Predestined to Believe: Common Objections to the Reformed Faith Answered, Second Edition

By Adam Murrell

If the Bible teaches that the Lord is sovereign over all and that mankind is naturally hostile towards God, then it stands to reason that we would never choose the Lord apart from the Holy Spirit working within us to change our hearts. Proceeding from this logical starting point of God's sovereignty and man's depravity, it necessarily follows that God must save His people from their sins, those that are otherwise helpless and in a desperate state. No theological system like Reformed theology allows one to remain consistent when carrying out one's beliefs to the ultimate conclusions as the doctrines of God's sovereignty and grace do.

Murrell examines common arguments against Calvinism and demonstrates how they are oftentimes the result of misunderstandings, faulty reasoning, or poor scriptural exegesis. God's sovereignty is not so much a barrier to Calvinism as it is a powerful support for it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Release date: Aug 1, 2009
• ISBN: 9781621891758

Adam Murrell

Adam Murrell is a graduate of Columbia College and Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. He serves as the president of a non-profit organization, a Bible teacher, and a United States naval officer. He has authored several books including Concise Fundamentalism, Essential Church History, and The Essence of the Christian Faith. In addition to his writings, he maintains an international Internet ministry at www.stanmurrell.org. He currently resides in Virginia with his lovely wife, Laura, and four children, Emily, Elizabeth, Luke, and Caleb.

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Preface

A well-known Professor of Philosophy and Apologetics at a Reformed university once encouraged me to devote myself to emulating the theology of the Puritans but to do so by presenting the doctrines of grace in today’s diction. I could not agree with him more. I firmly believe that each generation must embrace the truths of God’s Word for themselves, and in order to accomplish this, the arguments must be presented in a way that communicates effectively to the modern world. Oftentimes, people get lost in the archaic language or heavy philosophical argumentation of the Reformers and Puritans, and as such, it discourages many from the labors of understanding what our religious ancestors actually believed. But just as Theophilus needed to be given a basic instruction from Luke (Luke 1:1–4), we all would do well to know the exact truths in our everyday speech.

To this purpose, I have gone through the entire book carefully, updating the language to reflect a more modern reading and expanding the discussion in a number of areas (e.g., the problem of evil and problem passages). I added a bit to each chapter to round out the discussion and to bring stronger arguments for and against the Calvinistic position in order to reflect a better and more realistic theological discussion. I hope you will find this book as enjoyable and profitable as I have found it throughout the past several months of labors.

I also wish to give thanks to Shawn McGowan who shared my vision of what this book could be. I am grateful for the time he devoted to read the manuscript and to offer helpful suggestions and criticisms.

Adam Murrell

King George, Virginia

1

Note to the Reader

The latent controversy that is presently brewing among many Evangelicals is Calvinism. The very word elicits deep-seated feelings on both sides of the issue and should be considered the single most important topic that divides Christians today. One’s position with respect to this issue will influence his entire perspective of God, humanity, sin, salvation, and witnessing to others and will determine his approach to defending the faith. I have rarely found a Christian to be indifferent on this controversial issue. It has been my experience that those who oppose these doctrines do so in large part from misconceptions of the theological system for whom Calvinism is named—the sixteenth century theologian and Protestant Reformer John Calvin (1509–1564). Many who are unacquainted with the Calvinistic position assume it denies the free will actions of moral agents, makes God the author of evil, and renders evangelism and prayer useless. All of these misperceptions have paved the way for philosophical objections and extreme accusations. Consider the comment of one well-known evangelist who once quipped, Calvin has, I believed, caused untold millions of souls to be damned.¹ His remark—while tragic—is not uncommon.

Similarly, I met a lady once who rejected Calvinism primarily on the belief that Calvin was culpable in the death of heretics. If true, she reasoned, then he could provide nothing valuable to the Christian faith. She was not concerned so much for the veracity of the charge or the truthfulness of Calvin’s exposition of Scripture as she was in condemning the man whom she already presupposed to be guilty. Sadly, her predisposition against him prevented her from studying God’s Word and personally investigating the matter further. No attempt was ever made to discover what Calvin’s theological convictions really were. In the absence of such knowledge, she reached a conclusion in her mind that was irreversible.

Such an encounter crystallizes my personal conviction that many who oppose the doctrines of grace do so on the basis of a misunderstanding of the issues or from emotional and philosophical protests—not necessarily as a consequence of properly exegeting God’s Word. This is why I firmly believe that it is essential to be ready always to give an answer to every man who asks us why we believe the way we do (1 Pet 3:15). Furthermore, we are called to contend for the faith (Jude 3), which involves standing for the truth as He has revealed it to us. Not everyone we meet will believe the exact same way in which we do, but that does not mean we should neglect the teaching of Scripture for the sake of unity, nor does it give us license to be contentious towards those with whom we disagree. When we have the opportunity to share the doctrines of God’s sovereign grace in salvation, we are to do so with gentleness and kindness—a sign of love for our Lord and our fellow man. We can disagree, but we are not to be disagreeable.

