Home List of Predestination
Articles
God, Foreordination of All Things, versus God’s Word
If you’ve read about the guy who somehow had gotten hold of a JATO unit (Jet Assisted Take Off - actually a solid fuel rocket) that he attached to his 1967 Impala, jumped in, got up some speed and fired off the JATO! His remains were not recoverable except for small fragments of bone, teeth, hair, and fingernails. Our question in that article was, “What could have been God’s purpose in doing all of this?”
Now you may be thinking, why is he blaming God? Well, I’m not blaming God, but in our society, many say that God knows and predestines everything. This would be the conclusion from that type of thinking, that God knows and predestines everything. Let me read what John Calvin wrote in his Institutes of the Christian Religion. These quotes are from The Master Christian Library, Ages Software, pp.1030,1031, 1062-1066.
In Section 5, Calvin
wrote, “We, indeed, ascribe both prescience and predestination to God; but we
say, that it is absurd to make the latter [predestination] subordinate to the
former [prescience]. When we attribute prescience to God, we mean that all
things always were, and ever continue, under his eye; that to his knowledge
there is no past or future, but all things are present, and indeed so present,
that it is not merely the idea of them that is before him . . . but that he
truly sees and contemplates them as actually under his immediate inspection.
This prescience extends to the whole circuit of the world, and to all
creatures. By predestination we mean the eternal decree of God, by which he
determined with himself whatever he wished to happen with regard to every man.
All are not created on equal terms, but some are preordained to eternal life,
others to eternal damnation; and, accordingly, as each has been created for one
or other of these ends, we say that he has been predestinated to life or to
death. This God has testified, not only in the case of single individuals; he
has also given a specimen of it in the whole posterity of Abraham, to make it
plain that the future condition of each nation lives entirely at his disposal .
. . ”
In other words, God is in total control of everything that
happens because He makes everything happen. I will copy some more of Calvin
later, but let me first tell you about some other incidents that took place in
America. According to Calvin and many other Calvinists, God made these people
do these things.
A San Anselmo, California man died when he hit a lift tower
at the Mammoth Mountain ski area while riding down the slope on a foam pad.
This 22-year old man was pronounced dead at Centennial Mammoth Hospital. The
accident occurred about 3 in the morning, the Mono County Sheriff’s Dept said.
He and his friends apparently had hiked up a ski run called Stump Alley and
undid some yellow foam protectors from lift towers, according to Lt. Mike
Donnelly of the Mammoth Lakes Police Dept. The pads are used to protect skiers
who might hit towers. The group apparently used the pads to slide down the ski
slope and our winner crashed into a tower. It has since been investigated and
determined the tower he hit was the one with its pad removed.
Did God do that? Well, the Westminster Confession of Faith says, “God . . . is . . . without
body, parts, or passions; immutable . . . . nothing is to him contingent or
uncertain. . . . By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some
men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life; and others foreordained
to everlasting death. These angels and men, thus predestinated, and
foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed, and their number so
certain and definite, that it cannot be either increased or diminished. . . .
God . . . doth uphold, direct, dispose,
and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the
least . . . . The almighty power . . . extendeth itself even to the
first fall, and all other sins of angels and men . . .”[1] Now, if that is true, then God would be
responsible for everything that happens and must have a morbid sense of humor,
because I want you to some other incidents that took place.
A 32 year old man was apparently being disorderly in a St.
Louis market. When the clerk threatened to call the police, the man grabbed a
hot dog, shoved it into his mouth, and walked out without paying. Police found
him unconscious in front of the store. Paramedics removed the six-inch wiener
from his throat where it had choked him to death.
A man shot a stag standing above him on an overhanging rock
and was killed instantly when it fell on him. Now remember, according to the
Westminster Confession of Faith, “God . . . doth uphold, direct, dispose, and
govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least”
Then, there
was this headline: “Man loses face at party.” This man was probably related to
the man in Arkansas who used a 22 caliber bullet to replace the fuse in his
pick-up truck. Any way, a man at a West Virginia party popped a blasting cap
into his mouth and bit down, triggering an explosion that blew off his lips,
teeth, and tongue. He bit the blasting cap as a prank during the party late
Tuesday night, said Cpl. M.D. Payne. “Another man had it in an aquarium hooked
to a battery and was trying to explode it” said Payne. “It wouldn’t go off and
this guy said ‘I’ll show you how to set it off.’ He put it into his mouth and
bit down. It blew all his teeth out and his lips and tongue off”, Payne said.
