John
Calvin's View of Reprobation,
and His Erroneous Fundamental Assumption.
By Robert Shank
From Life
In The Son (p. 345-357)
Calvin considered
reprobation a positive decree. "By predestination we mean the eternal
decree of God by which he determined with himself whatever he wished to happen
with regard to every man. All are not created on equal terms, but some are
preordained to eternal life, others to eternal damnation; and, accordingly, as
each has been created for one or other of these ends. We say that he has been
predestinated to life or to death" (3:21:5). "We say, then, that
Scripture clearly proves this much, that God by his eternal and immutable
counsel determined once for all those whom it was his pleasure one day to admit
to salvation, and those whom, on the other hand, it was His pleasure to doom to
destruction. We maintain that this counsel, as regards the elect, is founded on
his free mercy, without respect to human worth, while those whom he dooms to
destruction are excluded from access to life by a just and blameless but at the
same time, incomprehensible judgment" (3:21:7). "Now if in excuse
of themselves and the ungodly, either the Pelagians, or Manichees, or
Anabaptists, or Epicureans (for it is with these four sects we have to discuss
this matter), should object the necessity by which they are constrained, in
consequence of the divine predestination, they do nothing that is relevant to
the cause" (3:23:8). In the same paragraph, however, he writes.
"Moreover, though their perdition depends on the predestination of God, the
cause and matter of it is in themselves."
Thus,
according to Calvin, by eternal decree before creation, God "determined
with himself whatever he wished to happen with regard to every man." Some
He "preordained to eternal life, others to eternal damnation," without
regard to anything in man, either of the elect or of the reprobate –
"they do nothing that is relevant to the cause." And yet, somehow,
"the cause and matter of [the perdition of the reprobate] is in
themselves."
It
cannot be questioned that men, as guilty sinners, are deserving of
perdition. But according to
Calvin's view of reprobation, the guilt of the reprobate is a consequence rather
than a cause. For if by eternal decree God unconditionally
"preordained" specific men to eternal damnation without respect to
anything in them, but simply because "it was his pleasure to doom them to
destruction," it cannot be true that "the cause and matter" of
their perdition is to be found within the reprobate themselves, as Calvin asserts, because God’s
decree was antecedent to any act of man. According to Calvin's definition of
election and reprobation, the guilt of the reprobate is, itself, the direct
consequence of God's positive decree of reprobation. God created the reprobate
for no other purpose than guilt and everlasting damnation, and the real
"cause and matter" of their perdition is to be found in God's decree,
rather than "in themselves," as Calvin asserts.
Calvin becomes involved in
the same sort of contradiction in his consideration of the fall of angels. He
writes: "Paul gives the name of elect to the angels who maintained their integrity. If their
steadfastness was owing to the good pleasure of God, the revolt of the others
proves that they were abandoned. Of this no other cause can be adduced than
reprobation, which is hidden in the secret counsel of God" (3:23:4).
Obviously, this makes the revolt of the angels the direct consequence of an act
of God. According to Calvin, the whole company of angels were going along in a
business-as-usual sort of way when-bang! God suddenly sprang the trap under some
of them by withdrawing His sustaining grace and "abandoning" them to
perdition. This was simply “owing to the good pleasure of God," and
"no other cause can be adduced than reprobation, which is hidden in the
secret counsel of God.”
But elsewhere in his Institutes, Calvin declares that “. . . at their first creation they were the angels of God, but by revolting they both ruined themselves and became the instruments of perdition to others.... Everything damnable in [Lucifer] he brought upon himself by his revolt and fall. Of this Scripture reminds us, lest, by believing that he was so created at first, we should ascribe to God what is most foreign to his nature. For this reason Christ declares (John viii. 44) that Satan. when he lies, “speaketh of his own,” and states the reason, “because he abode not in the truth.” By saying that he abode not in the truth, he certainly intimates that he once was in the truth, and by calling him the father of lies, he puts it out of his power to charge God with the depravity of which he was himself the cause" (1:14:16).
