Calvinist Bad Logic #19: What they really mean

Bad Logic #19:  Calvinists say one thing but mean another.  They do this by presenting biblical truths but hiding how Calvinism really interprets it.  Or by simply presenting their own ideas, telling you it's biblical truth, but hiding the worst parts of it so that you don't see how wrong they really are.  Or they will tell you one thing but contradict it in the very next sentence, expecting you not to notice or question it.  (And I'm sure there are other ways too.)

Here's an example of "what they say vs. what they hide":

"God predetermined you to choose that which you desired to choose.  That which you did choose in the course of time was based on your desires at that time and was made without any prompting from God.  So, you were free to choose.  That God knew the choice you would make before you made that choice did not affect the freedom of your choice ..."  (Quote from a Calvinist in the comment section of a Soteriology 101 post)

(And I say: "Huh!?!  'You were free to choose.  That God knew the choice you would make before you made that choice did not affect the freedom of your choice' ... but ... 'God predetermined you to choose that which you desired to choose'!?!"  Nonsense and hogwash!)

But now let's see what a Calvinist should say if they are truly honest and not trying to disguise what they believe to make it sound more "free will" than it is:

"God predetermined you to choose that which you desired to choose.  (So God gave you the desires you have.)  That which you did choose in the course of time was based on your desires at that time (which are really not "your" desires because God fore-ordained everything about you - including your desires, choices, and eternal destiny - from before you were born) and was made without any prompting from God (which is a total lie because I just said that God "PRE-DETERMINED" what you would desire.  According to Calvinism, God creates our every impulse and thought so that we can think nothing that God hasn't put in our heads.  But I have to say "God doesn't prompt us" or else it will sound like I'm saying God prompts us to sin.  And so I'll just spin it to say that "God doesn't prompt us in the moment we sin, but He has predestined our desire to sin and what we will choose from before we were born."  God doesn't "cause" us to sin; He just causes us to have the "unrepentant sinner" nature and our desires to choose sin.).  So, you were free to choose (only that which God predestined you to desire to choose).  That God knew (I'll say "knew," even though I really mean "predetermined and caused," but if I said "predetermined and caused" then it would make God accountable for our evil choices) the choice you would make before you made that choice did not affect the freedom of your choice (even though you are only free to make the choices God predetermined you to make, according to the nature that God determined you would have)..."

Do you see how sneaky Calvinists can be, trying to say that God controls all that we do but that we - not He - are responsible for our choices?

You have to be so careful when listening to dogmatic Calvinists ... because they will always only give you half of half the picture, the part that we can all agree on.  And if you don't press them and challenge what they're saying, you'll be left thinking that their theology sounds pretty accurate and biblically-based.  (They are like pathological liars who only tell you the part of the story they want you to know so that you come to the conclusions they want you to have.  Do you know that old joke "How do you know a politician is lying?  His lips are moving."  Yeah, it's like that.  But the scary part is, they don't think they're lying.  They truly believe what they're saying.  They can so easily deceive others because they're so thoroughly deceived themselves.)

(For all the posts in this series, see the "Intro ..."  Or look for "'Calvinist Bad Logic' Series" in the labels on the side-bar.  Or find the whole series in one post, "When Calvinism's 'Bad Logic' Traps Good Christians.")

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