The Anti-Calvinist Rant

  I am breaking the  "A Random Verse That Destroys Calvinism (And 'Is the ESV a Calvinist Bible'?)"  post up into shorter segments so that each verse (or two) gets it own post.       #4:    John 7:17  (NIV):  "Anyone who chooses to do the will of God ..." (KJV):  "If any man will do his will ..." (Berean Study Bible):  "If any man desires to do his will ..." (CSB):  "If anyone wants to do his will ..." What do all these have in common: "chooses ... will do ... desires to ... wants to ..."? They are verbs, something we do.  They all show that the man himself is choosing to do God's Will, wanting to do His Will.  It puts the "choosing/wanting" in man's hands, as though it is his choice to do it.  And rightly so. But here it is in  the ESV :  "If anyone's will is to do God's will ..." While this seems insignificant, it's not.  This is huge, making it totally and completely Calvinist...

Some comments from the Soteriology 101 post, The Good News of God’s Choice (small corrections added for clarity, my notes are in gray): Graceadict (non-Calvinist) says: The more I studied Calvinism, the more I understood the root of determinism and the root of a continually wrathful God who desires wrath and judgment more than Love, Grace, and Mercy. On balance, the Calvinist systematic sees God as primarily a devouring, wrathful being who desperately needs to be continually expressing His wrath, condemnation, and judgment to be most fulfilled and glorified.  [ My note: As my pastor’s Calvinist adult son said it (paraphrased): “Why would God create people for hell?  Because He wanted to show off His justice and because His greatest priority is self-worship.  He wanted to worship Himself for how just He is, and so He needed sinners to punish so that He could get glory for punishing sin.”  (But how anyone could think it's "justice" for God to create/cause people...

  I am breaking the  "A Random Verse That Destroys Calvinism (And 'Is the ESV a Calvinist Bible'?)"  post up into shorter segments so that each verse (or two) gets it own post. #3:   Most versions state  2 Thessalonians 2:13  like the NIV does:  "But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth." But the ESV is one of the very few translations that  adds a comma  in a very strategic place:  "... because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved ,  through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth." This is major!  It would be like the difference between "I chose you to be the first to see the Grand Canyon from my new helicopter" and "I chose you to be the first to see the Grand Canyon, from my new helicopter." In the first one, I chose you to be the first to g...

The world's falling apart right now, left and right.  But hang in there, Christians; we have a solid rock to stand on, and we know how the story ends ... Jesus wins! So come on and sing it with me ...  We Believe !

  Steve Sabin (non-Calvinist) wrote this in the comment section of the Soteriology 101 post, Calvinism and Pastoral Care (I made minor changes for clarity, and I added my notes in gray): “ 15 Guidelines for Proper Calvinist Biblical Interpretation” I wish these were written entirely tongue-in-cheek, but they are not.   Only in a few instances are they augmented sarcastically.   They are essentially distilled from observing the Calvinists that comment here, who undoubtedly acquired those skills through careful mentoring by still others. 1. Begin with appeals to God’s sovereignty and omniscience, carefully and meticulously defined according to Calvinist presuppositions.   It is vital to obtain agreement on these definitions [for Calvinists to get other Christians to think they are defining words the same way] , allowing you (the Calvinist) to use words like “we” later on – signifying mutual agreement which will eventually lead other Christians to inescapable (Calvini...