Last night I attended a "fellowship group" where the topic returned to Calvinism for the umpteenth time. Amazingly I kept my mouth shut, (which is no small feat) but I will spout a bit here.
Calvinism is the red shift distortion of true faith into Rationalism.
For us the mind-bending facets of Scripture are just too much. People meet Christ, study the Word and begin to grasp the character of God. The First Love of faith is so heady and wonderful, but Scripture indicates that many lose it, and chides us for it! It is easier to slip back to the limits of human rationale, and use the "if_____then_____" logical form to define our Creator.
The problem is that He really isn't definable in human terms!
God lets us know enough of His character in Scripture to know Him. He stretches us with things we can't understand (believe me, minds greater than ours couldn't) and forces us to accept Who He is-----Someone lovingly willing that no one should perish but graciously electing souls to follow Him. And you won't be able to explain this, but I challenge you to step out of your definitive "ISMS" to know God, personally, undefined.
Sadly, theological "isms" give birth to unbalanced worldviews, and that is the tragedy of tipping the scales into human terms.
Thank the Lord, the Creator of the Universe, the Holy Triune God, that He is so beyond our comprehension! We are mercifully allowed to understand His love for us, to see and believe His salvation, and to serve Him out of grateful love. He touches us and cares for us, his children, in sweetest loving sacrifice.
Here is a link that is helpful in understanding this issue
And another.
Be careful not to idolize the "sovereignty" of God over God Himself.
Calvinism is the red shift distortion of true faith into Rationalism.
For us the mind-bending facets of Scripture are just too much. People meet Christ, study the Word and begin to grasp the character of God. The First Love of faith is so heady and wonderful, but Scripture indicates that many lose it, and chides us for it! It is easier to slip back to the limits of human rationale, and use the "if_____then_____" logical form to define our Creator.
The problem is that He really isn't definable in human terms!
God lets us know enough of His character in Scripture to know Him. He stretches us with things we can't understand (believe me, minds greater than ours couldn't) and forces us to accept Who He is-----Someone lovingly willing that no one should perish but graciously electing souls to follow Him. And you won't be able to explain this, but I challenge you to step out of your definitive "ISMS" to know God, personally, undefined.
Sadly, theological "isms" give birth to unbalanced worldviews, and that is the tragedy of tipping the scales into human terms.
Thank the Lord, the Creator of the Universe, the Holy Triune God, that He is so beyond our comprehension! We are mercifully allowed to understand His love for us, to see and believe His salvation, and to serve Him out of grateful love. He touches us and cares for us, his children, in sweetest loving sacrifice.
Here is a link that is helpful in understanding this issue
And another.
Be careful not to idolize the "sovereignty" of God over God Himself.
2 comments:
First..I had to look up the term "redshift"...maybe it's late at night or I am really not quite smart enough to understand the term...but I think I figured it out. Hugs to you for keeping this in at the heat of the moment...AND..I'm thankful you have an outlet! If we would focus our eyes on Jesus..the author and perfecter of our faith...and not get caught up in the wrangling of words and "isms"...the church would be in a much better place!:)
There are many good metaphors for describing paradoxes, but "red shift" does it for me. G.K. Chesterton wrote about the perspectives of the left versus the right eye. Thanks for your encouragement!
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