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Calvinism

The God of the Bible does not resemble this kind of god. 

I John 1 
5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 

James 1 
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 

We must keep in mind that Satan's ultimate ambition is to usurp God's position, (Isaiah 14:13-15, 2 Thes. 2:3,4). Satan cannot make himself holy, but, he can make God appear to be unholy, closing the gap between man's perception of God and Satan. Satan simply assumes the dark side of God. This philosophical merging of God and Satan in effect fulfills Satan's ultimate aspiration. 

The danger for Christians, however, is that only one baby step separates the Calvinism, taught in mainstream Evangelical churches, from the logical philosophical conclusion, that God is both good and evil. Ultimately, God is Satan and Satan is God. In the last days this philosophy will facilitate Christians worshipping the Beast. 

I am very troubled by the logical implications that the Calvinist philosophy forces Christians to embrace. And also the image of the Christian "God" presented to the world.

Calvinism, when consistently taken to its logical conclusions, implies all of the following:
1. God's offers of salvation to "whosoever will" are insincere. God is not completely honest in Scripture.
2. God offers to save the non-elect IF they will do what is utterly impossible. God taunts the damned.
3. God created most people for the purpose of torturing them forever. God is cruel and sadistic.
4. God CAN save all, and DESIRES to save all, but chooses to damn many for no apparent reason. God is insane.
5. God controls Satan's every move, and every wicked act of the most vile sinner. God is the source of all evil.

The bottom line is that Calvinism, when carried to its logical conclusions, implies that God is a lying, taunting, sadistic, insane, wicked, tyrant who demands our worship! One could substitute the word "Satan" instead of "God" in most of the above 5 statements, giving a more accurate portrayal of Bible doctrine. For the fortunate few on whom Calvinism's God has arbitrarily decided to bestow every good thing, God is a pretty cool dude! They have their ticket, and no matter what they do, they are destined for eternal bliss. To hell with the rest of mankind. Calvinism seems pretty attractive to those with an elitist mentality. But, what kind of God are Calvinists presenting to the rest of mankind? I strongly believe that Atheism thrives largely because of the Reformed - Calvinist model. That is, Calvinism's portrayal of God is one of the major reasons that many thinking people reject God. They are rejecting the Calvinist's God. While I do not agree with all of Dave Hunts' points in his book, "What Love is This?", I think his title is far too tame!

I have received a fair amount of "hate mail" from Calvinists because my expressing the concerns in this article. Usually they accuse me of equating Calvinism with the Occult. But, that is not what I have written. Unfortunately, in most cases, they have misunderstood my point. I am NOT saying that Calvinists actually teach God is wicked, or a sinner, or even directly responsible for sin. Most Calvinists stop short of drawing those conclusions. I am saying that this is the logical outcome when you project Calvinism's philosophy to its logical conclusions. And let's be frank. If the logical outcome of a particular philosophy is impossible, then the system is illogical.

The real mistake of Calvinists is elevating God's sovereignty at the expense of His holiness. They have failed to see that sovereignty does NOT demand God's micromanaging all His creatures. That God has the power to control everything is without question. But, His purpose in creation would not be realized if He did so. Free will and allowing natural consequences to follow human choices is a major component of what God is accomplishing with His creation.

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