The Pelagianism of LOST

OK, so I really want to get this off my chest before I even start talking seriously about LOST...

"How does a wooden ship destroy 80% of a giant stone statue?"

Thanks
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This weeks episode of LOST was really good.  We finally learned what some of the mystery surrounding Richard Alpert is all about - why he doesn't age, how come he speaks for Jacob, etc...

More importantly, we learned some very interesting things about the island and the motives of both Jacob and the Man-In-Black.

When Richard meets Jacob the two sit on the beach and share some wine and conversation.  From that talk we learned that Jacob did bring the Black Rock to the island, as he also seems to have brought Flight 815 to the island.

Then, Jacob told Richard to think of the wine in his bottle as hell, or malevolence, evil, or darkness. That is the MIB.  The wine swirls in the bottle and yet can't get out, "because if it did, it would spread." He said the cork is the island. He put the cork into the bottle and flipped it upside down, showing how the cork (the island) "is the only thing keeping the darkness where it belongs."

Jacob said The Man in Black believes people are corruptible because it's in their nature to sin, and Jacob brings people to the island to prove him wrong, "and when they get here, their past doesn't matter." Richard asked what happened to the others he'd brought to the island before him. "They're all dead," Jacob told him. He said he didn't help them because he wanted them to help themselves, "to know the difference between right or wrong without me having to tell them." He said it was meaningless if he had to tell them, if he had to step in.

WOW!  Lots of info to digest.  Assuming that Jacob isn't talking a load of horse manure - we just got some great insight into where things are going and how the writers and producers of the show see the world, or at least the world of LOST.

I was immediately struck by the Pelagian tone of the comments that Jacob made.  Pelagianism was a Christian heresy in the early 400s that taught several odd things, primarily the idea that "Original Sin did not taint human nature and that mortal will is still capable of choosing good or evil by the exercise of rational thought and without any special Divine aid."

It is basically super-free will.  We are blank slates, neither good nor evil in our core until we choose to be one or the other.  It makes man the supreme decider of his fate.  Mike Horton says "According to Pelagius, Adam was merely a bad example, not the father of our sinful condition-we are sinners because we sin-rather than vice versa. Consequently, of course, the Second Adam, Jesus Christ, was a good example. Salvation is a matter chiefly of following Christ instead of Adam, rather than being transferred from the condemnation and corruption of Adam's race and placed "in Christ," clothed in his righteousness and made alive by his gracious gift. What men and women need is moral direction, not a new birth; therefore, Pelagius saw salvation in purely naturalistic terms-the progress of human nature from sinful behavior to holy behavior, by following the example of Christ."

I think we can see strong biblical evidence that Pelagianism is not the theology of Christianity at even a cursory glance of the Scriptures...

We are by nature sinners (Eph. 2:3; Psalm 51:5).  We all have sinned because sin entered the world through Adam:  "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned" (Rom. 5:12).  Furthermore, Romans 3:10-12 says, “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.”  Therefore, we are unable to do God's will (Rom. 6:16; 7:14).

We were affected by the fall of Adam, contrary to what Pelagius taught and Jacob espouses.  Nevertheless, these developments should make for a great storyline as the last several episodes of my favorite TV show play out!

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.

God is the Author of Evil

Check out this interesting article by Tim Warner. He tries to use logic to equate Gods sovereignty with an authorship of evil. I think he is seriously flawed in this view because he fails to address so many specific theological nuiansces. Read and tell me what you think.
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When the philosophy that drives Calvinism is projected to its logical conclusion, even Satan's activity is an extension of God's sovereignty. God sovereignly controls Satan's every move. This makes God the author of everything evil, and the most wicked sinner of all. Some Calvinists actually admit this, and seek to defend it from Scripture. If ultimately God sovereignly is in control of everything, and if free will of man, angels, or even Satan, is ultimately under the control of God, then the responsibility for all wickedness and evil must be placed at the feet of God Himself. 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. If Satan's actions are ultimately under the control of God, then Satan is merely God's puppet, or "dark side."
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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I am going to post a reply on here in short order with my answer to Mr. Warner's thoughts.