I’ve heard it said many times that Calvinism uses the same vocabulary as other Christians, but it has a different dictionary. Today I’m sharing three examples that illustrate this.
Calvinists defend God’s sovereignty vociferously. If you question Calvinism, they will ask you, “Don’t you believe God is sovereign?” This will seem like an absurd question. Of course a Christian believes God is sovereign.
Here is the catch.
Calvinists define sovereignty very differently than other Christians. In their framework, sovereignty = determinism.
Here are three short videos that show the outworking of this view. I am not familiar with the last man, but John Piper and James White are not random Calvinists. They both have significant followings in the Calvinist and Reformed world.
My comments continue after the videos.
John Piper on God’s Sovereignty Over Dust
John Piper defends the idea that every particle of dust is determined by God.
James White on God’s Sovereignty and the Rape of a Child
James White says that God ordaining the rape of a child brings purpose to the situation.
Dr. Theodore Zachariades on God Ordering Adultery
Dr. Theodore Zachariades declares that God orders people to commit adultery.
Defining Sovereignty
Calvinists believe that in order for God to be “sovereign” then He must be in absolute control of every single thing that happens. But they do not define control the way most Christians would. In their minds, it means He must cause everything to happen. If He doesn’t cause it to happen, then it means He doesn’t have complete control.
So the question that naturally must follow is this.
Is God the author of evil?
If God orders a man to commit adultery, how is He not in some way responsible?
Is that how you define sovereignty?
A king is sovereign over a land, but does that mean he controls every single thing that happens in his kingdom?
What does it mean for God to be sovereign?
If you ever get into a conversation or debate with a Calvinist, you must be prepared to deal with this issue. It is one of the biggies.
When a Calvinist speaks of sovereignty and defends it so passionately, remember what that word means to them.
They believe they are defending God’s honor.
After watching these videos, do you see it that way?
Pelagius and the Myth of Pelagianism
Thank you for highlighting this! I live close to Lynden, WA, which has a HUGE reformed community. I’ve always thought their theology was off. One women in the community was devastated her adult children had left the church and their response to her was “well maybe they were never chosen by God”. Absolutely awful. I see it play out in smaller ways too, like allowing sin in the church because God must of willed it. Crazy!
You’re welcome, Amanda. Lynden rang a bell so I looked up how many CRC churches are there. FIFTEEN in the immediate area. 15! That’s kind of like being here in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area.
We were members of two CRC churches, attended another one off and on, and visited a few others. There is something really depressing about them and I didn’t fully comprehend why at the time. I was so busy trying to survive motherhood and health issues that we did what seemed to work at the time. I’m so glad we finally got away from them. So thankful we got out for Caroline’s sake especially.