JUST WHO ARE THESE CALVINISTS DAVID CLOUD THINKS HE IS REFUTING?
In his Friday Church News Notes (Vol. 7 issue 3 dated 20th January 20th, 2006)
David Cloud deals with the Vatican's recently announced aim to sanitise
Judas Iscariot. However, at the end, in an almost bizarre twist, he
launches into an attack upon Calvinism. I say "almost bizarre" because
the issue does not naturally come up in the subject he first tackled.
In fact, here is a issue upon which both Reformed and non Reformed
Bible believers can agree. In answering the thought of a Roman cleric
that "If Christ died for all--is it possible that Judas too was
redeemed through the Master he betrayed?" Mr Cloud denies the
possibility. He replies:
"The
Bible answer, of course, is that it is not possible. At the Last
Supper, Jesus said: "The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but
woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good
for that man if he had not been born" (Mat. 26:24) Judas did not go out
into a desert to do spiritual exercises; he sorrowed but he did not
repent, and he went out into the night and hung himself. The Bible says
that Judas fell by transgression and went to "his own place" (Acts
1:25)"
So
far, so good. This is the very argument I and every other right
thinking Calvinist would give in these circumstances. Of course, we
could argue with the priest (and Mr Cloud, for that matter) over the
thought that "Christ died for all" (by which is meant "all without any
exceptions") but this would be needless in the immediate circumstances.
The main, clinching argument is this: The Bible says that Judas is in
hell because he fell by his own transgression and therefore any talk of
him being redeemed in heaven is an non starter. How can Judas be in
Heaven, if it were better for him to have never have been born?
(Matthew 26:24)
However,
Mr Cloud feels he must say more. He affirms his belief in a universal
atonement which makes the salvation of all men possible, based on his
interpretation of 1 John 2:2 i.e. that the "world" can only mean every
inhabitant who ever lived in it. Mr Cloud says:
Though the Bible does say that Jesus died to make it possible for all men to be saved (1 John 2:2), all men are not saved.
However
despite this, Mr Cloud has to admit that some of those for whom Christ
thus died are not saved. Mr Cloud allows here the reality of an
ineffectual redemption. Yes (according to Mr Cloud)…Christ died
for Judas. Yes, He took all his sins away in the great act of
redemption. Yes, God was satisfied when He looked upon this act of
redemption and atonement for the sins of Judas etc., but no…they
weren't actually taken away, nor atoned for, put far out of sight etc.,
remembered no more etc., because Jesus wasn't able to secure the
salvation of Judas through His death and Judas must pay the same price
for those same sins which Christ bore on the tree again throughout all
eternity.
Had
Mr Cloud left it there, I would probably rolled my eyeballs a little
and tut-tutted as Calvinists tend to do when they see the non Reformed
defend the indefensible on this matter. But I would have moved on. The
problem is not mine and I have many other things to do.
But
Mr Cloud didn't leave it there. Without any need to do so, he brings
the Calvinists into the picture also and tries to paint the picture
that Calvinism believes that men are in hell simply because they are
not of the elect. Read the paragraph below:
Calvinism
pretends that this is because God has only sovereignly chosen some to
be saved, but in fact it is because God has sovereignly determined to
give men a choice to believe the gospel or not. Those who perish,
perish not because they are not of the sovereignly elected, for God
"will have all men to be saved" (1 Tim. 3:4), but "because they
received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved" (2 Thess.
2:10-12). Judas was a hypocrite and a secret thief (Jn. 12:6).
We
could argue for a good while over this short paragraph i.e. what is
meant by sovereign choice and what God willed in the salvation of all
men in 1 Timothy 2:4 etc., This is just the old Reformed/non Reformed
debate being dragged over the grave of Judas Iscariot. I have dealt
with these kind of issues elsewhere.
Where
the pretence comes in, however, is when Mr Cloud quotes 2 Thessalonians
2:10-12 (having already quoted Acts 1:25) to suggest that Calvinism
does not believe that men are lost because they receive not the love of
the truth or that they fall by transgression. Here, Mr Cloud becomes
the Pretender, and here, I feel, I must do battle with him again and
his ability to paint Calvinists in an untrue light. For a man who talks
so much about his books and his hours of study and his love of truth
etc., it is amazing how he can consistently do this when he dips his
proverbial pen in the inkwell of criticism.
*
Just who are these Calvinists who (according to Mr Cloud) ignore the
teaching of 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 or Acts 1:25 and have Judas (or any
man for that matter) in hell simply because he is not elect?
* Let Mr Cloud produce their names so that we can identify them.
*
Let him quote them (with verifiable references, so that we can check
the context of any statements) There are absolutely no references given
at all in this short paragraph. Evidently, we are expected to believe
it because Mr Cloud says so. That might pass in the circles Mr Cloud
moves in, but others of us expect more. It helps keep a check and
balance against men of God being misrepresented. No true critic objects
to his work being thus examined.
*
Let us see if they really do exist - and should he be able to produce
any, let us see if there be enough of them to warrant them to be used
as representative of general mainstream Calvinism which Mr Cloud
indicts.
If
they cannot be produced, then we may safely conclude that Mr Cloud is
speaking, either of something he knows little or nothing about or that
he is speaking to stir up mischief by contending for a matter that he
knows is simply untrue.
JOHN CALVIN ON THE CAUSE OF DAMNATION
"Accordingly,
we should contemplate the evident cause of condemnation in the corrupt
nature of humanity - which is closer to us - than seek a hidden and
utterly incomprehensible cause in God's predestination." (Institutes
3:23:8)
CH SPURGEON ON THE CAUSE OF DAMNATION
"No
man who is lost will ever be able to blame God’s sovereignty for
it. The man that perishes shall justly perish because of his sins; and
in hell, this shall be to him the pang of pangs, that he cannot
reproach God, but that his damnation lieth at his own door since he
incensed the justice of God, which must punish him for his sin."
If I had the time, I could multiply
quote after quote from the great Calvinistic confessions of faith,
Calvinistic commentators and preachers etc., It really is simple. You
just look them up under the appropriate headings, or verses (like those
quoted Mr Cloud) or any verse which attributes damnation to unbelief
and you will see how the Calvinist put all the blame where it fairly
belongs - on the sinner. Certainly my job defending Calvinists on this
issue is a lot easier than Mr Cloud's trying to attack them. He will
search a long time before he can produce anything that remotely
supports his mistaken charges. His stock reply is he is too
busy…he gets thousands of emails and hundreds of challenges
etc., That might be so, but if he is not too busy to lay such charges,
then he should not too busy to defend them. The one goes with the other
as a matter of basic honesty.
If
it can be shown that I have misrepresented anybody on this site, then I
hereby promise to withdraw any such offending material and apologise
accordingly. I refuse to sacrifice truth on the altar of any party
position.
Colin Maxwell.
Cork Free Presbyterian Church, 10 Briarscourt
(Annex) Shanakiel, Cork, Ireland