The man was listed in guarded condition Wednesday with extensive facial
injuries. Payne said, “I just can’t imagine anyone doing something like that.” And I can’t imagine my loving God causing things
like this, and He doesn’t, but Calvin wrote in his Institutes, Section 7: “The decree, I admit, is, dreadful; and yet
it is impossible to deny that God foreknew what the end of man was to be before
he made him, and foreknew, because he had so
ordained by his decree. Should any one here inveigh against the prescience
of God, he does it rashly and unadvisedly. For why, pray, should it be made a
charge against the heavenly Judge, that he was not ignorant of what was to
happen? Thus, if there is any just or plausible complaint, it must be directed
against predestination. Nor ought it to seem absurd when I say, that God not only foresaw the fall of the first
man, and in him the ruin of his posterity; but also at his own pleasure arranged it. For as it belongs to his
wisdom to foreknow all future events, so
it belongs to his power to rule and govern them by his hand.”
Let’s read one more. The late person and his friend, the
late person, of the great state of Washington, decided to attend a local
Metallica concert at the George Washington amphitheater. Having no tickets (but
having had 18 beers between them), they thought it would be easy to “hop” over
the nine-foot fence and sneak into the show. They pulled their pick-up truck
over to the fence and the plan was for the late person (who was 100-pounds
heavier than the other person) to hop the fence and then assist his friend
over. Unfortunately for the late person, there was a 30-foot drop on the other
side of the fence. Having heaved himself over, he found himself crashing
through a tree. His fall was abruptly halted (and broken, along with his arm,
as it were) be a large branch that snagged him by his shorts. Dangling from the
tree, he looked down and saw some bushes below him. Perhaps figuring the bushes
would break his fall, he removed his pocketknife and proceeded to cut away his
shorts to free himself from the tree. Finally free, (did I mention he is the
late) person crashed into Holly bushes. The sharp leaves scratched his entire
body and now without the protection of his shorts, a Holly branch penetrated
his rectal cavity. To make matters worse, on landing, his pocketknife
penetrated his thigh 3-inches. The late person, on seeing his friend in
considerable pain and agony, decided to throw him a rope and pull him to safety
(Now, he thinks of safety.) by tying
the rope to the pick-up truck and slowly driving away. However, in his
haste/drunken state, he put the truck into reverse and crashed through the
fence landing on his friend and killing him. Police arrived to find the crashed
pick-up with its driver thrown 100-feet from the truck and dead at the scene
from massive internal injuries. Upon moving the truck, they found the person
under it, half-naked, with scratches on his body, a holly stick in his rectum,
a knife in his thigh, and his shorts dangling from a tree branch 25-feet in the
air.
Finally Calvin
wrote that Augustine “demonstrates that men are under, and ruled by,
providence; . . . that [nothing] should happen without God’s ordaining it,
because it would then happen without any cause. For this reason he excludes,
also, the contingency that depends upon men’s will . . .”
As we’ve shown before, Augustine’s thinking came from Greek philosophy not God’s word. Plato was the one who developed these ideas, and they have permeated our society, both Christian and secular.
Our God is a God of compassion, passion, love, and mercy. He is not one who is cold and untouched by our needs, anguish, and problems. A God who is outside of time and untouched by our temporal problems isn’t the God described by the biblical accounts of Him. The God of Calvin and the Westminster Confession is not the God of the Bible. Their God is the result of man’s rationalism. Thought that comes only from man’s reason. That rationalistic theology came from Greek philosophy. But it is the basis of most modern theology.
God made an interesting statement. in 1 John 4:20: If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
Now, it seems to me that the result of that would be: If someone loves God, he will love his brother. If we get to know God and strive to love Him, we will love our brother. And, according to the Scriptures, we can know God. For instance, in 1 John 5:20, it says we can know God. “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true.”
From the time of Augustine to the present, theologians have attempted to explain portions of scripture that did not fit their theology by calling them metaphors. Then, they went further and said the metaphors did not mean what they showed. But they, in their great wisdom, would tell us what God really meant. Ambrose of Milan, and then Augustine, who learned from Ambrose, were especially guilty of this. They said God was immutable and impassible – That nothing outside of Himself could have any effect on Him; That He couldn’t change and couldn’t have any emotion. But their explanation of these metaphors to explain the Bible has distorted the biblical view of God.