Thus.
on one page, there is "no other cause" for the fall of angels except
"the good pleasure of God" in suddenly withdrawing His sustaining
grace from some and "abandoning" them to perdition, while continuing
to secure the "steadfastness" of others who "maintained their
integrity." On another page. however. there is no other cause than that
which we may find in the angels themselves, who, without provocation or
necessity or excuse, wickedly revolted against God and His divine will.
One
may argue that, since the world is filled with greed, lust, violence,
debauchery, hatred, and impenitence, God evidently wishes it to be so and is
well pleased. But the Scriptures declare otherwise. Although God allows these
things to exist in the world. He has revealed His displeasure and wrath with
respect to all such things and has commanded all men to repent. Thus it is
evident that there are two aspects of the will of God with respect to sin: His
permissive will allows it: but His perfect will forbids it and will bring all
sin into judgment.
There are two aspects of the
will of God for men with respect to salvation. Numerous Scriptures reveal God's
perfect will to "have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of
the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4); but the fact that not all men are saved reflects
God's permissive will. If a man is saved, it is in accordance with God's perfect
will that all men should be saved; if a man is lost, it is in accordance with
Gods permissive will that men, being free moral agents rather than mere puppets,
may refuse to obey Him. The latitude between God's perfect will and His
permissive will is the area within which men function with freedom as
responsible moral intelligences, accountable before God in solemn judgment. God
is at work in humanity "bringing many sons unto glory" (Heb. 2:10)
through the redemptive process rooted in His grace and wrought in Christ. But as
moral intelligences created in His image, men must of their own free will concur in God's redemptive process if they are to share
His everlasting glory as His sons. The fact that men are responsible, as free
moral agents, is a corollary of the fact that the will of God has two aspects, rather than one.
The fact that the will of
God has two aspects, rather than one, is fully apparent in numerous passages of
Scripture. Consider the following: "If any man
wills to do His will, he shall know. . ." (John 7:17). "Not every one
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he
that doeth the will of my Father ... " (Matt. 7:2l ). "But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel [boule, purpose] of God for them, being not baptized of John" (Luke 7:30). According to the
Scriptures, men may choose to do God's will, or not to do His will. Since everything that happens is
necessarily within the bounds of God's will, yet (according to the Scriptures)
much that happens is contrary to the will of God, it is evident that the will of
God has two aspects, rather than one.
Calvin
does assert that God has "a double will" (3:24:17). But he means only
that God has one will for the elect and another for the reprobate, both of which
are simply corresponding manifestations of the one immutable will of God. (But
if His will has but a single aspect, God is necessarily insincere; for He is
ostensibly angry toward impenitent sinners with whom he secretly must be
pleased; since they are but fulfilling His immutable will for them.) Calvin's assumption that the will of God has but a single
aspect involved him in a fundamental error which warped both his theology and
his interpretation of the Scriptures.
Much of Calvin's exposition
of the
Scriptures is excellent, including his interpretations of the warnings against
apostatizing and the exhortations to persevere. He insists that believers must
persevere in faith if they are to remain in grace. He frankly acknowledges that
the Scriptures declare that some do actually fall from grace (reprobate
Christians whose faith and experience of grace, by divine decree, are intended
to be only temporary). He rightly asserts that the elect will persevere in faith
and continue in grace to ultimate final salvation. But he views the perseverance
of specific individual men as the consequence
of election, rather than as a
condition. Therefore, he is under the necessity of denying that God desires to
have all men to be saved. For if God desires to have all men to be saved, then
perseverance must necessarily be a condition, rather than a consequence, of
election. Hence, his
interpretations of the explicit declarations of Scripture that God wills to have
all men to be saved, and that Christ died for all men, are ingenious and
artificial. The reason is apparent: had he accepted the obvious meaning and
import of such simple categorical declarations of Holy
Scripture, his definition of election
and the whole logic of his theology would have disintegrated.
