The Eternal Debate: God's Sovereignty VS Man's Responsibility

 

Another title for this debate is the so-called Compatibilism debate. A lot of Calvinists are into this debate in which it justifies God's double predestination of humans.

This debate actually extends many years before Christianity. This has been debated by Aristoteleans and Platonists. You do not have to be a Christian to talk about this because this has been a philosophical discussions by philosophers long before Christ came along.

For the first 400 years, this was not a debate amongst Christian, not until Augustine came along.

Augustine was a Manichaean before he became a catholic Christian. Manichaeanism started 300AD and Augustine was born in such an environment. It is a dualistic gnostic religion that combined many major religious teachings. To them, since man has a material being and since matter is evil, man is evil too. Another one of their beliefs is the notion of fatalism.

Needless to say, if you believe in unconditional election, then there is also unconditional reprobation and no one can change that, thus, eventually, life becomes a fatalistic conclusion and condition too.

In some sectors, there is a notion that the God of Scripture should conform to the God of Philosophy.

Though Luther can be dramatic and rhetorically forceful in his arguments he redeems himself when he said:

Reason is a whore, the greatest enemy that faith has; it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but more frequently than not struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God.

By reason, I take it he means philosophical reasoning.

When it came to man, are we a lump of sin? There should be some care in the way we use our language specially when Christians argue about words (which Scripture said we should avoid).

In a way, it is good that the Lutheran BoC authors tamed their Augustinianism and even spoke against over the top language that are clearly Manichaean in position. Read this on their Formula of Concord - Article I - Original Sin. Worth nothing the distinction they made of our nature and the sin that corrupts it.

Luther again redeems himself when he said that pursuing the inscrutable will of God is demonic and a distraction that leads us away from Christ, he said (thanks Alec, the Lutheran Librarian)

 “We should with all diligence guard against arguing predestination; for this, through Satan’s influence, leads men to pay no regard to God and the sacraments, and to look upon Christ rather as a cruel tyrant and hangman, than a Savior.”

“By no means dispute about predestination. Dr. Staupitz advised me and said: If you would argue about predestination, begin at the wounds of Christ and all disputation about predestination will cease at once. For if we give way to it, and argue about it much, Christ, His Word and Sacrament, must give way: I will forget Christ and God. By indulging in these thoughts I will regard God as wicked and cruel… . In predestination we will forget God — the cantate will cease and the blasphemate begin.”

From Columbus Theological Magazine, Vol. 3. “Missouri’s Infatuation By Rev. P. Eirich, Hoboken, N. J. Third And Last Article.”