When we speak metaphorically, we use words about one subject, as a lens to see another subject, sometimes in a more understandable way, and sometimes in a more emotional way. But, no matter which way they are used, metaphors really matter. Theologians have twisted or suppressed many metaphors of God while greatly magnifying others. The goodness and compassion of God has been greatly neglected, while His sovereignty has been dreadfully distorted.
It’s uncanny, but I even heard this statement on Christian radio. “God is the cause of everything which happens in the world. If God is not the direct cause of all the ills in the world, He is still the one who allows them because He could change them but does not choose to do anything about them.” This type of misinformation impugns the character of God, because we thwart His will for us all the time. 1 Th 4:3 tells us God’s will for us is that we live totally holy lives. But we don’t.
Biblical statements and metaphors about God which show me God’s person impact my soul. I want to love my God with all my might. Do you? If we are to love Him, we must know Him better. So, let’s look at some metaphors in the Bible which show our wonderful God in a more balanced way. One of the most precious to me is the fact that God suffers when we suffer. I can’t think of it too much. He is so merciful.
God was afflicted in Israel’s affliction. In Isa 63:7-9 it says, “I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies, according to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses. 8 For He said, “Surely they are My people, children who will not lie.” So He became their Savior. 9 In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them; In His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bore them and carried them all the days of old.”
We can observe
this best when we see how God agonized over Israel in Hosea 11:1-9: “When
Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. 2 As they
[the prophets] called them, so they [Israel] went from them; They sacrificed to
the Baals, and burned incense to carved images. 3 I taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them by their arms; But they did not know that I healed them. 4 I drew
them with gentle cords, with bands of love, and I was to them as those who take
the yoke from their neck. I stooped and fed them. 5 6 7 My people are bent on
backsliding from Me. Though they call to the Most High, none at all exalt Him.
8 How can I give you up, Ephraim?”
God was showing great emotion. How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I set you like Zeboiim? My heart churns within Me. The heart of my God, the God of the universe, churns within Him. Does our God have emotion or not? No matter what the theologians say, who have bought into the rationalism of Greek philosophy, the God of the Bible has great emotion. No metaphor is meant to mislead and give a meaning opposite to the sense of the metaphor. And yet, that is what Ambrose, then Augustine, and Calvin, and yes even modern theologians say these metaphors give a meaning opposite to the plain meaning of the text. But let’s get back to Hosea 11:8, “My sympathy is stirred. 9 I will not execute the fierceness of My anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, The Holy One in your midst; And I will not come with terror.”
He is a God of compassion, and graciously, His mercy endures forever. He is even like an upset parent, Who can ask, how long? That’s what He asked Moses in Ex 16:28 And the LORD said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?” Then in Num 14:11 Then the LORD asked Moses: “How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them?” And in Num 14:27, God asked Moses and Aaron, “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me.”
With the compassion and pain of a parent, He asks what Have I done in Mic 6:3 O My people, what have I done to you? And how have I wearied you? He even asks why? showing emotion in Isa 50:2 “Why, when I came, was there no man? Why, when I called, was there none to answer? Is My hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver? Indeed with My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness; Their fish stink because there is no water, And die of thirst.” Our God was grieved. Just like a parent of a rebellious teenager. In Psa 78:40-41, it says, “How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert! 41 Yes, again and again they tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel.” Yes, even our omnipotent God can be limited because He has given man a small amount of sovereignty – called free will. We can also grieve Him even though we are sealed according to Eph 4:30, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
Our God loves as a parent in Hosea 11:1-4 “When Israel was a child, I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son. 2 As they called them [the prophets], So they went from them; They sacrificed to the Baals, And burned incense to carved images. 3 “I taught Ephraim to walk, Taking them by their arms; But they did not know that I healed them. 4 I drew them with gentle cords, With bands of love, And I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck. I stooped and fed them.”
That’s the God I love. I love Him because He first loved me. That’s why Biblical metaphors are so important. They remarkably help us see what God is really like so we can, not only know Him, but also be able to feel that love toward God which He desires. As we continue to look at God’s character in the Bible, I think you’ll agree with me, God’s Character has been besmirched by zealous theologians.