My understanding of Reformed doctrine is that they believe the gospel is God paying back God. Jesus in the system is fulfilling the covenant of works and gaining perfect righteousness so that when you believe in him you have your spiritual bank account credited with Christ righteousness so that now God sees you as having no condemnation. You then are moved into a state of grace and are no longer under the wrath of God. I'm stating this simply as Reformed doctrine can get quite complicated. My problem with this system is that it presupposes that God is bound by necessity to punish you for every sin you commit. Why does God have to be paid back by creatures? Does God need anything from creatures at all? Just imagine how much sin is going on in the world every second of every day. The Calvinist God must be having a nervous breakdown with anger management issues on a continual basis? Not only are you guilty for Adams sin in Reformed doctrine, but you are born with original guilt and are worthy of Gods wrath the day you are born. These doctrines advance the notion that God's justice holds you guilty for what Adam did thousands of years ago before you have used your individual will to commit personal willful sins. In reality I'm not worthy of condemnation because of my own choices, but I am already worthy of death and wrath before I have made any choices of my own. I think this view of the fall of Adam is very problematic. Calvinism is foundationally rooted in Augustine's doctrine of original guilt. Ezekeil 18:20 establishes God's standard of justice. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." The premise is that God does not hold you guilty for your fathers' sins, and the father is not guilty for his son's sinful actions. So why am I being told that I am guilty for Adams sin? My understanding of church history is that the historic church taught that we are not guilty for Adams sin. But we suffer under the consequences of Adams sin. That is a drastically different view of the fall. Most Calvinist don't know that many church fathers apposed Augustine's understanding of the fall in the garden. This is why. Augustine was converted from Platonism and Manicheanism to Christianity. Platonism teaches that there is no distinction between Nature and Person. In Platonism Nature and Person are the same thing. This idea flows from Plato's understanding of the Monad. Platonism says that to make any distinction in God is to cut God up into parts. This would mean that God is no longer ONE. In philosophy this is called the doctrine of absolute divine simplicity. If you are a Platonist then your doctrine of God will affect your understanding of anthropology as well. The same doctrine of absolute divine simplicity applies. This means that in anthropology there is no distinction between human Nature and Person. Nature and Person are the same thing. So, when Augustine interpreted Romans 5:12 which says that "we all sinned in Adam" Augustine assumed that we are all in Adam as an architype. Which means that every human being is a copy of the original man. Since Adam was corrupted in his NATURE from the fall, all men who are copies of Adam are also corrupted. This is why Calvinism teaches that concupiscence is the same thing as sin. This is in contrast to historic teaching in the church that Adam communicated to us the propensity to sin. But the propensity to sin is not the same thing as the act of sin itself. Therefore, concupiscence is not sin. The reason that Calvinist say that concupiscence is the same thing as sin is because they are not making a distinction between Nature and Person. Human nature is good, but each PERSON makes his own choices for good and evil. Nature is common because all men share a common human nature. Personal identity is particular and individual. Adam did not communicate an evil nature to us. He passed down to us the propensity to sin. For this reason, Calvinist falls into Platonism because the Reformers followed Augustine. If you don't make a distinction between Nature and Person you will automatically fall into Platonism. Augustine made a big mistake when he interpreted Romans 5:12. This is why Eastern Orthodoxy views Protestantism as a Neo-Platonic heresy. If the Augustinian view of original guilt is false then Calvinism is false as a system. Because the Augustinian view of original guilt is foundational to Calvinistic soteriology. I can tell you with absolute certainty that I was not predestined to be a Calvinist.
My understanding of Reformed doctrine is that they believe the gospel is God paying back God. Jesus in the system is fulfilling the covenant of works and gaining perfect righteousness so that when you believe in him you have your spiritual bank account credited with Christ righteousness so that now God sees you as having no condemnation. You then are moved into a state of grace and are no longer under the wrath of God. I'm stating this simply as Reformed doctrine can get quite complicated.
My problem with this system is that it presupposes that God is bound by necessity to punish you for every sin you commit. Why does God have to be paid back by creatures? Does God need anything from creatures at all? Just imagine how much sin is going on in the world every second of every day. The Calvinist God must be having a nervous breakdown with anger management issues on a continual basis?
Not only are you guilty for Adams sin in Reformed doctrine, but you are born with original guilt and are worthy of Gods wrath the day you are born. These doctrines advance the notion that God's justice holds you guilty for what Adam did thousands of years ago before you have used your individual will to commit personal willful sins. In reality I'm not worthy of condemnation because of my own choices, but I am already worthy of death and wrath before I have made any choices of my own. I think this view of the fall of Adam is very problematic. Calvinism is foundationally rooted in Augustine's doctrine of original guilt.
Ezekeil 18:20 establishes God's standard of justice. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." The premise is that God does not hold you guilty for your fathers' sins, and the father is not guilty for his son's sinful actions. So why am I being told that I am guilty for Adams sin? My understanding of church history is that the historic church taught that we are not guilty for Adams sin. But we suffer under the consequences of Adams sin. That is a drastically different view of the fall. Most Calvinist don't know that many church fathers apposed Augustine's understanding of the fall in the garden. This is why.
Augustine was converted from Platonism and Manicheanism to Christianity. Platonism teaches that there is no distinction between Nature and Person. In Platonism Nature and Person are the same thing. This idea flows from Plato's understanding of the Monad. Platonism says that to make any distinction in God is to cut God up into parts. This would mean that God is no longer ONE. In philosophy this is called the doctrine of absolute divine simplicity.
If you are a Platonist then your doctrine of God will affect your understanding of anthropology as well. The same doctrine of absolute divine simplicity applies. This means that in anthropology there is no distinction between human Nature and Person. Nature and Person are the same thing. So, when Augustine interpreted Romans 5:12 which says that "we all sinned in Adam" Augustine assumed that we are all in Adam as an architype. Which means that every human being is a copy of the original man. Since Adam was corrupted in his NATURE from the fall, all men who are copies of Adam are also corrupted. This is why Calvinism teaches that concupiscence is the same thing as sin. This is in contrast to historic teaching in the church that Adam communicated to us the propensity to sin. But the propensity to sin is not the same thing as the act of sin itself. Therefore, concupiscence is not sin.
The reason that Calvinist say that concupiscence is the same thing as sin is because they are not making a distinction between Nature and Person. Human nature is good, but each PERSON makes his own choices for good and evil. Nature is common because all men share a common human nature. Personal identity is particular and individual. Adam did not communicate an evil nature to us. He passed down to us the propensity to sin. For this reason, Calvinist falls into Platonism because the Reformers followed Augustine. If you don't make a distinction between Nature and Person you will automatically fall into Platonism. Augustine made a big mistake when he interpreted Romans 5:12. This is why Eastern Orthodoxy views Protestantism as a Neo-Platonic heresy.
If the Augustinian view of original guilt is false then Calvinism is false as a system. Because the Augustinian view of original guilt is foundational to Calvinistic soteriology. I can tell you with absolute certainty that I was not predestined to be a Calvinist.
how many old guys working out their flesh on youtube to accomplish his purposes?
Say more?