Calvin therefore rejected the face value of numerous passages of
Scripture, in the interest of his theology, which he was able to substantiate by
appealing to selected proof passages and by assigning ingenious interpretations
to some of the most explicit declarations in the Holy Scriptures.
An example of Calvin's interpretation of passages
incompatible with his theology is found in his comments on I Tim. 2:4-6. He writes that "[Paul)
demonstrates that God has at heart the salvation of all, because he invites all
to the acknowledgment of his truth." Having made such a concession (in full
accord with the obvious meaning of Paul's words), Calvin immediately begins his
retraction by asserting, "This belongs to that kind of argument in which
the cause is proved from the effect." In other words, since many are not
saved, it cannot be true that God really wishes all men to be saved. Conceding
that "if ‘the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone that
believeth’ (Rom.1: 16), it is certain that all those to whom the gospel is
addressed are invited to the hope of eternal life," Calvin yet insists that
only "they whom God makes partakers of his gospel are admitted by him to
possess salvation"-who are, of course, only such as have the good fortune
of having been included in God's "secret election." We must not
believe, therefore, that God really desires that all men should come to the
knowledge of the truth and be saved. Paul's simple statement must be
"interpreted" to bring it into conformity with Calvin's theology.
According to Calvin, God "invites all to the acknowledgment of His
truth," but He makes sure that only the right ones answer His universal
invitation. He has taken all necessary steps to ensure that none of the wrong
ones shall obey his righteous command to all men everywhere to repent or answer
His gracious invitation to "whosoever will."
In defense of his theology,
Calvin asserts that "all" does not mean all, but rather only some
men of each or all classes. He declares that
in affirming that God wills to have all men to be saved, ". . . the Apostle
simply means that there is no people and no rank in the world that is excluded
from salvation: because God wishes that the gospel should be proclaimed to all
without exception. Now the preaching of the gospel gives life; and hence he
justly concludes that God invites all equally to partake salvation. But the
present discourse relates to classes of men, and not to individual persons; for
his sole object is to include in this number princes and foreign nations."
In other words, when Paul declared that God "wills to have all men to be
saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth," he really meant only that
God wills to have some men of each of all nations and classes, including a few kings,
to be saved and to come to the knowledge of His truth.
Again, Calvin writes, "The universal term all must always be referred to classes of men, and not to persons. . . ."such an assumption is necessary for the defense of Calvin's theology. And it does seem a modest concession for Calvin to ask, in view of the fact that the whole of his elaborate theology is at stake. But we wonder why Paul depended so much on "interpreters" instead of simply saying that God desires to have some men of each of all different classes to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, and that Jesus gave Himself a ransom for some men of each of all classes.
Elsewhere
Calvin writes, "By this [Paul] assuredly means nothing more than that the
way of salvation was not shut against any order of men; that, on the contrary,
he had manifested his mercy in such a way that he would have none debarred from
it" (3:24:16). But of course Calvin does not really mean that God actually
"had manifested his mercy in such a way that he would have none debarred
from it." Such a statement contradicts his theology. For according to
Calvin, most men were created for the specific purpose of being forever barred
from the mercy of God. Calvin therefore means only that God has barred the
reprobate from His mercy, not on the basis of "class" or "order
of men," but rather as specific individuals whom He created for perdition
and for whom His mercy was never intended. Against any who might be reluctant to
accept his "interpretation" of such a simple categorical statement of
Scripture and his necessary definition of the word all as only some men of all
classes. Calvin fumes, "For if they persist in urging the words 'God
hath included all in unbelief. that he might have mercy upon all (Rom. xi. 32).
I will, on the contrary, urge that it is elsewhere written, "Our God is in
the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased' (Ps. cxv.3)"
(3:24:16). To Calvin, of course, belongs the exclusive right to define
"whatsoever God hath pleased" to do.
