Calvinism Defended:
Where Murderers Go, Hitler, and the Autobahn
By
This is the 29th section of the e-mail exchange I had with Bill, an individual who objected to Calvinism. Click here to go back to the table of contents, or here to go to the full 88 page exchange.
Bill Writes: Where do murderers go when they die?
My
Response: The
same place that those who bear false testimony, Bill. The same place that those
who do not love God with all of their heart, mind and strength, or love their
neighbor as themselves, or keep the law of God perfectly, Bill.
By the way, it is not the mere outward act of the unlawful taking of a
life that is a sin, but also the heart of the issue, as Jesus pointed out.
Have you, Bill, ever been guilty of harboring evil thoughts toward one
you have been called to love? Have
you, Bill, ever lusted after a woman in your heart?
Have you ever not done something you knew you should have done?
Have you Bill, in any 1 single second of your life, perfectly loved God
with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength, or perfectly loved your
neighbor as yourself? If you wish
to pass judgment on those whom you never knew personally, and who lived under
wholly different circumstances than you, and pass judgment on the state of their
soul, then you are walking on shaky ground indeed.
I for one do not know how I would have reacted to my “religious”
enemies if I had lived back then, when those who opposed the orthodox position
of the church were in violation of the law of the state, with the death penalty
being a very real form of punishment. I
could hold a self-righteous attitude and think that there is no way I would have
condoned or participated in such things, but, I know far too well how far short
of God’s glory I fall, and the reality is that you and I are no better than
they. Given the same circumstances, it is the height of pride to
think that we would have acted differently.
Bill Writes: I am sure that you can find someone to say something good even about Hitler. He did build the autobahn.
My Response: Bill, if you want to be heard, such things as this are not helping your cause. Make your appeal to Scripture, and stop slandering people that you never knew. God is the moral judge of Calvin, Augustine, Luther, etc., not you. You have a lot to say Bill, and that’s fine, and I welcome a good discussion on the teaching of the Bible. But your biggest objection to Calvinism so far has been character assassination, not Biblical exegesis.