CALVINISM PUTS TOO MUCH ADDED MEANING INTO BIBLICAL TERMS

And we would do well not to fall into the trap of agreeing to use those definitions which come loaded with theological & philosophical baggage. For example:

Sovereignty – In the Bible this just means kingship, rulership in the sense how human kings function. Think of King David, King Herod. It denotes authority and power, but which can be delegated. It does not mean meticulous, exhaustive control of every single action – imagine telling King David that he has to personally oversee every cleaning of toilets in the entire kingdom instead of putting a servant in charge of it!

Decree – This just means a command, and does not entail that the command is impossible to disobey as in the Calvinist idea of God’s eternal decrees. In fact this definition I give actually HELPS the Calvinist, because Jeremiah 7:31 & 19:5 are simply God stating that He never asked for, nor Torah-legalized, the sacrifice of children.

Foreknew – IMHO this just means knew, past tense. It is not about having future-sight – I don’t deny that God knows the future (ask me about Open Molinism), but foreknew is not the word for it. In the very few instances of proginosko in the Bible, it is also done by regular humans with no special time-traversing powers (Acts 26:5, 2 Peter 3:17). This meaning also fits better with Romans 8:29-30 and 11:1-2, where God knew, past tense, the Old Testament believers while they were still alive.

Predestination – The destination has been set beforehand, it was pre-destined. As Dr Flowers has illustrated, there is a plane with the destination already decided – every passenger on board will arrive there, but it is up to each person whether to get on board. Again, the very few times that proorizo appears in the Bible support this simple meaning. God does have everything planned out, but the word for that is not predestined. It should be stripped of the modern fantasy epic adventure conceptual baggage of a mystical unchangeable destiny/fate. And in the Bible, it is always the process and end that are predetermined to happen – not WHO joins the process or HOW.

Election – Like the two videos on Beyond the Fundamentals make clear, this just means choosing or appointing. It is not narrowly limited to choosing for individual salvation to damnation. It is always to service or roles – conditional, corporate, and can be changed. Read Jeremiah 18 and 2 Timothy 2:20-21 on what they say about the Potter and clay vessels, and then read Romans 9 again followed by Romans 11:11,23.