"Hence
we see the childish folly," writes Calvin, ..of those who represent this
passage [I Tim. 2:4-6] to be opposed to predestination [i.e.. to Calvin's
particular hypothesis of election and reprobation]. ‘If God,’ say they.
'wishes all men indiscriminately to be saved, it is false that some are
predestinated by his eternal purpose to salvation, and others to perdition’
[i.e.. unconditionally]. They might have had some ground for saying this, if
Paul were speaking here about individual men: although even then we should not
have wanted the means of replying to their argument: for, although the will of
God ought not to be judged from his secret decrees, when he reveals them to us
by outward signs, yet it does not therefore follow that he has not determined
with himself what he intends to do as to every individual man.''
Thus, all in the same breath. Calvin declares that
"God has at heart the salvation of all ... yet it does not therefore follow
that he has not determined with himself what he intends to do as to every
individual man" – some of whom He created for salvation. and others for
perdition. Again, as so often with Calvin, the left hand giveth, and the right
hand taketh away. "God has at heart the salvation of all [and] invites all to the
acknowledgment of his truth." But He also has at heart the everlasting
perdition of men whom He created for no other purpose or destiny – men to
whom, from before creation, He utterly denied all prospect of arriving at the
acknowledgment of His truth and salvation.
"God has at heart the salvation of all" – and the damnation
of most! Without regard to anything in men, God is pleased to consign to
everlasting perdition many whose salvation He "has at heart." Why?
Perhaps to confirm the logic of Calvin's theology.
Calvin
resorts to similar exegetical artifice in his interpretation of passages which
affirm that Christ died for all mankind. For example, according to his
interpretation of I John 2:2, John did not mean that Jesus is actually the
propitiation "for the sins of the whole world."
Instead, he meant only that He is the propitiation for the sins of the
elect wherever they may happen to be throughout the whole world, and in whatever
generation they may happen to live on earth.". . . the design of John was
none other than to make this benefit common to the whole Church. Then under tile
sword all or whole, he does not include the reprobate, but designates those who
should believe as well as those who were then scattered through various part of
the world. For then is really made evident, as it is meet, the grace of Christ,
when it is declared to be the only true salvation of the world."
It
must have come as an amazing revelation to John's readers to learn that Jesus
Christ is the propitiation for the sins of the elect quite as much in one part
of the world as in another, and as much in one generation as in another. What
nonsense! But of course John's simple statement must be properly
"interpreted". The logic of Calvin's theology demands a limited
atonement. (In his introduction to Eerdman"s edition of the Institutes,
John Murray writes. "[Calvin's] exegesis, in a word, is theologically oriented." That is
only too true, in a sense which Murray did not mean. The profound pity is that
Calvin's theology was not exegetically oriented.)
While
many Calvinists concede that such a doctrine is manifestly unscriptural, a
limited atonement remains an essential tenet of Calvin's theology. The
"Five Pillars of Calvinism" are five in number. not four. But
Calvinists who advocate a limited atonement have no moral right to assure any
man that Christ died for him, personally. For according to their theology. their
statement may, or may not be true; and in most instances it is not.
Calvinists who reject the
erroneous doctrine of limited atonement, while more Scriptural, are
correspondingly less logical. Quite inconsistent are moderate Calvinists who
reject a limited atonement while advocating an unconditional election. Why should
Jesus bear the sins of men who have no prospect of forgiveness and whose
inevitable destiny by decree of God, is eternal
perdition'? Why should God sacrifice His Son for men whom He does not desire to
save and whom He does not love? Or, how is it true that God loves men whom he
deliberately creates for no other end and purpose than everlasting estrangement
from Himself? It is a strange "love" which creates men for naught but
wrath. Or, if one insist that reprobation is "not a positive decree,"
as do some "Calvinists" (a thing impossible to establish, if election
be unconditional), how is it true that God loves men whom He simply "passes
by" while saving others no more deserving of His mercy'? A God who
"passes by" the mass of helpless sinners in casual unconcern is not
unlike the priest and the Levite in our Savior's parable. If it be protested
that sinners have offended God and are undeserving of His mercy, let us ask
whether our Savior taught us to love our enemies and to forgive those who have
offended us. Let us also ask whether, according to our Savior's teaching, to
love and forgive and to seek reconciliation would make us like God. or unlike Him (Matt.
