Guilty by Association

Even after we’ve successfully struggled past the first two-thirds of the word “Calvinism,” often we’ll find a second red herring swimming amongst those last three letters.  I’m referring to the common practice of equating of Calvinism with the humanistic philosophies of fatalism and/or determinism.

I don’t believe it’s necessary to make a lengthy comparison of the nuances between these three “isms” to prove the misguidedness of associating Calvinism with Greek or any other brand of pagan philosophy, due mostly to the similarities between this unwarranted comparison and the one discussed in the previous post; however, a brief rundown of fatalism and determinism may be somewhat helpful.  Fatalism, according to my admittedly surface-level research, is the idea within philosophy that every event that ever has or will take place in time has been “decreed” by “Fate” or some like force (typically not God).  Whatever is going to happen will certainly happen just the way Fate (or whatever) has determined, and there’s no changing the future because it’s a done deal.  The philosophy of Determinism focuses more on the idea that every event that takes place in time most certainly has an effectual cause, and that cause could not possibly have produced any effect other than the exact one that it has, in fact, produced.  I have little doubt that these inadequate little definitions of mine would likely cause any real student of philosophy to hyperventilate, but I think the most basic definition is all we really need for the task at hand.

It’s understandable that the comparisons are made.  Fatalism teaches that whatever comes to pass has been predetermined by a higher force of some kind; Calvinists are well known for their conviction that God has sovereignly and immutably ordained whatsoever comes to pass within His dominion (a belief we’ll defend at a later time, God willing).  Determinism looks for the effectual cause of each event; Calvinists are generally in agreement with the argument that each effect in the universe must have a preceding cause, and, if we were able to look down the chain of preceding causes for each and every effect in existence, the only causeless cause in the beginning of it all can only be the eternal God.  The non-Reformed believer might look at those similarities and conclude that Calvinism must be little more than human philosophy, with “Fate” and the unknown “original cause” being replaced with “God’s sovereignty.”

It seems to me the folly involved in this assumption is at least twofold: First, the objectors are neglecting to apply a basic, straightforward truth principle that they would easily identify in most any other context: that just because an idea is held by the ungodly, it doesn’t necessarily follow that the idea is completely void of truth; and secondly, they’re misidentifying the all-important basis for the Calvinist’s beliefs on the subject.  Let’s take a look at these two points.

For the first: does the fact that there are common elements between these philosophies and Calvinistic theology necessarily prove Calvinism to be in error?  Surely no more than a moment’s thought will bring us to a sensible conclusion.  Let’s change the scenery somewhat and examine the principle at work: the biological evolutionist believes that small mutations taking place over millions of years of reproduction teamed with the “weeding” process of natural selection somehow managed to guide our planet’s living creatures from single-celled organisms into homo sapiens.  This is “ridiculous” taken to new heights in my opinion (and is more than enough to prove the truth of Romans 1 all by itself).  Even so, surely the Bible-believing creationist is not obligated to reject either natural selection or even bare mutations (which are obviously facts of nature) simply because they are essential elements of the evolutionists’ fantasy!  Must the evangelical Christian reject the doctrine of the Trinity due to the apostate Roman Catholic Church’s holding to it as a foundational doctrine?  To bring the matter closer to the subject at hand, would the non-Reformed evangelical consider it necessary to discard his own anti-Calvinistic convictions regarding man’s moral “free will” or of God’s “resistible grace” when he discovers those concepts to be affirmed as truth by the church of Rome (see the Council of Trent, Canons 4 and 5 of the sixth session)?  Not likely.  The truth, whatever it is, is still the truth–even when a liar speaks it or mixes it with error.  In principle, it must be admitted by all that the fact that Calvinism has common elements with some branches of humanistic philosophy says nothing whatsoever about its containing truth or error; its truth content (or lack thereof) is determined by its degree of agreement with the Word of God.

For the second point: in my own limited reading of Reformed or Puritan theologians of the past, it seems most of them were well acquainted with the major works of philosophy from history, making passing references to those works fairly often and in a variety of contexts.  When it came to defending their belief in God’s sovereignty, however, the Bible was clearly their foundational and sufficient resource; and though it can be a great thing for us also to make ourselves familiar with un-inspired philosophical works, Scripture alone provides us with more than enough insight into His dealings with His world to convince us that our God does, in every situation, actively exercise His sovereignty.  In the last post we quoted Ephesians 1:11 which refers to God, “who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” The “all things” in that verse covers a lot of ground–every aspect of God’s creation.  As a tip-of-the-iceberg sampling, consider the following:

God is actively sovereign over every event in the course of history.  Isaiah 46:9-11 tells us,
“Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.”

God is actively sovereign over every atom of His natural creation.  Let’s remember, the same God who calmed the storm on Galilee also caused the unmatched storm of Noah’s day and destroyed Egypt through multiple nature disasters in the time of Moses.  Though it looks to us like weather systems are just “running their course,” the “stormy wind [is] fulfilling His word” (Psalm 148:8).  From locust invasions to prophet-eating fish, God rules the realm of nature.

God is actively sovereign over each circumstance of our lives and deaths.  “The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.  The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. ...He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail” (1 Samuel 2:6-7, 9).  What Christian will not affirm with Job, “The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord”?

God is actively sovereign in turning the hearts of His chosen people to Himself in faith, and also in directing their lives after they’re saved.  Acts 16:14 gives us a brief inside look at the divine workings behind one woman’s conversion, which is surely applicable in every case (unless we’re to entertain the notion that only some sinners require such a measure of divine awakening): “And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.”  In regard to God’s directing our lives subsequent to conversion, Paul explains in Philippians 2:13, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”  Clearer yet are his words in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

God is actively sovereign in hardening those whom He has not chosen to save.  This is a point of doctrine that no God-fearing mortal would dare to affirm, were it not made abundantly clear in the Scriptures themselves.  Besides the famous examples of Pharaoh and his servants (Exodus 10:1) and the kings of the nations of Heshbon and Canaan (Deuteronomy 2:30, Joshua 11:20), we are told in Romans 11:7-8, “Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded [“or, hardened,” in the KJV margin].  (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.”  See also II Thessalonians 2:9-14.

God is actively sovereign even over the actions of men while they’re obviously under the influence of Satan himself.  In recounting the crucifixion, the believers in the early church prayed, “For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done” (Acts 4:27-28).

Truly, when Romans 8:28 speaks of “all things work[ing] together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose,” we are to be comforted with the knowledge that absolutely nothing will ever come to pass that has not been specifically ordained by God for His people’s eternal good and His eternal glory.  This assurance is not a thing to be confused with fatalism or determinism or any other humanistic philosophy.  It is the unshakable foundation of straightforward biblical Christian faith.  The God who shows His people such love and mercy, answering their prayers, and using them as willing instruments of His working His will in the world is nothing like the blind, mystical force called Fate.

Though these truths regarding God’s sovereignty will certainly raise questions within us mortals (many of which I hope to touch upon in posts to come, Lord willing), may we put our trust in the Lord of heaven and earth and take Him at His own Word: “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9).

In sum, whether it’s truly the case or not, all that appears when either the “disciple of Calvin” (from the previous post) or the “humanistic philosopher” accusations are leveled at the Calvinist is that the accuser doesn’t actually have a leg to stand on within the debate at hand (whether or not Calvinism is scriptural); and thus instead of getting to the heart of the matter, he’s setting up roadblocks in an effort to hide the fact that the theological bridge ahead on his road is out.