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Bethel friends,

This year we all have watched incredible demonstrations, riots, and vandalism. Even our own small town of Laramie has an activist group who has disrupted Grand Ave traffic, our town council meetings, and continues to publish "human rights" rhetoric. I like many of you have been considering - How do we respond to these events?, Is this a temporary issue that will pass or a long enduring issue that the church will be forced to confront? I think of Post-modernism as an example of an enduring ideology that we are forced to confront. Will social justice (as opposed to true Biblical justice) be the same?

I at this time don't know if I have a meaningful response to those questions. I like everyone need time to think, consider, and study the issue. Part of the answer will be time. Some of this response will come from broader evangelicalism as mainstream authors speak to the issue. Nevertheless, may I share an author who has written a series of blog questions related to this that you may find helpful. These articles are perhaps preliminary discussions on an issue in which Bible-believing Christians have yet to fully respond to.

FACEBOOK ONLY: I have chosen to only post this in this format rather than our Facebook page to provide a private, secure platform and avoid drawing unnecessary arguments with others in the community of Laramie. I will continue to post articles on this subject exclusively in this area as I find them in the future.

Tim Challies blogs related to "Social Justice":

- God Hates Injustice (https://www.challies.com/articles/god-hates-injustice/)

- No One Believes in Injustice (https://www.challies.com/articles/no-one-believes-in-social-injustice/)

- How Everything Became About Race, Gender, and Identity (https://www.challies.com/book-reviews/how-everything-became-about-race-gender-and-identity/)

- 7 Books to Help You Understand the Times (https://www.challies.com/articles/7-books-to-help-you-understand-the-times/)

 Calvinism on Sovereignty and Free Will

Calvinism, named after the French Protestant reformer John Calvin (1509–1564), follows in the tradition of Augustine in emphasizing God’s sovereignty and therefore his complete control over all things. Calvinists affirm that humans make genuine free choices but in a way that is compatible with God’s total sovereignty. (This is the compatibilism view of human free will.) True divine sovereignty and true human freedom are not mutually exclusive, hard as this may be to understand (which Calvinists acknowledge). They are both biblical concepts, so they must be compatible.

This view centers on the scriptural portrait of God as all-powerful, reigning over everything, doing “whatever pleases him” (Psalm 135:6). Paul says he “works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:11). Calvinists emphasize that everything means “everything.” Thus God, who is holy and is never responsible for evil, nevertheless is in control of “accidents” (e.g., see Job 1:21; 42:11), “catastrophes” (e.g., see Isaiah 45:7; Amos 3:6), and “coincidences” (e.g., see Proverbs 16:3), even controlling and working through evil and sin for his purposes (Genesis 50:20; Exodus 4:21; 7:3; 9:12; Romans 9:17 and other texts on the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart; 1 Samuel 16:14; Proverbs 16:4; Isaiah 45:7; Amos 3:6).

God also determines and is in control of those who will believe in Jesus for salvation and those who will not (Romans 8:29–30; Ephesians 1:5, 11). (Again, more on predestination in chapter 27.) God is sovereign over human choices and actions (Proverbs 16:9; 21:1; John 6:44; Acts 4:27–28; 13:48).

 Arminianism on Sovereignty and Free Will

Arminianism, named after another Protestant theologian, Jacob Arminius (1560–1609), came about as a reaction to the Calvinist emphasis on God’s meticulous sovereignty. It affirms that God is totally sovereign and could control absolutely everything, but, due to his love, he willingly limits his control to guarantee that humans are free to make choices apart from divine determination, including even the choice to hate God and disobey him. (This view of free will is called libertarianism, i.e., humans are always free to make decisions apart from outside coercion.)

So God does not control meticulously but rather generally. He will accomplish his intent in a way that does not violate the free will he lovingly gave to the humans he created. Arminians believe that the Calvinist view of God’s sovereignty necessarily violates—is incompatible with—genuine human free will; these cannot both be true. If God determined human choices, he could not hold people accountable for those decisions and judge them accordingly.

In this regard, Arminianism emphasizes the many biblical commands to trust (Psalm 115:9–11; Proverbs 3:5; Isaiah 26:4), love (Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37), and obey God (Deuteronomy 6:24–25; 9:23; John 14:15, 21, 23), along with plentiful warnings of judgment for those who do not (Leviticus 26:14–39; 2 Thessalonians 1:8). It seems impossible to reconcile this with God’s controlling human choices and actions. How can he hold people responsible for decisions he predetermined? Rather, these commands and others all seem to assume individual freedom to obey or disobey God.

Closely connected to this is the idea that if God really does love people, he must give them the authentic choice of loving him in return. How could sovereignly determining human “love” be satisfying to him? That would be like programming a computer to continually print out flattering things about you. Big deal!

Arminians believe that the Calvinist understanding of providence actually makes God the author or cause of sin and evil, which, obviously, would violate the Bible’s teaching regarding his holiness. (As mentioned above, Calvinists disagree that their view necessitates this.) If God is truly holy, he cannot be responsible for sin in any sense, certainly not causing or using it (Job 34:10; Habakkuk 1:13; 1 John 1:5). Arminian theology stresses that evil and sin find their source in humans and angels who have freely chosen to rebel against God. He allows sin, but he does not cause or use sin.

Both Calvinists and Arminians acknowledge that these matters are challenging to comprehend. Nevertheless, they are scripturally relevant, so crucial to understanding God and life that we need to ponder them deeply—and certainly not avoid them.

COMFORTING FACT

 Despite these difficult issues, the doctrine of God’s providence ought to give us a sense of peace and trust in him as we experience life, particularly times of suffering and trouble. Nothing happens to us apart from what God controls, in some sense, and also uses for our good (Roman 8:28).

Aaron, Daryl. Understanding Theology in 15 Minutes a Day. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2012.