5:43-48). The only claim the robbers' victim had on the good Samaritan was the
character of the Samaritan himself – the spirit of love and brotherhood which
he had toward his fellow men. The only claim guilty sinners have on the mercy of
God is the gracious character of God Himself. That claim was enough to send
Jesus to Golgotha and to a shameful death as the propitiation "for the sins
of the whole world." The guilt
of men who persist in disobedience is compounded many-fold by the fact that
Jesus "gave himself a ransom for all" and God desires that none
perish, but that all come to repentance and to the knowledge of His truth and
saving grace.
Chafer,
who rejects the doctrine of limited atonement. tacitly admits the inconsistency
of contending for both unlimited redemption and unconditional election: "To
the unlimited redemptionist. the seeming inequity of a judgment falling upon the
reprobate] after Christ has borne that .judgment is but one more
mystery which the finite mind cannot understand." But the
"mystery" and the inconsistency are not present for men who recognize
that the will of God has more than a single aspect, and that the Scriptures
present both an unlimited atonement and a conditional election (with respect to
particular individuals). We can be consistent (and Scriptural) only as we
recognize that the love which provided an infinite atonement "for the sins
of the whole world" finds expression in God's sincere desire that none
should perish, but that all should come to repentance and salvation.
Conditional election is the inevitable corollary of unlimited redemption.
"God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their
trespasses unto them ... [therefore] as though God did beseech you by us, we
pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God" (II Cor. 5:19,20).
It
is true, as Calvinists delight to contend. that there is a hard core of logic at
the center of Calvin's theology. But it is logic which proceeds on the
erroneous assumption that the will of God has but a single aspect, and which
is totally invalid. It is therefore inevitable that, despite its core of logic,
there should be much in Calvin's theology which is horribly illogical – a fact
which Calvinists concede, but which they excuse on the plea that the frightful
paradoxes are "mysteries" which our finite minds cannot comprehend. It
is odd that men who glory in the "logic" of Calvin's theology are so
ready to accept all that is grossly illogical in it. Even more distressing is
the fact that they are quite ready to accept the many ingenious and artificial
interpretations of simple, explicit statements of Holy Scripture which the
defense of Calvin's theology requires.
Calvin's profound intolerance toward all who questioned
any of his opinions was not merely the evidence of a vanity easily offended; it
was a reflection of his sincere estimate of his Institutes
of the Christian Religion: “I dare not bear too strong a testimony in its favor
and declare how profitable the reading of it will be, lest I should seem to
prize my own work too highly. However,
I may promise this much, that it would be a kind of key opening up to all the
children of God a right and ready access to the understanding of the sacred
volume. ... And since we are bound to acknowledge that all truth and sound
doctrine proceed from God, 1 will venture boldly to declare what I think of this
work, acknowledging it to be God's work rather than mine."
We would not question Calvin's sincerity in assuming
his Institutes to be a comprehensive expression of holy truth quite
free from error, and the indispensable key to understanding the Scriptures. But
we deny the wisdom of sharing his assumption. It is cause for regret that, in
the past four centuries, many have seemed to regard Calvin's Institutes,
not merely as the expression of a
system of theology, but actually as a sort of infallible norm by which to judge
all exegesis and doctrine. Such an assumption militates against the possibility
of any really objective study of the Holy Scriptures and the formulation of a
truly Biblical theology. "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak
not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."
(Isaiah 8:20)