Calvinist Bad Logic #7: False Dichotomies
Bad Logic #7: Calvinists attempt to trap you by setting up false dichotomies (false dilemmas) and telling you that you must pick one. Or by accusing you of saying something that you're not saying.
"Either God is sovereign or you are sovereign." Or maybe they'll say "God or Satan." (Well, of course no decent Christian is going to say that humans are sovereign or that Satan is sovereign. And so we are trapped into saying "God is sovereign." Which is true, of course. But the problem is ... no one questions their definition of "sovereign," and we unwittingly agree with the definition they set up. "Sovereign" is about the position of authority that someone holds; it's not about how they exercise their authority. But Calvinism is all about telling God how God has to be/act, in order to be considered "sovereign." And getting people to agree with them in the obvious truths - like "God is sovereign" - is how they reel us in bit by bit into their paradigm of falsehoods, starting with their faulty definition of sovereign.)
"Either He is in control or you are." (And yet, no one questions what they mean by "in control." Of course, God is "in control," in that He is over all things, knows all things, sees all things, holds all things in His hands, chooses what to cause and what to allow and what to block, and will work all things together for good. But a Calvinist believes that "in control" means "actively preplanning, controlling, and causing all things that happen, even sin and unbelief." Big difference! But they trap you by getting you to agree to their definition of "in control," and yet you never realize that you're both talking about two different things. Every time they get you to agree with them about one truth or idea, they reel you one step deeper into Calvinism.)
"Either He controls everything or He controls nothing." (Calvinists want you to think the only two choices are that God is totally "in control," which to them means "preplans/controls/causes everything, or that He is totally out of control, meaning that He is up there helplessly watching everything that goes on down here, anxiously wringing His hands as He waits to see what people will choose. And of course, no Christian will say that He is helpless or that He controls nothing. And so we're trapped into "He controls everything," without being aware of their definition of "control." But how about thinking outside the dichotomy? How about realizing that neither of their options are biblical? How about ... God chooses to NOT actively control everything, even though He could, because He wanted to give people real choices that come with real consequences? How about He controls/causes some things but simply allows other things to happen, but will work all things together for good? This is biblical. But a Calvinist can't allow that, the idea that God doesn't actively control all things. Because it doesn't fit their idea of "sovereign." It always comes back to their idea of how they think a sovereign God MUST ACT in order to be the kind of sovereign God they think He is.)
"If you say there's one thing He doesn't control then you're saying there are things He can't control, and then you're calling Him powerless." (No! I'm saying there's things He chooses to not actively control even though He could if He wanted to. And there's examples of this all throughout the Bible!)
"If you say that we can make choices then you're saying that there's something outside of God's control, that He's not fully sovereign." (No, I'm saying that your definition of "sovereign" is wrong and unbiblical!)
"If you say that God doesn't elect certain people to save then you're saying that God has to choose to save everybody. But clearly everybody isn't saved, so it must be that God chooses to save certain people." (Very weak, pathetic attempt and bad reasoning. And it's clearly based on the faulty assumption that God actively chooses whom to save: either everybody or only specific people!)
"If you disagree with Calvinism then you are disagreeing with God and the Bible." (No! I am disagreeing with your interpretation of the Bible. Big difference!)
These are false dichotomies and false accusations - built on their own philosophical reasoning, NOT on Scripture - meant to lure you into accepting their way of thinking, their bad logic. And it completely ignores what the Scriptures show about God's true, complex nature and the different ways He operates.
"Either God is sovereign or you are sovereign." Or maybe they'll say "God or Satan." (Well, of course no decent Christian is going to say that humans are sovereign or that Satan is sovereign. And so we are trapped into saying "God is sovereign." Which is true, of course. But the problem is ... no one questions their definition of "sovereign," and we unwittingly agree with the definition they set up. "Sovereign" is about the position of authority that someone holds; it's not about how they exercise their authority. But Calvinism is all about telling God how God has to be/act, in order to be considered "sovereign." And getting people to agree with them in the obvious truths - like "God is sovereign" - is how they reel us in bit by bit into their paradigm of falsehoods, starting with their faulty definition of sovereign.)
"Either He is in control or you are." (And yet, no one questions what they mean by "in control." Of course, God is "in control," in that He is over all things, knows all things, sees all things, holds all things in His hands, chooses what to cause and what to allow and what to block, and will work all things together for good. But a Calvinist believes that "in control" means "actively preplanning, controlling, and causing all things that happen, even sin and unbelief." Big difference! But they trap you by getting you to agree to their definition of "in control," and yet you never realize that you're both talking about two different things. Every time they get you to agree with them about one truth or idea, they reel you one step deeper into Calvinism.)
"Either He controls everything or He controls nothing." (Calvinists want you to think the only two choices are that God is totally "in control," which to them means "preplans/controls/causes everything, or that He is totally out of control, meaning that He is up there helplessly watching everything that goes on down here, anxiously wringing His hands as He waits to see what people will choose. And of course, no Christian will say that He is helpless or that He controls nothing. And so we're trapped into "He controls everything," without being aware of their definition of "control." But how about thinking outside the dichotomy? How about realizing that neither of their options are biblical? How about ... God chooses to NOT actively control everything, even though He could, because He wanted to give people real choices that come with real consequences? How about He controls/causes some things but simply allows other things to happen, but will work all things together for good? This is biblical. But a Calvinist can't allow that, the idea that God doesn't actively control all things. Because it doesn't fit their idea of "sovereign." It always comes back to their idea of how they think a sovereign God MUST ACT in order to be the kind of sovereign God they think He is.)
"If you say there's one thing He doesn't control then you're saying there are things He can't control, and then you're calling Him powerless." (No! I'm saying there's things He chooses to not actively control even though He could if He wanted to. And there's examples of this all throughout the Bible!)
"If you say that we can make choices then you're saying that there's something outside of God's control, that He's not fully sovereign." (No, I'm saying that your definition of "sovereign" is wrong and unbiblical!)
"If you say that God doesn't elect certain people to save then you're saying that God has to choose to save everybody. But clearly everybody isn't saved, so it must be that God chooses to save certain people." (Very weak, pathetic attempt and bad reasoning. And it's clearly based on the faulty assumption that God actively chooses whom to save: either everybody or only specific people!)
"If you disagree with Calvinism then you are disagreeing with God and the Bible." (No! I am disagreeing with your interpretation of the Bible. Big difference!)
These are false dichotomies and false accusations - built on their own philosophical reasoning, NOT on Scripture - meant to lure you into accepting their way of thinking, their bad logic. And it completely ignores what the Scriptures show about God's true, complex nature and the different ways He operates.
(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.")
