Bible Question:
Dear Tim, Do you believe that there are different meanings attached to the term "will" that are comprehended from the context that the term is found in? John |
Bible Answer: Greetings John! Not really! My understanding of sovereignty is this: 1) God ordains His grand scheme - which is to show mercy to all. 2) Within God grand scheme, He has given us the ability to choose - to respond to His grace or to reject His grace. 3) I reject the view of God's sovereignty which rules out any free will. But, do you see why I have been talking about this issue of clear statements. Calvinism muddies the water. "All" doesn't really mean 'all'. 'World' doesn't really mean 'world'. Now, 'will' doesn't really mean 'will'. :-) I firmly believe that Calvinism has to reject the clear meaning of these words simply because they do not support Calvinism. I always give my students one (among others) simple text of Biblical interpretation: The more hoops someone has to go through to explain why the text doesn't realy mean what it says, the more likely they are wrong. I don't think God made it that difficult. If He meant John 3:16 to apply to only the elect, He could have simply said: "For God so loved a select few that He gave His only begotten Son that they and only they might not perish" I'm not sure it would have had the same effect though! :-) Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |