HOW I LIKE TO PLUCK THE PETALS OF TULIP

These are just my personal go-to directions. They are far from being the only way to nip that acrostic in the bud, and everyone will have their own personal preferences.

TOTAL DEPRAVITY – If everyone is born blind, dead, dead in sin, with a hardened heart of stone… Then why does Jesus speak in parables so they cannot see or hear? Why does the Devil snatch away the word? Why does God harden already-hard hearts? The redundancy of it is what helped Dr. Flowers, Bobby Conway, Alana L out of Calvinism. It’s what helped keep Mike Winger from ever believing Calvinism. See attached Total Inability? meme.

UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION – Go direct to the prooftextiest of Calvinist prooftexts, Romans 9. Take the ‘potter and vessels’ metaphor which Paul uses and read Jeremiah 18 which he references, where the response of nations changes God’s planned use for them. See attached Jeremiah/Romans meme. Biblical Election is conditional, corporate and regards roles of servive – it is not the unconditional election of individuals to salvation or damnation of Calvinism. As a kicker, read 2 Timothy 2:20-21 where Paul uses the vessel metaphor and tells us our behaviour is what determines our use as vessels.

LIMITED ATONEMENT – Funny how this petal took long after Calvin’s time to be developed by Beza and Owen as a necessary logical entailment of the system. There’s ample good reason why Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, 1/3 of Dort, 1/4 of Westminster, and modern Four Pointer Calvinists – not even to mention the overwhelming majority of nonCalvinists e.g. Arminians, Provisionists, Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox – all don’t accept this doctrine which runs on Double Jeopardy and Negative Inference Fallacy. The three problems texts I like to raise which don’t rely on definitions of ‘All’ are in attached Limited Atonement manga meme.

IRRESISTIBLE GRACE – If totally depraved sinners need to be brought to new life before they can/will accept the Gospel, then why does Scripture repeatedly tell us that faith precedes regeneration? As per the attached Wojak meme, the conversation there is about Total Inability but it similarly applies to Irrestible Grace since the new life it is supposed to grant comes AFTER believing by faith.

PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS – Under TULIP, how do you explain apparent Christians falling into apparent apostasy? You can’t without the logical entailment which John Calvin invented, Evanescent Grace – see attached meme with his quote for what this is. Simply put, if God tricks people with temporary grace that is indistinguishable from ‘real’ Irresistible Grace, then NOBODY has any assurance of salvation – because if you’re sure you’re saved, that is exactly the condition which Calvin says the tricked Reprobates are in.