Reply to God is the Author of Evil

Original post HERE.

TW's comments in italics - my replies are numbered

When the philosophy that drives Calvinism is...
1) Calvinism or a Reformed understanding of the world isn't a philosophy - its a complete theological system that was developed after years and years of rigorious study of the Scriptures and the writings of the early church. To dismiss it as a "philosophy" undermines the rich heritage of this biblical view which was held by every major giant of the faith from 1600-1850.

God sovereignly controls Satan's every move. This makes God the author of everything evil, and the most wicked sinner of all.

2) There seems to be a fundamentally incorrect view of sovereignty throughout the essay. For God to have sovereign control does not mean that he is pulling the strings on a bunch of lifeless marionettes.

Some Calvinists actually admit this, and seek to defend it from Scripture.

3) What mainstream Calvinist defends the idea that God is the most wicked sinner of all?

Are Satan's actions of his own free will? If so, then God has obviously limited His sovereignty regarding Satan's activities. He allows Satan free will.

4) Yes, Satan has the ability to make his own decisions. The fact that God allows Satan to exercise volition does not contradict His sovereignty. His sovereignty is manifest in that he has the right to do what he will with his creation and that he is always in control of his creation - again, not in the sense of a puppet-master - rather like a parent who allows his child to stick themselves in the arm with a safety pin even though the parent could have moved in and stopped the activity. Why would the parent allow that is another question that will be answered later.

5) To argue that God isn't in control of his creation is very close to a view of open theisn which is a recognized heresy.

We must keep in mind that Satan's ultimate ambition is to usurp God's position...

6) Yes, Satan does try to dethrone God and his greatest attempt at this is the Arminian argument that teaches men that they are the ultimate deciders of their salvation and not God. When one rejects the Reformed view they embrace a low view of God's glory and power - thus, they knock God off his throne abit in their own life.

God's offers of salvation to "whosoever will" are insincere. God is not completely honest in Scripture.

7) God gives a sincere statement when he says that "whosoever wills" can have eternal life. The problem is that, apart from divine intervention, none will choose to serve God because of their depraved nature.

God offers to save the non-elect IF they will do what is utterly impossible. God taunts the damned.

8) Again, God states that those who have faith will be saved. The fact that none can do this of their own accord isn't taunting - its a simple reflection of the truth that God cannot allow unholiness into his presence.

God created most people for the purpose of torturing them forever. God is cruel and sadistic.

9) God is just and righteous. He created people, they chose to fall from him, that he gives most of them the justice that is required isn't cruel. In fact it is incredibly merciful of God that he would save any from the judgement due to them.

God CAN save all, and DESIRES to save all, but chooses to damn many for no apparent reason. God is insane.

10) God desires to show both his justice and his mercy, his righteousness and his love - to do so he must sentence mankind to the punishment they incurred upon themselves, yet he also steps in to rescue some that he might reveal all aspects of his nature to attain the most glory for himself.

God controls Satan's every move, and every wicked act of the most vile sinner. God is the source of all evil.

11) Again, the puppet-master issue. God does not control every one of Satan's moves - he allows them. Thus he is not the author of evil, he is one who allows things to occur which may seem evil or cruel to us, yet which he sees as an ultimate good in the macro-timeline...like a parent who allows the child to stick themselves with the safety pin so they will recognize the danger associated with such things on a visceral level.

...God is a lying, taunting, sadistic, insane, wicked, tyrant who demands our worship!

12) Throw out all of those other unsubstantiated adjectives...ask this: shouldn't God demand our worship? Isn't he the creator and us the creation. Isn't he the potter and us the clay? Isn't he God and us NOT!

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.

13) The view mentioned here is a hyper-calvinist stance...it is a completely inaccurate view of how Calvinists have seen election and the Great Commission throughout the ages. Reformed believers have been huge in the areas of evangelism and missions - we believe that God has deemed us to be the instruments of his hands in bringing others to the gospel.

I strongly believe that Atheism thrives largely because of the Reformed - Calvinist model.

14) Atheism and nominal Christianity are rampant because people don't want to recognize the sovereignty of God in all of creation. They want to usurp God from his throne and place themselves up there instead. The Reformed model fights atheism by working to bring light to the majesty and authority of the Father.

And let's be frank. If the logical outcome of a particular philosophy is impossible, then the system is illogical.

15) This is kinda beside the point but "not so." An arguement can be valid and not sound.

The real mistake of Calvinists is elevating God's sovereignty at the expense of His holiness.

16) The real problem is trying to divorce the two. The sovereignty of God lays the foundation for his holiness. Because he is sovereign-whatever he decrees is holy. His holiness is a direct result of his sovereignty.

They have failed to see that sovereignty does NOT demand God's micromanaging all His creatures.

17) No one in the Reformed camp argues that God micromanages his creatures. Again the flawed puppet-master view comes into effect. The author of the essay should do an exhaustive study of what the Reformed view of Gods sovereignty really is before tries to address it. His entire paper has been a big "straw man" fallacy. He has built up a Calvinist position that really isn't our position and then he has torn it down. If we believed what he says we believed then he would be correct in his conclusions, however he fundamentally misunderstands Reformed theology.

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.

18) I guess we simply disagree on Gods purpose in creation. Reformed people would not say that free-will decision making ability for humans  was God's ultimate purpose in the redemptive narrative. We would say that God made all things, allowed the fall, redeemed the elect, and comes to make all things new again for one reason...the reason that Satan and the fallen angels and many men don't want to hear...FOR HIS OWN GLORY AND NOT FOR US.