reason for their trial or tragedy. For those who…

Why I started this blog:

I've been studying and speaking against Calvinism for awhile now, over at My Crazy Faith. But I wanted all this info on its own blog. The title is about me opposing Calvinism in general and dogmatic, theologian-type Calvinists. "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve." (2 Corinthians 11:13-15) Satan's best schemes involve wolves in sheep's clothing, disguising lies as truth, darkness as light, and using God's Word against Him. This, I believe, is what Calvinism is!

But, to be clear, I am not ranting against the average "Calvinist" who probably isn't even aware of what Calvinism really teaches, and who, if they were aware, would probably not be a Calvinist anymore. These are the kinds of people I hope to help through this blog, to shed light on the theology they think they believe in.

Also, when I say I disagree with "predestination," I mean a Calvinist's view of it, which is far different from the Bible's view of it.

I do not claim to know everything about the Bible or Calvinism. I will make mistakes. I am human. I am still learning. And my view of Calvinism is, of course, based on the encounters I've had with Calvinists and with what I've read from Calvinists. It's not meant to be representative of all Calvinists, of Joe Shmoe Calvinist online who I never talked to but who has a slightly different view of Calvinism than what I present.

But even if I make some Scripture mistakes and even if I don't totally accurately represent all Calvinists and even if my thoughts are still a little fuzzy about all this, my bottom-line concern is to properly represent the character of God and the Gospel's message. (And sorry about the random color changes in the paragraphs. Stupid computer! Also, when I say "concordance," it's Strong's concordance with Vine's Expository Dictionary.)

As Always ...

Just because I link to someone else's blog doesn't necessarily mean I agree with everything they believe. So be discerning for yourselves. Run everything they say (and everything I say) through Scripture.

[And for the record, just because I'm not a Calvinist doesn't mean I'm an Arminian. (Arminianist?) I do not agree with them at all that true believers can lose their salvation. I have not studied Arminianism, nor do I intend to. I study the Bible. So I guess I might describe myself as I've seen others do it: Biblist. I'm not looking to any other person's theology or interpretation of Scripture; I just want to know what God says in His Word and who He is according to His Word. Another way might be "Traditionalist," as identified by the Statement of Faith from Soteriology 101, which comes closest to summing up my views as anything I've seen. I was delighted to see that not only are the people at Soteriology 101 anti-Calvinists but that they also believe true believers can't lose their salvation. It's hard to find that combination. And it gives me more reason to trust what they say and their interpretations of Scripture. And another highly recommended site is Beyond the Fundamentals. My husband loves how this guy attacks Calvinism from Scripture. Watch some of his videos and see. And I also recommend Hoppers Crossing Christian Church (and see their blog here) for all the work they've done exposing the problems of Calvinism too.]