Kuyper on predestined Scripture

Psalm 119:89 For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.

Dutch original: 

De Schrift is gepraedestineerd. Die Schrift heeft bestaan in Gods raad, voor zij op aarde komen zou. Wat de inhoud zou zijn, door wie de stukken zouden geschreven worden, hoe de samenstelling zou zijn, hoe zij zou vertaald en uitgelegd worden, hoe zij werken zou – en nog veel meer; dat alles lage in den raad Gods besloten, voordat er not een letter van de Schrift geschreven was. Kortelijk dus: zij is gepraedestineerd; ook al gebruikt men he woord praedestinatie anders alleen van organisch levende wezens.

Maar behalve in dezen algemeenen zin (waarin he waar is van alle boeken) geldt het ook van de Schrift bij God bestaan heeft voor de Schrift er was, het geheel en de deelen omvattende; en date God de Heere zelf het geweest is, die naar dat bestek en plan de Schrift heeft gerealiseerd. Voor het eerste zie Hand. 15:18 : Gode zijn al zijne werken van eeuwigheif bekend. De Schrift is een werk Gods. Voor het tweede Num. 8:4, waar gezegd wordt, dat God de מַּרְאֶה van den kandelaar aan Mozes getoond heeft. Als het nu niet strijdt met den eerbied voor de Majesteit van het Goddelijke, een model van een kandelaar te geven, dan kan men ons nooit tegenwerpen, dat het strijdig zou zijn met de eere Gods, dat er een מַּרְאֶהֹ van de H. Schrift in den hemel geweest is.

 English translation:

Scripture is predestined. The Scripture existed in God’s counsel before it came to earth. What the content would be, by whom the pieces would be written, what the composition would be like, how it would be translated and explained, how it would work – and much more. All this was decided in the counsel of God, ere not a letter of the Scripture was written. In short: it is predestined; even if the word predestination is otherwise used only of organic living beings.

Not only in the general sense which it is true of all books, but it is also true that Scripture existed with God before Scripture existed, comprising the whole and the parts; and that it was the Lord God himself who, according to that plan and design, has realized his plan of the Scriptures. For the first, see Acts 15:18 Known unto God are all his works from eternity. Scripture is a work of God. For the second, see Numbers 8:4, where it is said that God showed the מַּרְאֶה (pattern) of the lampstand to Moses. Now, if it is not contrary to the reverence for the Majesty of the Divine to give a model of a lampstand, then it can never be objected that it would be contrary to the honor of God that there should be a מַּרְאֶהֹ (pattern) of the Holy Scriptures in heaven always.

Locus de Sacra Scriptura, Volume I, Dictaten dogmatiek, 1891, p. 92

--

It was not mistakenly, therefore, that a predestined Bible was spoken of in Reformed circles, by which was understood that the preconceived form of the Holy Scripture had been given already from eternity in the counsel of God, in which at the same time all events, means and persons, by which that preconceived form would be realized in our actual life, were predestined. Hence in the course of ages all sorts of events take place, and persons appear who do not know of each other, and in the midst of these events these several persons are induced, without the knowledge of a higher purpose. to commit to writing certain facts, thoughts and perceptions. These persons also write other documents, and other persons among their contemporaries write as well as they. But, nevertheless, all those other writings are lost, or are put aside, while those special documents, which were destined and ordered of God to compose His Holy Scripture, are not merely saved, but are made honorable, are compiled, and gradually attain that authority which He had ordained for these Scriptures. Thus, according to a plan, known to God alone, a structure is gradually raised on which in the course of many ages different persons have labored without agreement, and without ever having seen the whole. No one of the children of men had conceived the plan, to compile such a Scripture; not one had added his contribution with premeditation, nor exhorted others to supplement his contribution with theirs. Thus the plan of the Holy Scripture was hidden, back of human consciousness, in the consciousness of God, and He it is, who in His time has so created each of these writers, so endowed, led and impelled them, that they have contributed what He wanted, and what after His plan and direction was to constitute His Scripture. The conception, therefore, has not gone out of men, but out of God; and it was in connection with this conception, that in every document and by every writer in the course of the ages there should be contributed that very thing, of such a content and in such a form, as had been aimed at and willed by God. There is no chance, and hence this composition and compilation of human writings are not accidental, but predetermined. And this whole has thus been ordained, and in virtue of this fore-ordination has thus been executed, as it had to be, in order to respond to the spiritual needs and wants of the Church of God in every age and among every nation. For, of course, in the strict sense it may be said that every writing is predestined, and this we readily grant; but when our Reformed circles spoke of a “predestined Bible” they intended to convey thereby the idea of a medium of grace, which was taken up as a link in the counsel of God for the salvation of His elect. In the accomplishment of this purpose lay the justification of the Scripture, and the result has fully shown that this wondrous book contains within itself the mystery of being suited to every nation, new to every age, profound for the scholar and rich in comforts for the meek. pp. 474-476

Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920), Principles of Sacred Theology, (translated from the Dutch by J. Hendrik De Vries), Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1898/1954 [Also available HERE.]

The anti-missionary missionary

My attention was recently brought to the article about Elder Daniel Parker on Wikipedia. Last year I warned how that “Wikipedia” is now “Woke-ipedia” – propelled by political correctness to expel historical exactness. Nevertheless, the historian in me struggled to ignore and not call attention to this problem concerning Parker, and will hope it is corrected.

Under the section “Religious Leadership” in the Parker article, at least two places need attention and correction. The article states:

“Parker believed that the non-white races who were the targets of foreign missions were people who were descended from the wicked seed of the serpent. He stated that since ‘God would save His own children, and since the children of Satan were predestined to eternal punishment, any kind of mission plan would seem ridiculous.’”

1. “Parker believed that the non-white races who were the targets of foreign missions were people who were descended from the wicked seed of the serpent.”

I am skeptical of this claim. It is unsourced. If it comes from a statement by Parker, it needs to be substantiated. Though it may appear that the footnote refers it back to Max Lee’s thesis “Daniel Parker’s Doctrine of the Two Seeds,” I found no such claim in Lee’s work. The practice of the Pilgrim Church belies such a doctrine. The church received non-whites into membership by experience & baptism, by relation, and by letter. The early minutes of the church, during Parker’s lifetime, are still accessible. Here are some examples from the minutes:

“Saturday, June 13th 1840. The Church met and in order proseded to business. 

“1st. A Black man by the name of Thom. Presented a letter to the Church of recommendation from his master Mr. Wm. J. Hamblitt, and informed the Church, That he was receved in to a Baptist Church at Barefeet meeting House, and was Baptised by Elder Luster, in the State of Tennessee, which some of the members of the Church knew, That he took a letter from that Church, and joined a Church in the western district Called Spring Hill Church, from which he took a letter, but from some cause, left his letter, and some of his close behind, with an expectation of getting them, but as yet has failed, The Church being satisfied, Received him into Fellowship, as by Relation, yet claimes the right to his letter should it come to hand Ajorned”

“On Sunday, 23d [August 1840], Received a Black woman by the name of Hannah by Experience, and Baptised her.”

“Friday September 3d 1841...3d. Granted a letter of dismission to Sister Hannah a Black woman living in San Augusteen County”

These examples show the church receiving and dismissing black members, which seems unlikely if the Wiki-page claim is true.

2. “He stated that since ‘God would save His own children, and since the children of Satan were predestined to eternal punishment, any kind of mission plan would seem ridiculous.’”

This quote is in error. “God would save His own children, and since the children of Satan were predestined to eternal punishment, any kind of mission plan would seem ridiculous” is a quote from Max Lee’s thesis (p. 13). It is not a quote of a statement made by Parker. This is an assessment of what people said about Parker, or thought about what he believed – “it would seem according to the traditional understanding of Parker’s two-seed views that no mission plan whatsoever was needed.” Lee considered the “the traditional understanding of Parker’s two-seed views” to be deficient.

It is true and correct that Daniel Parker opposed the missionary system devised by the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions. However, he did not oppose the preaching of the gospel. In fact, if one reads the entire thesis without cherry picking, we find that Max Lee concludes that Parker’s views have been misunderstood (for several reasons, some of which were Parkers own fault).[i] On page 85 Lee writes, “Lest these non-elect have an excuse for their unbelief, Parker urged that the gospel be preached to men everywhere, including the non-elect.”

All told, my opinion is that Daniel Parker’s doctrine of the two-seeds is his attempt to explain the existence of evil without making its origin come from God.

Max Lee concludes that “an examination of Parker’s writings reveals, contrary to the traditional view, that Parker was not opposed to missions. Rather, he was opposed to any mission plan which was not under the government and direction of the churches, an example of which was the societal mission plan of the Triennial Convention. Parker’s opposition was against this plan of the Triennial Convention and not against missions proper.”

Where Pilgrim Church meets is a little over an hour’s drive from where I live. I have visited there several times. The church no longer holds the “two-seed” doctrine as taught by Daniel Parker, but identifies itself as and fellowships with Absolute Predestinarian Primitive Baptists.

---

[i] Lee proposes three factors contributing to the misunderstanding: (1) “Parker’s critics ordinarily attacked him instead of his doctrines. As a result, Parker was belittled, while his doctrines remained relatively unknown,” (2) “Parker contributed to his own misunderstanding by resorting to sarcasm and ridicule, particularly in the pages of the Church Advocate,” and (3) “the scarcity and unavailability of his writings, which has forced a reliance on men such as John Mason Peck and R. B. C. Howell, both of whom opposed Parker’s antimissionism.” He further reasons that “the descriptions of Parker and of his antimission motivation presented by Peck and Howell respectively have discouraged further investigation.”

