Predestination and grief
Blaise Pascal wrote this to a bereaved friend, comforting him with the Calvinist doctrine of predestination:
“If we regard this event, not as an effect of chance, not as a fatal necessity of nature, but as a result inevitable, just, holy, of a decree of His Providence, conceived from all eternity, to be executed in such a year, day, hour, and such a place and manner, we shall adore in humble silence the impenetrable loftiness of His secrets; we shall venerate the sanctity of His decrees; we shall bless the acts of His providence; and uniting our will with that of God Himself, we shall wish with Him, in Him and for Him, the thing that He has willed in us and for us for all eternity.” (quoted in Loraine Boettner: The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination, p. 330)
Boettner observes,
“Since the true Calvinist sees God’s hand and wise purpose in everything, he knows that even his sufferings, sorrows, persecutions, defeats, etc., are not the results of chance or accident, but that they have been foreseen and foreappointed, and that they are chastisements or disciplines designed for his own good. He realizes that God will not needlessly afflict His people; that in the divine plan these are all ordered in number, weight, and measure; and that they shall not continue a moment longer than God sees necessary.” (loc cit.)
Greetings, I am an Atheist and have a blog site dedicated to cataloging all my observations and questions regarding the bible and Christianity. Recently, a Christian who regularly comments on a number of my posts (whiteman0o0) left a response to one of my questions that disturbed me a great deal. As someone who was raised in the church and attended Private Christian School for the vast majority of my life, I was struck by how unusual whiteman0o0’s opinion seemed, at least to me, regarding this particular issue. The issue was about whether or not everyone is born a sinner. Whiteman0o0 had earlier stated that, yes, everyone IS born a sinner. I asked him to elaborate, arguing that I believed babies and children are innocent. I used an example of an infant that dies unexpectedly in his crib of SIDS and asked whiteman0o0 if he believed that this baby would go to hell seeing that we are all born sinners and the baby would never have had the opportunity to accept Jesus as his personal savior and ask for forgiveness for his ‘sins’. Whiteman0o0 responded, stating that indeed children and babies can go to hell and his reasoning was that God doesn’t judge them for their ACTUAL lives but for the lives they WOULD HAVE lived had they not died. In other words, God creates an alternate timeline where the baby/child didn’t die and sees if they would have become a Christian or not, what sins they would have committed, etc. and sends them to heaven or hell accordingly. This scenario left me truly horrified and I am desperate to learn how many other Christians agree with whiteman0o0’s opinion.
This is the page where whiteman0o0 left his response:
http://doubtingthomas426.wordpress.com/2007/12/16/if-the-statement-is-true-your-religion-is-vile/
I am urging, pleading with anyone that is willing, to please visit this page, read the comments (you can ignore the original post), particularly mine (DoubtingThomas426) and whiteman0o0’s, and whether you agree with him or not, please leave a comment addressing this issue. I truly appreciate it.
Thank you and I apologize for taking up space on this page with my plea.
DoubtingThomas
http://doubtingthomas426.wordpress.com/
DT,
I will address your comment only here.
First, the fact that these things leave you “truly horrified” affirms that you are not an atheist.
Second, we have only the information that God reveals in His Word, and all else is speculation, which is meritless.
Third, election is within the secret counsel of the will of God and the elect or non-elect status of particular infants is not manifest to us.
Fourth, Reformed theologians are divided as to the elect status of infants who perish in infancy. This division is possible because this is an area dominated by speculation, not Scriptural revelation.
Fifth, the fact of original sin, or the status of being born a sinner, is unequivocally revealed in the Bible. Salvation through Christ alone is unequivocally necessary for the saving of your soul.
I will not cite verses because the theme is recurrent throughout the entire Scriptural record. You should undertake the study for yourself, preferably in a competent Reformed church.
I pray you will flee the wrath to come, and flee to the only place there is salvation: to Christ alone, whence comes faith alone, by grace alone.
Susanna, I’m not sure why being horrified at a Christian’s description of his god’s revolting behavior affirms that I am not an Atheist. As I stated in my comment, I am merely trying to understand how common a belief whiteman0o0’s is amongst Christians. And, Susanna, for your information, I’ve been studying the bible, in its many forms, for thirty plus years. Perhaps if you were brave enough to read my main/introduction page you would have understood this. I’m sorry that asking questions offends you so. I just have a difficult time respecting a believer who refuses to challenge their beliefs. Faith that is true has nothing to fear from a little scrutiny. Wouldn’t you agree?
DoubtingThomas
You can respect what you like, DT. Unfortunately, you misapprehend the purpose of this blog. I don’t argue, I merely present. God requires no defense, nor does my faith.