10 Challenges Response to Louis Ruggiero - Challenge #1

[rsaylors]

I don't get why the hardening of hearts had to happen if they were already depraved; Shouldn't their hearts already be hardened?

If God has for-setup everything, why does God intervene in any way, when it all goes exactly as God planed?

Also, we are made alive in Christ, and there in have the will of a living being.

[prchdaword]

@rsaylors Total Depravity does not teach that sinners act as bad as they could be; there are degrees of how far God will let one go in their sinfulness. God's grace (theologically called "common grace") actually restrains much sin but as an act of judgment, God judicially "hands over" a person to more of their own sinfulness. This is the case with the hardening of Pharaoh's heart and in Romans 1 as well.

[prchdaword]

@rsaylors the "hardening" in other words, is more of a "loosening" of the restraint that actually holds back much of the sinfulness of men. No Calvinist teaches that Total Depravity means that we are as bad as we could be, but rather that the "totality" of our being is corrupted, which includes the will. Many misunderstand "total depravity" or "total inability" to mean one demonstrates as much depravity as they are capable of naturally. Not so.

[prchdaword]

@rsaylors Hence, theologians like R.C. Sproul have pointed out that the term "total" is a misleading one that cause people think we are as corrupted as we could be and show it, but again, it only means that the totallity of our being is affected by sin. There is no part of our being - including our will - that is not effected by sin. So R. C. has proposed "Radical Depravity" to say that the "core" of our being is depraved.

[prchdaword]

@rsaylors So really, Pharaoh already possessed the "hardness" of heart...he already possessed the rebellion....but God now placed Pharaoh under conditions that would stir up that rebellion and God - who in his omnipotence could have withheld him from sinning as he did the kings who wanted to sleep with Sarah from sinning - "handed him over" to be who and what was already in Pharaoh.

[prchdaword]

@rsaylors Now, as per the "set up" , Calvinist are not Deist who believe that simply because God has a plan, he has "wound up creation and left it alone". Rather, God is providentially upholding, sustaining and governing all of Creation moment by moment to the minutest detail. There is no molecule that God is not currently in control of! He is providentially guiding all things according to His will and, hence, all things happen as God has foreordained.

[prchdaword]

@rsaylors If God is not involved in His own creation, then it would disintegrate back to non-existence as Creation is not self-sustaining. It is not necessary. It is contingent upon God's will, hence God's will upholds and sustains all things as they are. His will and involvement are unescapable in all of creation, including our choices. The very power to make a choice comes from Him....God has to be involved....or else why call Him God in any way?

[prchdaword]

@rsaylors as per your third question, Christians....those born again, are alive in Christ....the text really doesn't mention anything about the nature of the will (Eph. 2:1) so to draw much on the nature of the will for all men there is a misapplication of the text.

[Lightrider4444]

I had a conversation with my friend earlier today, and he argued me into the corner of actually thinking that I was a deterministic fatalist type person, which kind of bothered me. Actually, still kind of bothers me. Does god play dice with the universe? Could there be a violation of causality? Do I even make decisions? I don't know if any of the possible answers are desirable. Positing an extra-universal omnipotent god might be the only escape from this troubling line of thought. Search goes on