Three predestinarian views

“How can an absolutely Sovereign GOD not be the AUTHOR of all things even if we regard them as occurring from a secondary source ordained by HIM to cause these things to occur? Are we afraid that it is possible for men to impugn the character of GOD or that we must get him off the hook by our sophistry? If as the scientists tell us gravity occurs because of the mass and rotation of the earth does this make GOD any less or more the AUTHOR of gravity because it occurs as the result of a principle which HE directed to occur but rather than mystically bringing it to pass HE did so by a law of physics?” -- Mike McInnis

“There is a difference in the way God governs over inanimate or physical creation and the way He governs over mankind. Therefore, every element in the creation of gravity is the result of His directly causal creation of that element. There is no unrighteousness with God and He does not cause unrighteousness in men. Unrighteousness arises from men. Thus there is a difference in the way God governs over physical inanimate creation and mankind. God governs over every thing that takes place in His universe either causing them to take place, or suffering/permitting them to take place or restraining them from taking place.” -- Mark Thomas

“I will say without any fear that every person born of the Spirit, whenever that may occur, will believe on Jesus as their Lord and worship Him with whatever grace God may be pleased to give him or her. It will do no good to propose the case of the idiot or the heathen. Who can tell what great work the Lord may work in them, and that without the assistance of a preacher or speaker. Is God limited to the aid of man? If He has chosen one to eternal life there will be no obstacle to hinder belief.” -- James F. Poole

Easton on Predestination

This word is properly used only with reference to God’s plan or purpose of salvation [I disagree, rlv].  The Greek word rendered “predestinate” is found only in these six passages, Acts 4:28; Romans 8:29,30; 1 Corinthians 2:7; Ephesians 1:5,11; and in all of them has the same meaning.They teach that the eternal, sovereign, immutable, and unconditional decree or “determinate purpose” of God governs all events. This doctrine of predestination or election is beset with many difficulties. It belongs to the “secret things” of God. But if we take the revealed word of God as our guide, we must accept this doctrine with all its mysteriousness, and settle all our questionings in the humble, devout acknowledgment, “Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.”

For the teaching of Scripture on this subject let the following passages be examined in addition to those referred to above; Genesis 21:12; Exodus 9:16; 33:19; Deuteronomy 10:15; 32:8; Joshua 11:20; 1 Samuel 12:22; 2 Chronicles 6:6; Psalm 33:12; 65:4; 78:68; 135:4; Isaiah 41:1-10; Jeremiah 1:5; Mark 13:20; Luke 22:22; John 6:37; 15:16; 17:2,6,9; Acts 2:28; 3:18; 4:28; 13:48; 17:26; Romans 9:11,18,21; 11:5; Ephesians 3:11; 1 Thessalonians 1:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2; 1 Peter 1:2.

From Easton’s Bible Dictionary

The divine dealings of God

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Joseph wended his way from his people to a pit (Genesis 37:1-3; Genesis 37:23-24), from a pit to a purchase (Genesis 37:28), from a purchase to Potiphar’s house (Genesis 37:36), from Potiphar’s house to a prison (Genesis 39:7-20), and from prison to Pharoah’s palace (Genesis 41:37-45) – all the while traveling on the journey sent by God, meant for good (Genesis 45:5; Genesis 50:20).

An exceeding great and precious promise

Roman 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Paul presents a powerful promise to a powerless people. It gives us confidence and encouragement. It should cause us to sing and rejoice. Evangelist R. A. Torrey (1856-–1928) said that the promise of Romans 8:28 “is a soft pillow for a tired heart.”

• The promise is knowable, comprehensible, plain (“We know”). It is beneficial to us. Not only is it certain -- else we could not know -- but we reap the benefits of knowing we have God's promise, that God is at work for our good.
• The promise is complete (“all things”). Not some things. Not a few things, but all things. All things are not good, but in all things God is working good. 
• The promise is controlled by God (“work together”). Things do not haphazardly, randomly or accidentally work together. “God works” -- He is the cause of the promise and the cause behind the promise. “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” Ephesians 1:11
• The promise is beneficent (“for good”). It confers benefits through God's kind action and benevolent purpose. We don't live in a world where things just happen, but where things happen for a reason, under the good hand of God. 
• The promise is distinguishing, directed to a specific people (“to them that love God, to them who are the called”). God can do all the good He wants to anyone He wants at anytime He wants -- but this promise is not to everybody. It is to those whom God has called, to those who love God because He first loved them. These specific people can depend on it, all the time. 
• The promise is intentional, directed for a specific purpose (“called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son”). God's work is “for good,” but that alone is not the sole purpose. God's purpose is also described as bringing those He foreknew and predestinated in conformity to the image of His Son. “...be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:2

2 Peter 1:3-4 “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

A little Old Baptist humor

From The Life and Writings of Rufus C. Burleson, p. 385 

In 1842...preachers went armed, not only in Texas, but in Georgia and the other States. In Georgia they went with a Bible and hymn book in one hand, and in the other--no, in their saddlebags--something, I am ashamed to tell what it was, but instead of carrying that in Texas they carried in the other saddlebag a shot gun. Well, some of them may have been like one old Hardshell. They said to him: "Brother Doodlee, don't you believe that everything is ordained, and that it will be just as it is ordained?" "Yes." "Then, what do you always carry your gun for? If your time has not come the Indians can not kill you." "Well," he says, "I know that is the way, that my time is fixed, but now, brother, what if I should be going to an appointment and meet an Indian and I did not have my gun, and his time had come; what a great pity that would be."

I don't know what was in the Georgia preacher's saddlebags -- might have been whiskey. According to Augustus Longstreet the “honest Georgian...preferred his whiskey straight and his politics and religion red hot.” (Religion in America, p. 125)

I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew

“He first loved me.”

I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew

He moved my soul to it Who sought for me;

It was not I that found, O Savior true;

No, I was found of thee.

Thou didst reach forth Thy hand and mine enfold;

I walked and sank not on the storm-vexed sea;

But not so much that I on Thee took hold,

As by Thy hold of me.

I find, I walk, I love, but ah, the whole

Of love is but my answer, Lord, to Thee;

For thou wert long beforehand with my soul–

Always Thou lovedst me.

Words: Anonymous, Found in One Hundred Holy Songs, Carols and Sacred Ballads. Original, and Suitable for Music, London: Longmans, Green & Company, 1878 [Issued anonymously, but modern scholars credit this as the work of Jean Ingelow (1820-1897] 

Purpose in Disorder

"But now we see not yet all things put under him." Hebrews 2:8 

"Take a scriptural instance, the highest and greatest that we can give, to shew that where, to outward appearance, all is disorder, there the greatest wisdom and most determinate will reign. Look at the crucifixion of our blessed Lord. Can you not almost see the scene as painted in the word of truth? See those scheming priests, that wild mob, those rough soldiers, that faltering Roman governor, the pale and terrified disciples, the weeping women, and, above all, the innocent Sufferer with the crown of thorns, and enduring that last scene of surpassing woe, which made the earth quake, and the sun withdraw his light. What confusion! What disorder! What triumphant guilt! What oppressed and vanquished innocence! But was it really so? Was there no wisdom or power of God here accomplishing, even by the instrumentality of human wickedness, his own eternal purposes? Hear his own testimony to this point: "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain" (Acts 2:23)." -- J. C. Philpot

Not one thing failed

"Not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you."—Joshua xxiii. 14.

"Say, my soul, in looking back the past year, canst thou set thy seal to this truth? Is there a promise which thy God hath not fulfilled? Is there an instance in which God hath forfeited his word? Canst thou point to the time, or place, in any one trial, or under any one affliction, in which thou hast not found God faithful? Give then the Lord the honour due unto his name. If not one thing hath failed, proclaim his glory, set forth his praise, declare his truth, let the father to the children make known that God is faithful. And Oh let thine heart bear testimony to what must be said of all his Israel, in all ages, "What hath God wrought."

By Robert Hawker

Choosing the broken and mending the chosen

As I listened to a radio preacher speak of Joseph and his brothers, the thought struck me forcefully that on the whole the chosen family -- Abraham, Isaac and Jacob -- might well be described today as a dysfunctional family. A dysfunctional family is "characterized by a breakdown of normal or beneficial relationships between members," or a family in which conflict, misbehavior, neglect or abuse occur regularly. I'm not sure when "dysfunctional" entered into common use -- dictionary.reference.com gives its first recorded use as 1949. I don't recall hearing of a "dysfunctional family" until I was well into my adult years. In a sense we're all dysfunctional, though some much more so than others.

Having a mainly Christian readership, I feel it is not necessary to go to great lengths to establish the fact that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were chosen by God. We might turn to Genesis 12:3 or Genesis 26:24 or Genesis 28:14. We read in Isaiah 41:8: "But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend." Of all the people on the face of the earth, why did God choose Abraham? Abram (his shorter name before God changed it to Abraham) is briefly introduced in Genesis 11 followed quickly by the record of God's choice in Gen. 12:1. This appears to be somewhat arbitrary. It highlights God's sovereignty. These men and their descendants were not chosen because they were stronger and better than any others (Deut. 7:6-8; 9:6; 14:2) God rejected the status quo of the oldest sibling favored above the younger. Abraham is not the oldest son of Terah. The line passes from Abraham to his younger son, Isaac, and then to Isaac's younger son, Jacob. Reuben, the firstborn of Jacob and Leah, is also rejected in favor of a younger son, Judah. Notably, the idea of one God, monotheism as opposed to polytheism, was made known to the world through Abraham and his descendants (Cf. Gen. 18:19). Jewish Rabbi Louis Jacobs writes: "The world owes to Israel the idea of the one God of righteousness and holiness. This is how God became known to mankind."

The New Testament emphasizes the faith of Abraham, a man who was fully persuaded that God was able to perform His promises. We do well to emphasize that. Even today people of faith and considered "Abraham's seed." But it without question that God threw no veil over this chosen family to mask its faults, but rather presented them "warts and all." We do well to also consider that. The Genesis account of the families demonstrates the "dysfunction" of God's chosen people. God both chooses the broken and mends the chosen! 

Abraham was called by God to leave his abode and his idolatrous family (Josh. 24:2) for a land God would show him. He left behind a friends and family, but carried dysfunction with (and within) him. Nephew troubles (Gen. 13:5–14:16) may hint of larger family issues, but that is mild in comparison to other problems. In traveling to this unknown land, Abraham struck a bargain with his beautiful wife to introduce her as his sister. On two occasions Abraham's lack of fortitude -- but for God's intervention -- put Sarah in danger of adultery with Pharaoh, king of Egypt (Gen. 12:10-20) and Abimelech, king of Gerar (Gen. 20:1-18). Though trusting God for a promised seed, Abraham fell victim to his wife's suggestion that he impregnate her handmaid as a surrogate mother (Gen. 16:1-16). This led to haughtiness in the surrogate, Hagar, and bitterness in the barren Sarah. Later this same mistake would lead to sibling jealousy and the oldest son, Ishmael, was expelled from the home (Gen. 21:1-21).

Like father, like son, Isaac's home was also plagued with dysfunction. Though Isaac was not even born when Abraham and Sarah encountered Pharaoh and Abimelech, he struck a similar bargain with his wife Rebekah and passed her off as his sister. Favoritism by the parents (Gen. 25:27-28; 27:1-10) fueled jealousy and rivalry between their sons (Gen. 25:22-26; 29-34). Rebekah and Jacob schemed to steal Isaac's blessing on Esau. Esau's heart overflowed with murderous thoughts and Jacob had to flee for his life (Gen. 27:41–28:5).

In Jacob's flight he went to his uncle Laban seeking for a wife. Dysfunction in Jacob's home rose to greater heights than his father and grandfather before him. The home started on a shaky foundation with the trickery of Laban saddling Jacob with a wife he had not chosen (Gen. 29:21-30). Within a short time he had two wives, two concubines and 12 children (Gen. 29:31–30:24). Two wives are a recipe for trouble, and these two wives were sisters who were jealous of one another. Jacob's preference for the wife he had chosen -- Rachel -- stoked the flames of discontent. Not only did Jacob play "favorite wife," he had a favorite son of his favorite wife and made no bones about it (Gen. 37:1-4). Everyone knew. This fanned hatred that would not end until the favored son, Joseph, was sold into slavery (Gen. 37:4-36) and Jacob told that Joseph was dead. There is more. Simeon and Levi wielded treachery and murder in Shalem (Gen. 34:1-31) because the prince had lain sexually with their sister and wanted to marry her. The oldest son of Jacob, Reuben had sexual relations with Bilhah, Jacob's concubine (Gen. 35:22; 49:3-4). Judah (of which Christ is the Lion of the tribe of) had sexual relations with his daughter-in-law Tamar. Judah has refused to give this widow to another son under the levirate marriage law. To catch him unawares, she posed as a prostitute and became pregnant with her father-in-law's child (Gen. 38:12-26).

Stop we must, and draw for now a curtain over all these sordid affairs, lest we become proud in our own conceits! Should we not rather mourn? Are we not children of this same family? ...if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise (Gal. 3:29).

1. Considering the brokenness and dysfunction of God's chosen people should remind us of the nature of God's purpose. God’s purpose is glorious, omniscient, sovereign and immutable. It does not depend upon the merit of the receiver but rather the grace and purpose of the giver. 2 Timothy 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, (Cf. Eph. 1:9, 11; 3:11).

2. Considering the brokenness and dysfunction of God's chosen people should awaken us from the lull of our complacency. God’s people are not pure and right simply because they are God’s people. Romans 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. (Amos 6:1; 1 Cor. 15:34; Eph. 5:14)

3. Considering the brokenness and dysfunction of God's chosen people should assure us of the availability of God's mercy. God’s people may become despondent and imagine themselves beyond the grace of God and without the hope of forgiveness. But His mercies are sure and new every morning! Lamentations 3:22-23 It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. (Cf. Gen. 32:10; Isa. 55:3)

4. Considering the brokenness and dysfunction of God's chosen people should encourage us in the fulfillment of our calling. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were men of like passions as we, yet still used by God. We should not be satisfied to be as dysfunctional as we can be. We should not "sin, that grace may abound." We should sorrow, repent, and press forward. Philippians 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Cf. Eph. 1:18; 4:4; 2 Tim. 1:9; Hebrews 3:1; 2 Peter 1:10)

God has chosen the broken -- for we are all broken -- but, praise Him above all, He also chooses to mend the chosen! Through a "broken family" God chose that all the families of the earth be blessed.

Galatians 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Psalm 66

1 Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: 2 Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious. 3 Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee. 4 All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name. Selah. 5 Come and see the works of God: he is terrible in his doing toward the children of men. 6 He turned the sea into dry land: they went through the flood on foot: there did we rejoice in him. 7 He ruleth by his power for ever; his eyes behold the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah.


8 O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of his praise to be heard: 9 Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved. 10 For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. 11 Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins. 12 Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.


13 I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows, 14 Which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble. 15 I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah. 16 Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. 17 I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue. 18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: 19 But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. 20 Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.

Clarke and Holmes on the decree of God

“The decree of God is that whereby God hath from eternity set down with himself whatsoever shall come to pass in time. Eph. i. 2. All things with their causes, effects, circumstances and manner of being, are determined by God. Acts ii. 23, Acts iv. 28. This decree is most wise; Rom. xi. 33; most just; Rom. ix. 13-14; eternal; Eph. i. 4-5, II Thess. ii. 13; necessary; Psa. xxxiii. 2, Prov. xix. 21; unchangeable; Heb. xi. 17; most free; Rom. ix. 13; and the cause of all good; Jam. i. 17; but not of any sin; I John i. 5. The special decree of God concerning angels and men is called predestination. Rom. viii. 30.” -- Introductory to articles of faith evidently written by John Clarke and Obadiah Holmes for the baptized church of Christ in Newport, Rhode Island. I’m not sure when this was written, but sometime before Clarke’s death in 1676. Typed as recorded in John Clarke (1609-1676) Pioneer in American Medicine, Democratic Ideals, and Champion of Religious Liberty, by Louis Franklin Asher, p. 117; This is a clear expression of what the English and American Particular Baptist believed regarding predestination.

Does God control chiggers?

"And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow (Joshua 24.12)."

"Some of the preacher brethren have been criticized as being 'extreme' on the doctrine of predestination, just because they believe that God predestinated and controls the whereabouts of chiggers, fleas, flies and gnats, and these preachers are neither afraid nor ashamed to say publicly that they believe it...If God cannot or does not control chiggers, then I suppose either devils or angels must, or else chiggers control themselves. We know for certain that man cannot control them. Now, if God doesn’t control a chigger and man can’t, then it is doubtful that angels or devils do." -- Hornets, by C. C. Morris

God sends Joseph to Egypt

Talking of all God's wondrous works...remembering the "marvellous works that he hath done," the Psalmist writes--

Psalm 105:17 - He [God] sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:

In selling Joseph, the sons of Jacob acted of their own sinful nature. When Joseph says of his brothers "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive," he is clearly talking about the same thing, not two different events. What is the antecedent of "it"? God either meant it or He didn't. Joseph says He did. If any of us say otherwise, we say differently than God's word. God neither forced their actions nor simply knew in advance what they would do. It is that their evil, meant by them as evil, He chose to bring about good. Joseph would not have been in Egypt to deliver the sons of Jacob if they had not sold him in slavery (as well the rest of the chain of events where God's Providence put him in the exact places at the exact times). God chose that it be so. It would not be some other way. But his choice was not causative. He did not make the evil enter into their heart.

God is good in His means as well as in His ends. Is not Joseph's brothers selling him into slavery part of God's means? He might have theoretically gotten there any number of ways. But he did not. Neither does the Bible indicate that God meant that Joseph get there some other way. Did God have to wait to see what choice the brothers would make and then figure out something from there, in time? Or did He purpose from eternity what He would do?

Proorizo in the King James Bible

A Critique of Joseph R. Holder’s King James Translation of προορίζω [proorizo] Versus Other Contemporary Translations.

The full text of Elder Holder’s essay/word study can be read HERE. He inspects the six uses of the word προορίζω [proorizo] in the Greek New Testament and the corresponding translations of it in the King James Bible. The word study is designed to take effect on those of us who love and use the King James Bible – the particular effect being to reject the idea of God’s predestination of things. Brother Holder notes that when people are referenced in four uses of proorizo, the KJB uses predestinate. When “associated with impersonal events” the translators use different English words rather than predestinate.

We can agree on:
1. In Romans 8:29, 30 and Ephesians 1:5, 11 the KJB uses predestinate/d; in Acts 4:28 and I Cor. 2:7 determined before and ordained before are used.
2. The King James translation is accurate.

It may seem, those propositions granted, that Elder Holder’s case is proven. It may seem -- but not so fast. Let us look at the whole picture. In my opinion, this study contains some errors in logic. The first few I will pass over briefly then move on toward more weighty matters.

It is a linguistic fallacy that two different English words cannot mean the same thing. There are English words that have the same or similar meaning, semantic overlap, etc. Of itself, the fact that different English words are used in different verses proves little. Will we take the position that every usage of two different words in the KJB must mean two completely different things? If we believe this “different words principle” is valid, let us apply it consistently. For example, always omit the word “love” from any and all preached or written references to I Corinthians chapter 13. “Love” is found nowhere in that chapter in the KJB.

Next is an underlying ad hominem fallacy that implies guilt by association. “Predestinate” is used in the ESV and NASB where it is not in the KJB. Then the Christian who references predestination in Acts 4:28 or I Cor. 2:7 is associated with these contemporary translations. Yet some Christians used “predestinate” to refer to things long before any of these modern translations existed. They evidently didn’t get the idea there.

And Elder Holder makes the mistake of attributing his conclusion – avoiding any implication of attributing to God the acts of those who crucified Jesus – as the reason the King James translators made particular word choices. This is an assumption at best. It would be interesting to investigate the beliefs of the King James translators regarding predestination.

But now I pass on to Elder Holder’s conclusion. For the sake of argument I will try to stick with his terms. But this is more than a disagreement of word choices.

The author defines predestination as causative or controlling when it applies to people and their salvation. But then he asserts that God’s involvement in events/things (particularly the crucifixion; no notice is taken of I Cor. 2:7) is neither causative nor controlling, with no investigation of the actual words in Acts 4:28 in the King James Bible. In the end, Elder Holder rests his case before he makes it.

The false dilemma or the “horns of a dilemma” fallacy. Given his two choices – “Did God effectually take over the minds and actions of otherwise law-abiding civil servants and religious leaders and force them to commit the dreadful acts that they committed against our Lord? Or did God intervene in the evil intents of these men and prevent them from doing far more than they did?” – one might naturally choose the latter. But these are not our only choices. Did God permit the actions of wicked civil servants and let religious zealots commit dreadful acts against our Lord in His determination to “bruise Him,” “put Him to grief” and “make His soul an offering for sin”? Or did He control their actions? Or could it have been one of several other ideas folks might hold? Perhaps a combination of causation, control and/or permission? Or determination of the acts of the wicked without culpability for those acts? Bible students hold more than just the two explanations of this essay.

The false cause or cum hoc, ergo propter hoc (with this therefore because of this). The events surrounding the coming of Christ are taken as examples “of divine limitation rather than divine cause.” But this is an assumption in which the facts prove what one already believes rather than founding the belief. Examples of divine limitation could just as well be examples of divine cause. The facts do not distinguish one from the other. That “Jesus came into the world at a time when Rome governed Judah…” can just as well be cause as limitation. If not, why not? “The timing of the crucifixion the day before a religious holiday…” can just as well be cause as limitation. If not, why not?

So God was merely intervening at intervals to limit what happened to Jesus? Never mind that Jesus came in the fullness of time that God actively determined and accurately prophesied. God determined when and where and by whom Jesus would be born. It was neither accident nor permission that the Spirit overshadowed a particular young virgin in a particular era. God was active in determining the crucifixion, yea, even before the foundation of the world. It pleased the Lord to bruise Him and make His soul an offering for sin. God gave Pilate authority (John 19:11), for without it he had no power against Jesus. God spared not His Son, but delivered Him up for us, Rom. 8:32. God gave Jesus the cup to drink, John 18:11. God awakened the sword against Him, Zech. 13:7. These and other verses contain the language of causation, not permission; action, not passivity.

Now let us inspect what the King James Bible records in Acts 4:28 and I Cor. 2:7.

Ordained before the world. I Corinthians 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
Holder takes no notice of this beyond citing it. A consistent approach would mean that God only permitted Paul to reveal the hidden mysteries and did not actively determine anything before the world began. But God was deliberate in hiding it (Col. 1:26; Eph. 3:9) and active (not passive) in revealing it. And He determined/ordained this to be before the world began. Cf. I Cor. 2:10, God hath revealed.

Determined before. Acts 4:28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
Is Acts 4:28 in the language of causation or permission? Notice the King James Bible says the truth = against Jesus, Herod, Pontius Pilate, Gentiles and Israelites were gathered together (passive) to do what? Whatsoever God and God’s counsel determined. This is not permission. God had determined these events. And they are before determined (pre-determined). Notice a parallel passage in Acts 2:22-23. Jesus was delivered how? By the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. The men of Israel in their acts were wicked. Peter does not pass this off as God merely allowing it to happen. Neither does he charge God with wickedness. There are no words in these verses of God passively permitting the crucifixion or simply prohibiting things from getting out of hand. It is a curious theology indeed in which God predestines the end (eternal glory of His people) but fails to predetermine the means (the death and shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross). The Bible declares that Jesus stood a lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Cf. I Pet. 1:19-20; Rev. 13:8).

In my opinion, Elder Holder fails to make the case. He does not give sufficient reason that the King James Bible translations of proorizo prove God did not predetermine things/events before the foundation of the world. We can for the sake of argument accept Elder Holder’s terms and speak of God predestinating people and determining before things. If this were only a disagreement of word choices, it could be resolved quickly. But one will find that in dropping predestinating and speaking of determining before, Elder Holder and other limited predestinarians still will not agree that God determined beforehand and brought to pass the events of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It is not so much in the words that we disagree, but in the theology.

Divine purpose and causality

Speaking of his trials, Job says, "But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth. For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him." (Job 23:13-14)

Talking of all God's wondrous works...remembering the "marvellous works that he hath done," the Psalmist writes--

Psalm 105:17 He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:
Psalm 105:25 He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtilly with his servants.

The brothers of Joseph acted of their own sinful nature. When Joseph says of his brothers "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive," he is clearly talking about the same thing, not two different events. What is the antecedent of "it"? God either meant it or He didn't. Joseph says He did. If any of us say otherwise, we say differently than God's word. The best explanation is neither that God caused their actions nor that He simply knew in advance what they would do. It is that their evil, meant by them as evil, He chose to bring about good. Joseph would not have been in Egypt to deliver the sons of Jacob if they had not sold him in slavery (as well the rest of the chain of events were God's Providence that put him in the exact place at the exact time). God chose that it be so. It would not be some other way.

God is good in His means as well as in His ends. Was the brothers selling Joseph into slavery not part of God's means? Certainly he might have theoretically gotten to Egypt any number of ways. But he did not. Neither does the Bible indicate that God meant that he get there some other way. Did God wait to see what choice the brothers would make and go from there, in time? Or did He purpose from eternity what He would do?

When speaking of God there is always some element that certain things that are wrong for us according to His precepts, are not wrong for God. For example, God (as sovereign and creator) may take life/kill where we may not. Examples of this abound in the Scriptures. And there are a few times God is portrayed as "causing" something that might "seem" sinful (but is not). As Gordon Clark writes, "The Jews ought not to have demanded Christ's crucifixion. It was contrary to the moral law. But God decreed Christ's death from the foundation of the world." Or, attributing David's numbering of Israel to both God and the Devil. Or, for example, the lying of the lying prophets in I Kings 22 is attributed to the will and definitive affirmation of God.

Absolute Predestination and Means

"Absolute predestination does not set aside, nor render superfluous the use of preaching, exhortation, etc. We prove from the examples of Christ Himself and His apostles, who all taught and insisted upon the article of predestination, and yet took every opportunity of preaching to sinners and enforced their ministry with proper rebukes and exhortations as occasion required. Though they showed unanswerably that salvation is the free gift of God and lies entirely at His sovereign disposal, that men can of themselves do nothing spiritually good, and that it is God who of His own pleasure works in them both to will and to do, yet they did not neglect to address their auditors as beings possessed of reason and conscience, nor omitted to remind them of their duties as such; but showed them their sin and danger by nature, and laid before them the appointed way and method of salvation as exhibited in the Gospel.

"Our Savior Himself expressly, and in the end, assures us that no man can come to Him except the Father draw him, and yet He says, ‘Come unto Me, all ye that labor.’ Peter told the Jews that they had fulfilled ‘the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God,’ in putting the Messiah to death (Acts 2:21), and yet sharply rebukes them for it. Paul declares, ‘It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,’ and yet exhorts the Corinthians so to run to obtain the prize. He assures us that ‘we know not what to pray for as we ought,’ (Romans 8:26), and yet directs us to ‘pray without ceasing,’ (1 Thessalonians 5:17). He avers that the foundation or decree of the Lord standeth sure, (2 Timothy 2:19) and yet cautions him who ‘thinks he stands, to take heed lest he fall,’ (1 Corinthians 10:12). James, in like manner says that ‘every good and perfect gift cometh down from above,’ and yet exhorts those who want wisdom to ask of God.

"So, then all these being means whereby the elect are frequently enlightened into the knowledge of Christ, and by which they are, after they have believed through grace, built up in Him, and are means of their perseverance in grace to the end. These are so far from being vain and insignificant that they are highly useful and necessary, and answer many valuable and important ends, without in the least shaking the doctrine of predestination in particular or the analogy of faith in general." -- Jerome Zanchius- 1516-1590

God, Satan and Job

Job 1:21-22 And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.
Job 2:3 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.
Job 2:10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

Did Satan initiate the troubles of Job? What was God's part in it? Can God be credited with work that Satan did? In Job 1:11 Satan says, "But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face." And then in verse 21 of all his loss Job says, "the LORD hath taken away," and the Bible says in this "Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly." When we get to chapter two, of all this God says Satan "movedst me against him."

When Satan went "forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job," Job's wife told him to "curse God, and die." Rather Job replied, "What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" Again the Bible says in this "did not Job sin with his lips."

Speaking of his trials, Job says, "But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth. For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him." (Job 23:13)

Anyone care to explain how they see these verses?

From Zanchius' Absolute Predestination

As we here in East Texas dig ourselves out of our holes from whence Hurricane Ike has driven us, may we recognize that God holds the storms in His hands and they may only go where He directs.

Now, fresh from my hole and finding access to electricity, a few excerpts from Zanchius' book, which I read last month.

"Some seem to believe what God has done, He must do, as if there is some law superior to Him. 'Nay but,' says one, 'God's own attributes of goodness and justice, holiness and truth, are a law to Himself.' I answer, 'Amen, the Lord is holy in all His ways and righteous in all His works' (Psalm 145:17). He cannot be chargeable with injustice for disposing of His own as He will."

"The laws promulgated by Him are designed for the rule of our conduct, not of His." -- Jerome Zanchius

Augustine: "The commandment will tell thee, O man, what thou oughtest to have, reproof will show thee wherein thou art wanting, and praying will teach thee from whom thou must receive the supplies which thou wantest."

Augustine: "We must preach, we must reprove, we must pray, because they to whom grace is given will hear and act accordingly, though they to whom grace is not given will do neither."

"Conversion and salvation must, in the very nature of things, be wrought and effected either by ourselves alone, or by ourselves and God together, or solely by God Himself. The Pelagians were for the first. The Arminians are for the second. True believers are for the last, because the last hypotheses, and that only, is built on the strongest evidence of Scripture, reason and experience: it most effectually hides pride from man, and sets the crown of undivided praise upon the head, or rather casts it at the feet, of that glorious Triune God, who worketh all in all." -- Jerome Zanchius, p. 104

"When a converted person is assured, on one hand, that all whom God hath predestinated to eternal life shall infallibly enjoy that eternal life to which they are chosen, and, on the other hand, when he discerns the signs of election, not only in himself, but also in the rest of his fellow-believers, and concludes from thence (as in a judgment of charity he ought) that they are as really elected as himself, how must his heart glow with love to his Christians brethren! How feelingly will he sympathise with them in their distresses! How tenderly will he bear with their infirmities! How tenderly will he bear with infirmities How readily will he relieve the former, and how easily overlook the latter. Nothing will so effectually knit together the hearts of God's people in time as the belief of their having been written by name in one book of life from everlasting, and the unshaken confidence of their future exaltation to one and the same state of glory above will occasion the strongest cement of affection below." -- Jerome Zanchius pp. 111,112

"Himself is the causa causarum, the cause of all causes beside." -- Seneca

The Doctrine of Absolute Predestination Stated and Asserted by Jerome Zanchius