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Proverbs 16:4
RE: Proverbs 16:4
I said I would answer to this topic... and this was left... but didn't pretty have the time, nor disposition lately...

(May 25, 2011 at 7:45 pm)Statler Waldorf Wrote: Thank you kindly, appreciate it.
I will put what you said in quotes and then what the position is, you were close on some of it.
Quote: First means: The man is initially extremely wicked.

Total Depravity is not so much about man being wicked (even though he is), it has to do with man’s moral ability. His will and moral ability are wholly affected by sin. So if left to his own devices he is utterly incapable of responding to the gospel in a positive manner. He is dead in sin, and requires regeneration by the Holy Spirit before any spiritual life will be found.
Extremely wicked sounds very much like "totally depraved". Wicked also has to do with man's morality (at least as far as I know).

Quote:
Zenith Wrote:Second means: God chose, most surely before the creation of the earth, all man which He would "save" (i.e. make Christians of the right doctrine), but that choice is based on nothing, it's only a random thing God did. The others go to hell.
This one is a little off. Yes, God chose whom he would grant saving grace to before the foundation of the world. However, it was not only those of a certain Christian doctrine, we believe he has sheep in the catholic church as well as the protestant church. All those whom he chose do come to and trust in Christ. This choice is unconditional in the fact that it is not based upon anything in man, or foreseen faith or actions. Though it I would not say it is random, it is according to the kind intention of His will and His purpose (Ephesians 1-2).
"we believe he has sheep in the catholic church as well as the protestant church" - doesn't that deny your own doctrine? I thought that in protestant religions, only those who "get saved" go to heaven (and "getting saved" has a different meaning from christian orthodoxy or catholicism). Second off, "random choice" is the same as "a will & purpose of God which is based on nothing logical and nothing concrete".

Quote:
Zenith Wrote:Third means: If you are one of those elected (or, chosen) by God before the Creation of the world, then you will finally convert to the right Christian doctrine (Reformed Christian, or something similar to that), and finally go to heaven.
I think you are referring to the “I” here and not the “L”. The “L” represents the belief that Chris atoned for the sins of God’s elect on the cross and this atonement was perfect in intention and merit. He did not waste any atonement on those who would not be saved. The “I” represents the fact that God’s grace is powerful enough to overcome even the most depraved individual, He never fails in saving. Neither of these things has to do with a “right” Christian doctrine though.
I meant "L", but I think here both Limited Atonement and Irresistible grace are included - if God chose you before the foundation of the world, then you go to heaven (no matter what). else you go to hell (no matter what).

Quote:
Zenith Wrote:Fourth means, if I am not wrong: After you have been converted to the right Christian doctrine, you persevere in a holy life.
Again, close but not only those believing a certain doctrine. Pretty much God’s grace helps believers persevere until the end, so all of those whom He elected die as believers.
Yeah, this should have been point 5, not 4. And this above is pretty the same odd: if God chose you before the foundation of the world, you will convert (because He decided so and decided when) and then God forces you to be how He wants you to be.

Now to get back to where I've started from:
Doubting Thomas Wrote:So if we can't make sense out of any of the bible or Christian beliefs in general, that means we won't be judged and get a free ticket to heaven? Cool!
The doctrine of Statler Waldorf is that, if you have been elected before the creation of the world, you will finally convert (willingly or unwillingly) and make sense of the bible and the Christian beliefs and you will go to heaven. Otherwise, if you have not been elected before the creation of the world, then you will not make sense of the bible or the christian beliefs and will never convert and will go to hell.

Now perhaps it was useless to write this post, as I guess Doubting Thomas is not quite interested of the Reformed Christianity doctrine.

P.S. Statler Waldorf, I don't know the big difference between Calvinism and Reformed Christianity, so if I made a mistake or something, feel free to say it.
And, how old are you?
(May 26, 2011 at 6:55 pm)Statler Waldorf Wrote:


I know you didn't make my Christian feedback list, but if you really want to talk with me about this subject, you'll have to bring arguments yourself. I'm not going to read a 50 pages text of which I won't agree with almost anything and spend a lot of time and do a lot of effort to reply to everything while you only send links (which is a great unbalance of effort and time spent, me vs. you, first of all).
So if you can write an explanation yourself (rather than giving a link or copy-pasting) and really do that, and write more than 3 lines of text in that post (i.e. I expect a much larger explanation than 3 or 4 lines), then I will discuss this topic with you.
and to everythingafter: if there are things to say about what I've written, I'll expect your reply.
And, one more point, I forgot to mention last time, perhaps it is useful to know: unlike it is preached everywhere, according to the bible, not every man is a son of God (it is that theory that God is the father of His creation, so that any man is a son/child of God). The fact is that, in the bible, in the new covenant, people are being 'adopted' by God - this is the way a man can become a son/child of God. See verses John 8.41-44 and Romans 8.14-16.
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RE: Proverbs 16:4
(June 4, 2011 at 8:52 am)Zenith Wrote:

