Determinism – Martin's Mercurial Musings

The Will of God Will Never Take You Where the Grace of God Will Not Protect You

(Revisiting my most popular post)

This is the title to one of my first posts after starting this blog. I questioned some thoughts that a blogger named Nicole had shared on her blog which now appears to be an Etsy website (NicoleLeeArtistry). Over the years, this post and the questions received in the comments section garnered the most views over anything else I’ve written – and by a significant margin. Which begs the question, why? How has this post become so popular on my MMM site? When I wrote it, I was starting to question various beliefs and tenants of my Christian faith. Yet, even as a devout Evangelical Christian in preceding years, I never believed that God had a specific and perfect will for each believer. Most around me seemed to accept how it was that God would lay before each believer a scroll and that as the believer matured in their faith, God would reveal more of himself and the specificity as to the direction God wanted an individual to move.

A Calvinist’s Gender Reveal Party

Well, it appears that a new reprobate is under construction. Congratulations! God has unconditionally determined from the foundation of the world that this little one is doomed from the womb and there’s nothing that can be done to change the outcome.

‘Complex’ Theology – Is It Imaginary?

I recently spoke with someone espousing an Open Theistic perspective. I’m likely more inclined to accept Open Theism. But that’s a different discussion. As we spoke, I indicated how my “faith-disconnects” and subsequent deconstruction from Christian faith are in part due to so many different conclusions being derived from the same source material – aka the Bible. I asked, ‘How can learned and well-meaning people reading the same source material (the Bible) not coalesce around a common faith and set of beliefs?’

Napkin Apologetics – Mike Berhow

I generally agree with Mike that it simply makes more sense to be theistic than atheistic. Something that I’d appreciate seeing Mike discuss are the significant variances within Christian faith. Divine Providence, for instance, would be a good start. The book, Divine Providence – Four Views, lists four separate authors, each of whom has their own unique perspective such as:

a) God Causes All Things

b) God Directs All Things

c) God Controls by Liberating

d) God Limits His Control

A Sovereign Bullet, A Traffic Accident, Respiratory Failure

Is the End Result Always God’s Doing?

What difference does it make whether one is an ardent Calvinist or, like me, has deconstructed and otherwise walked away from Christian faith? Within the last week I have lost two good friends – one to a car accident and the other to respiratory failure. One death was sudden and totally unexpected. The other was the result of a long and slow decline in health over time.

A Calvinist Isn’t Determined to Discuss Divine Determination

In a FB forum, a Calvinist posited:

[A] common misconception from [everyone in this group] is that a Calvinist won’t allow their children to sing “Jesus Loves Me” because, after all – He may not. That a person who holds to the doctrines of grace shares the gospel with their children like this, “Well, you may or may not be elect so, [it may be best to wait and see whether you’re one of God’s chosen unto salvation].” We teach our children the gospel according to Scripture. The gospel is that sinners can be reconciled to God through faith in Jesus Christ. It’s a great relief and comfort that [we Calvinists parents] can’t do anything to mess up [our children’s] salvation. We teach them, pray for them and trust God with their souls. After all, [God] is far more merciful than we could ever be.

After some back and forth amongst Calvinists and non-Calvinists within the group, my conversation with a Calvinist kind of went like this:

The Idol of God Being in Sovereign Control of Everything

The topic of discussion was Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A quote from J. I. Packer followed, “To know that nothing happens in God’s world apart from God’s will may frighten the godless, but it stabilizes the saints.” My Calvinist friend then stated that God is absolutely and actively in control of all things and then followed up with how we must pray without ceasing and in all things trust in the Lord.

Suddenly – something clicked! I immediately wondered whether one believing God is in control of everything had to be a kind of idol worship if only because individuals are then absolved individuals of responsibility and decision making?

God’s Total Control = Pointless Prayer

I’m currently re-reading John Piper’s book, A Sweet and Bitter Providence and am reminded that Piper is a hard determinist. I’ll likely be posting some thoughts on something Piper calls “the sovereign bullet’ in the near future. In any event, Piper has previously made deterministic statements including:

God [has predetermined] every tiny detail in the universe such as dust particles in the air and all of our besetting sins [because] the Bible says, “The dice are thrown in the lap, and every decision is from the Lord.

[Everything] including evil is ordained by an infinitely holy and all-wise God to make the glory of Christ shine more brightly.

God [ensures that everyone] does what God ordains – even if it involves evil.

A Dozen Reasons People Leave Calvinism in Particular and Christian Faith in General

Just an observation … but in a Calvinistically leaning church I used to attend, the Sunday population has dwindled from around 500 (in two services) to less than 200 over the last seven or eight years. No doubt there are a number of reasons that people leave one church to start attending another. Or they stop going to church altogether.

COVID has certainly played a part in many people no longer attending church. Those people who left and haven’t returned due to COVID are perhaps the weakest of Christians.

I suspect many people stop going to church for ‘physical’ reasons such as being dissatisfied with the preaching, the music, the overall stage presence, the seating, children’s programs, how fresh the coffee is, the drive-time to church, how welcome they’re made to feel or any number of other similar reasons.

But I suspect that churches are primarily concerned with the ‘spiritual’ reasons as to why folks are leaving. And that’s what I’ve tried to compile below.

The Will of God Will Never Take You Where the Grace of God Will Not Protect You – Part 2

Per WordPress statistics, the most popular post I’ve written – by far – was, The Will of God Will Never Take You Where the Grace of God Will Not Protect You (noted below). This would seem to show a huge interest within Christian faith as to God’s will – what it is, how do we know it and what can be expected when we follow the will of God.

Nicole states one can know whether something is the will of God by way of: