Charge: Calvinism eliminates Judgment
Arminian Complaint: Calvinism eliminates any basis for Judgment
Hunt adds: “What is the point of judgment, either for the saved or the damned, if everything is God’s doing?” (Debating Calvinism, p.140, emphasis mine)
This is a very good point, which James White did not provide a response for, though still claiming his dialogue as his “best effort.” (p.331)
White states: “...no amount of repetition on my part is going to change things.” (Debating Calvinism, p.331)
White adds: “But his constant refusal to interact with the ‘other side,’ as demonstrated by his use of straw men, has convinced me that no such understanding exists.” (Debating Calvinism, p.331)
White was more interested in claiming victory, as an apologist for the “common view of the Protestant Reformation,” while accusing Dave Hunt of “Pelagianism” (pp.331-332), than provide an answer to a reasonable objection by Dave Hunt. If God determines, causes and inspires the actions of the wicked, then where is the basis for divine judgment against such wickedness? It’s absolutely a fair question.
Atheist, John Loftus, comments: “Have you considered what the sovereignty of your God entails? If God decreed that we should do an action, then this also means he decreed that we wanted to do it. This is an inescapable conclusion. Why? Because, unless your God decrees that we should want to do an action, then we wouldn’t do that action. So any wrong that human beings do, God must have decreed that they wanted to do the wrong they did. To continue to blame human beings for the wrong that they do by claiming they wanted to do the wrong that they did, fails to understand how it’s even possible for God to make sure we do an action in the first place. We do what we want to do. For God to decree we do an action it must mean he decrees our desires to do that action. Therefore, God is to be blamed for all of the evils in human history.” (Debunking Christianity, emphasis mine)
If Determinism necessarily requires that God determined all of our “wants,” it simultaneously removes any moral basis for judging any of our wants. In essence, God would be judging what He determined. Conversely, for the Arminian, God determined no such thing. Although God may harden a person, it is the hardening of an already unrepentant person, whom God did not create to want unrepentance, but who voluntarily resisted God, despite God’s pleas to the contrary. See Jeremiah 18:6 and Isaiah 65:2.
One Hyper-Calvinist explains: “I think God is responsible to the utmost degree. In fact, I think that perhaps God is the only one in the universe ultimately responsible for anything, if anyone at all is.”
And that is the logical consequence of Determinist philosophy in which everything is scripted/decreed.
If God scripted whatsoever comes to pass, as per the Calvinist Westminster Confession of Faith, and as per John Calvin, then what might that imply about where man’s motives originate?
Dave Hunt writes: “Intending to protect God’s sovereignty, Calvinism makes Him the cause of every thought, word, and deed, and thus of sin. This libels God, mocks man, and erases motivation, as well as any meaning of punishment of reward.” (Debating Calvinism, p.335, emphasis mine)
Calvinist, James White, responds: “...since God judges on the basis of the intentions of the heart, there is in fact a ground for morality and justice.” (Debating Calvinism, p.320, emphasis mine)
Dave Hunt responds: “Yes, God judges ‘the intentions of the heart,’ but Calvinism falsely says that He causes the intentions He judges.” (Debating Calvinism, p.327, emphasis mine)
