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NASB | Acts 4:24 And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, "O Lord, it is You who MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Acts 4:24 And when they heard it, they raised their voices together to God and said, "O Sovereign Lord [having complete power and authority], it is You who MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND EVERYTHING THAT IS IN THEM, [Ex 20:11; Ps 146:6] |
Subject: Is God in absolut contrl over all things |
Bible Note: You make a good point .............................................. Dear John, You have made another good point here in your last post. You said that the analogy is missing the sacrifice of the parent. Therefore, I will make another ammendment to the analogy to reflect that very important aspect of the Calvinist perspective (which the Arminians would agree with, I might add). This newest version of the analogy is thus: .............................................. Imagine a parent who has twin children, Tom and Jerry, who are consistently disobedient. The parent, through genetic engineering, caused both of their children to be born without any legs. Then when they were both 10 years old, the parent had his own two legs amputated to make a set of artificial legs for Tom so that Tom could walk. But the parent did not get any legs for Jerry. Then one day the parent (whose legs miraculously grew back) decides to go for a walk to the ice cream store. The parent invites both children to walk with them, but says it is their choice. Tom can’t pass up the opportunity for ice cream, and gladly accepts. Jerry however doesn’t have any legs, and so he doesn’t have the ability to go. The question is, “Does Jerry really have a choice to walk to the store if he has been born without any legs?” For that matter, “If the ice cream is truly irresistable, then does Tom have a real choice either? .............................................. The rest of your post basically said that Tom and Jerry are both terrible people who DESERVE to be legless. But that is irrelevant to the question. Whether they DESERVE to be legless or not, the point is that only one of them is given legs. Whether humans DESERVE to be ABLE to choose to love God or not is not the point. The point is that in the Calvinist perspective only a select group of humans ARE ABLE to choose to love God. My question is NOT whether they get what they deserve. My question is whether their choice is TRULY FREE, since it is determined by the ABILITIES that God gave them. .............................................. P.S. I’m still waiting for your response to my post #62857. |