Calvinism and Arminianism:
Myths & Realities
Often when Calvinists comes across a verse that offends Calvinism, a “Revealed Will” is asserted, insomuch that a “Secret Will” means that the opposite is true. Compare with Jeremiah 32:35 and Zechariah 1:15.
This special stamper is how Calvinists turn a “Yes”
in the Bible to a “No,” and a “No” to a “Yes.”
If TULIP needs it, then the Bible says it. Sola Tulip!
One person comments: “To say that God hates sin while secretly willing it, or to say that God warns us not to fall away though it is impossible, or to say that God loves the world while excluding most people from an opportunity for salvation, or to say that God warmly invites sinners to come to Him, knowing all the while that they cannot possibly do so—such things do not deserve to be called mysteries when that is just a euphemism for nonsense.”
But if God has this so called “Secret Will,” then how do the Calvinists even know it even exists? And that is the $64,000 question. One passage that is frequently cited by Calvinists in support of a secret will is Deuteronomy 29:29. Also consider the following commentary by Calvinists for Matthew 23:37:
Calvinist, Erwin Lutzer: “When Christ pled with the inhabitants of Jerusalem, we see the revealed will of God. Yet, the secret will of God was that the people would not believe. God apparently had some ultimate purpose for displaying mercy to some and hardening others.” (The Doctrines That Divide, p.171, emphasis mine)
John Calvin: “As for this passage being taken by sophists to support free will and abolish God’s secret predestination, there is an easy answer. God wishes all to come together, they say: therefore all are free to come and their wish does not depend on the election of God. I answer, that the will of God as mentioned here must be judged by the result. Seeing that in His Word He calls all alike to salvation, and this is the object of preaching, that all should take refuge in His faith and protection, it is right to say that He wishes all to gather to Him. Now the nature of the Word shows us that here there is no description of the secret counsel of God (Arcanum Dei consilium)--just His wishes. Certainly those whom He wishes effectively to gather, He draws inwardly by His Spirit, and calls them not merely by man’s outward voice. If anyone objects that it is absurd to split God’s will (duplicem in Deo volunteer fingi), I answer that this is exactly our belief, that His will is one and undivided: but because our minds cannot plumb the profound depths of His secret election (ad profundam arcanae electionis abyssum) to suit our infirmity, the will of God is set before us as double (bifariam).” (Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries, Matthew, Mark and Luke, Vol. III, James and Jude, p.69, emphasis mine)
In other words, when Jesus said, “How often I wanted,” but “you were unwilling,” what He secretly meant was “I never really wanted” since you were purposely excluded from the secret predestination of God. Moreover, did Jesus tearfully weep over Jerusalem because He had eternally, willfully reprobated them, and as a result, they were now unwilling?
Arminian Charge: Calvinism teaches a Secret Will vs. Revealed Will.
Myth or Reality: Calvinists plainly admit it, which is often used to explain why a given text means the opposite of what it actually says.