With that in mind, I have endeavored to produce a work that would aid others in being able to correct the misconceptions of Calvinism and help to prepare those who are of the Reformed persuasion who will encounter some—if not all—of the objections found throughout this work.

In preparing Predestined to Believe, the aim was to achieve a simple yet readable text that would prove useful to those who are convinced that God’s sovereignty extends to the salvation of His creatures but who sometimes struggle with answering common objections in support of their beliefs. I recall from personal experience how intimidating it can be to espouse a doctrine that is decidedly unpopular. On more than one occasion I found myself without adequate answers to those who opposed my thinking. I was confident in my biblical understanding, but I was unable to articulate the flaws in the objections presented toward my convictions. For this reason I have labored to combine the more popular objections I have encountered through conversation or print and have crafted responses in the form of letters.

This simple work is not designed to be an apology setting forth the doctrines of Calvin’s theology per se but to help many understand the flaws inherent to the objections as they are often presented. Therefore, the majority of the charges found throughout this work center around the more common philosophical protests that are ubiquitous in common dialogues with Arminians.

The most efficient means to communicate the great truths of these doctrines and to answer Arminian claims was to present a defense in the form of letters from an uncle—who is a convinced Calvinist—to his nephew who is of the Arminian persuasion. The book begins with the uncle responding to a request from his nephew to explain the doctrines of grace. The subsequent letters are answers in response to common objections. In this work I have used the terms Calvinism, Reformed theology, and doctrines of grace interchangeably—although I prefer the latter given years of mischaracterization of the former.

My intention has been to cover the more popular objections in a concise manner and to answer each objection adequately. I pray these brief letters are helpful for those who embrace the doctrines of grace or even for those who are convinced otherwise. At the very least, it might shed some light on why we believe the way we do. This book was not written to cast judgment upon those who see the non-essentials differently but to bring glory to God and to persuade others that Calvinism is truly Christ-centric and most pleasing towards Him.

1. James, Calvin the Evangelist, 7–8.

2

The Doctrines of Grace Defined

Dear Wesley,

Your request for me to clarify the doctrines of grace—or Calvinism, as you are fond of referring to it—is not a simple task and cannot be addressed properly in a single letter. It will take a fair amount of correspondence before I would be able to render justice and give adequate attention to this topic that was rediscovered during the Protestant Reformation. The journey to understanding the doctrines of grace is different for everyone. Some observers find Calvinism to be a rational system proceeding from a logical sequence of events, while others claim to see reasonable theological pitfalls. No matter which side one embraces, it is hard to separate emotion from seeing the clarity of Scripture. I can tell you from my own personal experience how my perspective tainted the evidence presented before me. For years, I had been taught a version of Calvinism but had never bothered listening to anyone who actually embraced it. These misrepresentations generated a caricature in my mind and embittered me towards the doctrines. I must confess that these feelings persisted for some time and the more I heard the doctrines the more I resented them—that is, until the Lord showed me differently.

I do not believe I have ever shared with you my conversion story and how the Lord opened my eyes to His glorious truths. I think it is well worth sharing here and will help to illustrate my point. To this day, I continue to be amazed at God’s providence in how He uses His infinite power and wisdom to direct all events of life from the greatest to the least—including my encounter with the Calvinist in the library. This particular anecdote remains a personal favorite of mine so indulge me for a moment if you would.

My weekly routine during my sophomore year at college involved visiting the library each Friday evening for regular study sessions. It was there one day that I noticed a fellow student reading John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion. I had never read the book, but I knew for certain that it was a slanderous work against God’s character. So, being the zealous defender of orthodoxy I was, I chided him for reading such heretical works, but he remained unfazed with my antagonism. I pressed the point hoping he would give in but he was just as stubborn as I was. In fact, he challenged me to read the writings for myself. I scoffed at first but later agreed to investigate the matter with no intention of devoting serious time or consideration to Calvin’s book. We both parted ways.

I could not say for certain what it was at the time, but I later felt an overwhelming desire to take up Calvin’s book and read. And I am glad that I did. It did not take long for me to become captivated, and I soon found myself searching for a reason to put down the book—but was unable. The more I investigated, the harder it was for me to disagree. It all seemed perfectly plausible. The logical progression was too much for me to overcome. I spent the better part of that afternoon carefully examining his work but was not yet fully convinced his arguments were totally scriptural or historical. I promised myself I would further investigate the matter.

What I soon came to discover was that I was completely wrong about Calvinism. Over the course of the next several weeks, I voraciously read the Protestant Reformers, Puritans, and other Calvinists and compared their words with Scripture. The evidence supporting the doctrines of grace was too great for me to deny. The objections that I once thought were stumbling blocks withered away when I discovered they were nothing more than short sighted emotional protests from not clearly thinking through my convictions. I felt no choice but to embrace God’s absolute sovereignty over His creation.

My concern for you, Wesley, is that you are now in a similar position. You are confused and frustrated with Calvinism because of how you were taught to define it. It is clear from your previous letters that you have not been properly taught the doctrines of grace. So, I think it is best if we return to