Man’s moral ability is depraved, his moral actions are wicked. I think that’s the difference.
(June 4, 2011 at 8:52 am)Zenith Wrote:

All of those who are chosen by God and trust in Christ are saved. Faith is a result of saving grace, so the Catholic who trusts in Christ is doing so because he was chosen by God before the foundation of the Earth. If he was not chosen by God he would be unable to exercise genuine faith. So there are Catholics who are saved as well as Protestants. I think Protestants have been given a more accurate theological understanding but that does not mean they are the only ones saved.
(June 4, 2011 at 8:52 am)Zenith Wrote:

Yes, however the person who was chosen demonstrates genuine faith as a result of their being chosen. So it is not like you have two people, neither of which exercises faith but one gets to go to heaven and one does not. The one chosen wants to go because his will has been renewed, and the one not chosen does not want to serve Christ because his will is still depraved. Nobody gets worse than they deserve or anything they don’t want.
(June 4, 2011 at 8:52 am)Zenith Wrote:

if God chose you before the foundation of the world, you will convert (because He decided so and decided when) and then God forces you to be how He wants you to be.
I am not sure “forces” is the right term, that implies it is against the person’s will. The person’s will is renewed so they want to serve Christ, so it is not really a forcing at all. When a person is brought to spiritual life they can’t help but want to worship God.
(June 4, 2011 at 8:52 am)Zenith Wrote:

A Reformed Christian is someone who puts an emphasis on the teachings of the reformers such as Calvin and Luther. So yes, Reformed Christians are Calvinists for the most part.
(June 4, 2011 at 8:52 am)Zenith Wrote:

Oh I apologize; I was not trying to use the link to make an argument at all. I was just providing some additional reading on the subject if anyone was interested. I think I said all I wanted to say in that paragraph; if God’s foreknowledge is perfect then nobody can thwart it. So it really is similar to Him pre-ordaining it to happen.
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RE: Proverbs 16:4
(June 6, 2011 at 9:21 pm)Statler Waldorf Wrote: So it really is similar to Him pre-ordaining it to happen.

If it is all similar to God pre-ordaining to happen, then stop wasting people's time.
Perhaps also leave this forum - if you do it, then it means that God wanted it to happen.

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RE: Proverbs 16:4
(June 8, 2011 at 6:17 pm)Zenith Wrote:
(June 6, 2011 at 9:21 pm)Statler Waldorf Wrote: So it really is similar to Him pre-ordaining it to happen.

If it is all similar to God pre-ordaining to happen, then stop wasting people's time.
Perhaps also leave this forum - if you do it, then it means that God wanted it to happen.

Actually I think I will stay since that's what God wants me to do.

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RE: Proverbs 16:4
(June 8, 2011 at 6:28 pm)Statler Waldorf Wrote: Actually I think I will stay since that's what God wants me to do.

And God told you that personally? Or how do you know? Perhaps you're only annoying people uselessly.
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RE: Proverbs 16:4
(June 8, 2011 at 6:32 pm)Zenith Wrote:
(June 8, 2011 at 6:28 pm)Statler Waldorf Wrote: Actually I think I will stay since that's what God wants me to do.

And God told you that personally? Or how do you know? Perhaps you're only annoying people uselessly.

Whether or not I am annoying people is beside the point. As Christians we are instructed to defend our faith and always give a reason for the hope that is within us.

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RE: Proverbs 16:4
(June 8, 2011 at 6:35 pm)Statler Waldorf Wrote: As Christians we are instructed to defend our faith and always give a reason for the hope that is within us.

But this you could do on other atheist forums, and even do this thing live (standing on the streets and talking to people).

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RE: Proverbs 16:4
Straying off topic, while it's enjoyable Popcorn let's keep it OT and save those personal quips and comments about telling someone to leave to a PM please.
"There ought to be a term that would designate those who actually follow the teachings of Jesus, since the word 'Christian' has been largely divorced from those teachings, and so polluted by fundamentalists that it has come to connote their polar opposite: intolerance, vindictive hatred, and bigotry." -- Philip Stater, Huffington Post

always working on cleaning my windows- me regarding Johari
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