Theophilus
Active member
I'm glad you found it, maybe we should add some more to it what do you think?
In Calvinism... where is the love?
- Thread starter Theophilus
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Bronson
Active member
I say we go for it.
What turns me off about Calvinism is God’s freedom to save or damn whoever he wishes for no other reason than that he sovereignly chooses to do so is an essential part of what makes him God. That doesn't seem like a god of love to me. As it goes against God's word about how he feels about us in John 3:16.
Theophilus
Active member
I can honestly say I still haven't found the love in Calvinism.
Bronson
Active member
Calvinist insists that God chooses to save some and to damn others simply because he wills to do so. Calvinist glory in the power of God and the prerogative of a sovereign will to do as he pleases. For them What's Love Got to Do with It?
Rockson
Well-known member
And they live in a universe where they can see always played out in front of them natural loving relationships are considered to be noble if they're played out with LOVE being a factor,
eg. A person wanting a spouse, doesn't force the other to be in relationship with them.....It's. "Will you marry me" and not "You're going to marry me!"
eg. The Father of the Prodigal Son didn't say, "You're going to stay in relationship with me whether you like it or not" To enforce such in his way of thinking would have been tyrannical and LOVE meant something to him! And who is the Father in the Prodigal Son a type of? GOD!
Believe
Active member
I agree the father led the Prodigal Son go do his thing.
I think the whole point of the Parable of the Wayward Son was the fact that the relationship between the father and son was never broken. Even though the prodigal repeatedly disrespected and humiliated his father. When he came to his senses and realized that he would be better off being a slave in his father's house and went home, His father who loved him the whole time he was astray ran out to meet him. Put the really cool robe on him and had a feast.
Pops said "This son of mine was dead, but has now come back to life. He was lost and has now been found." And they began to celebrate."
I agree with you the father let him go do his thing but he never stopped loving him. Had the Father stopped loving him, he would have stayed dead.
I'm not trying to argue with you that's just the way I see it.
I think the whole point of the Parable of the Wayward Son was the fact that the relationship between the father and son was never broken. Even though the prodigal repeatedly disrespected and humiliated his father. When he came to his senses and realized that he would be better off being a slave in his father's house and went home, His father who loved him the whole time he was astray ran out to meet him. Put the really cool robe on him and had a feast.
Pops said "This son of mine was dead, but has now come back to life. He was lost and has now been found." And they began to celebrate."
I agree with you the father let him go do his thing but he never stopped loving him. Had the Father stopped loving him, he would have stayed dead.
I'm not trying to argue with you that's just the way I see it.
Theophilus
Active member
Makes you wonder where somebody could come up with that kind of an idea.
The Rogue Tomato
Well-known member
I'm guessing it's the Bible. That's where I got the idea. I can't speak for anyone else.
Theophilus
Active member
It just seems like such a harsh way to think about God. But I'm sure you have your reasons for believing the way you do from your Bible reading.
The Rogue Tomato
Well-known member
It can be harsh. But that's where faith comes in. I pray for people. I don't know if God will save them or not, but I know it's above my pay grade. I know God is infinitely more wise and knowing than I am. So I have faith that whatever He does, whether I like it or not, is the right thing to do.
Theophilus
Active member
For sure.
praise_yeshua
Well-known member
I'd like to know what is in your pay grade and what isn't. Everyone agrees that God does as He pleases. At other times you insist that God does certain things. Why not now?
Ahar
Active member
My favorite thread.
Theophilus
Active member
Same here.
Believe
Active member
That's really a good post after rereading it a few times something hit me. What the prodigal did was the most disrespectful thing that he could possibly do short of murdering his pops. He probably made him a laughing stock in front of all his father's friends and dishonored the family. The amazing thing is when it returned his father girded up his loins and ran out to meet him with open arms which was unheard of in that culture. Then got him all cleaned up and dressed up for the party. That does sound a lot like God.
That's not the whole story then you got the other brother. The other brother to me sounds like theologians that want to explain God in their own terms instead of who he really is. A God of love and forgiveness.
Rockson
Well-known member
Very true.
Lily
Active member
The Parable of the Prodigal Son is found in Luke chapter 15, verses 11-32. The main character in the parable, the forgiving father, whose character remains constant throughout the story, is a picture of God.
In telling the story, Jesus identifies Himself with God in His loving attitude to the lost. The younger son symbolizes the lost (the tax collectors and sinners of that day, Luke 15:1), and the elder brother represents the self-righteous (the Pharisees and teachers of the law of that day, Luke 15:2).
Forty Miles of Bad Road “The Prodigal”
After the young man’s money is gone, he barely survives by taking a job feeding pigs. Hungry and penniless, he comes to his senses. He decides to go back to his father and apologize for his foolish…
wordsofjesus68538540.wordpress.com
civic
Well-known member
Something Calvin left out of his institutes that God is love. That’s very telling and deliberate.
