Whats wrong with the u in tulip?

Question

The "u" in the acrostic "tulip", traditional 5 point Calvinists hold to means unconditional election. See any problems with it? 10 points to the best answer.

I prefer biblical / theological arguments but whatever you can muster is good.

Just interested in the "u" for now.

Answer 1

There are problems with all five letters, not just the 'u.' Are you more interested in the philsophical, theological or Scriptural problems?

The best refutation of the 'u' is to refute the others. Unconditional election is the logical result of Total Depravity and Irresistible Grace, both of which are completely unbiblical.

Calvinism is based on an ancient heresy called Monenergism, which maintained (among other things) that Jesus Christ had only a single will (in common with the Father). This doctrine implies that man has no free will, because the Incarnate Christ had no free will. In other words, the will of man was destroyed in the Fall, leaving human beings incapable of choosing good from evil. Scripture refutes this view by pointing out that Jesus had a human will, and that human beings are capable of submitting their own wills to God.

Here is a start:

Dueteronomy 30:19
"I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live." (The choice of life and death in the hands of man)

Isaiah 45:7-9
"I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it. Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?"

Matthew 23:37
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing." (God's will depends on the will of man)

Matthew 24:9-13
"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." (Some can fall away of their own accord)

Matthew 25:41
"Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." (Hell prepared for the devil, not for man)

Mark 16:15-16
"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." (Belief a condition of salvation)

Luke 8:13
"They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away." (Some fall away of their own accord)

Mark 4:16
"And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.

Luke 13:34
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!"

John 6:70-71
"Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve." (Even the chosen can fall away)

John 7:17
17 If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. (Any man is capable of willing and doing what Christ commands)

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide [continue] in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide [continue] in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide [continue] in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth [continues] in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide [remains] not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide [continue] in me, and my words abide [continue] in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." (Former 'branches' can be cut away)

Acts 1:24
"And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen." (The condition of the heart determines the chosen)

Acts 7:51
"You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!" (man can resist the Holy Spirit)

Ezekiel 18:
"Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right... he shall surely live, saith the Lord GOD... Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father’s sins which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like... he shall surely live...

"But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die. Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal? When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?"




http://www.biblestudying.net/calvingospelsacts.html
http://www.bible.ca/calvinism.htm

Answer 2

the issue has to do with the who, when and why God elects or predestines peoples to be the objects of his grace .

did you think an atheist would get that?