Apparently I'm Practically Nonexistent Species? LOL!
Yesterday I sat in STRONG (Hall) #204 in my REL 320: Jesus of Nazareth course a bit more than slightly frustrated with the clips our class had just watched from The Last Temptation of Christ. We were comparing this fictional re-telling of Christ's life to the gnostic Gospel of Judas. I'm not sure which notion was more difficult to stomach-- the gnostic view that YHWH is the evil creator that we need to defeat (essentially), or the notion that Jesus and Judas... cuddled... (and more?) Yuck.
ANYWAY.
A student in the class brought up a point that he had always struggled with growing up: If it was foreordained that Judas would have to betray Jesus, and it had to happen for Jesus to save the world, why should Judas suffer and be held to blame for his actions? I just sat there in my silence fully confidant of the answer. And yes, I too had wondered this before -- he was supposed to do this, and yet he is held to blame? But after years of maturing in the faith, I was able to see that it doesn't matter that he was supposed to do this, foreordained by God. The question is: DID JUDAS SIN? Answer: YES! He betrayed the Savior -- a sin against God. Because he sinned, he along with EVERY OTHER HUMAN BEING, DESERVES DEATH AND PUNISHMENT IN HELL!! No one deserves Heaven -- if they did, it wouldn't be grace, would it? It would be earned merit. They are not the same. Besides, are not all men his? Can he not do with his creation what he wishes? Apparently this gentleman (and other fellow students) had never read/fully understood Romans 9.
But instead of pipping in I just sat there with a sort of grimace on my face... amazed that someone would imply that another DIDN'T deserve Hell because of their sin. However this notion continued to flow about the room as Dr Baynes too seems to imply that it is somehow unjust that Judas should be cursed, when this was all predestined to happen. "Many people today have a problem with this notion of Predestination." I just sat and quietly rolled my eyes to myself. THEN came the statement that nearly knocked me out of my seat -- "And very few (if any) believe in this idea of Predestination today." :-O The manner in which she said this implied, to me, that she felt Predestination is some irrelevant archaic product of the Reformation that really has an average of maybe 8 or 9 that accept this as truth. I am not denying that the majority rejects this fundamental concept upon which the Reformation was built upon (this may not even bother me so much -- Mt 7:13-14)
However the idea that she seemed to convey that practically NO ONE believes in such a doctrine anymore is quite silly, and really showed her ignorance on the issue IF she was implying practically no one upholds such doctrine. Maybe she hasn't heard of RC Sproul. John MacArthur. John Piper. Dr. James White. Mark Driscoll. Phillip Johnson. Those are just a small handful of leaders within Christendom who recognize the biblical doctrine of Election. However Dr. Baynes seemed to just pass the idea off as something that could be compared to the old belief that the world was indeed flat.
Eventually I did speak up from the back of the class and proclaim, "Well, they are out there," to which she did acknowledge this is true -- they are out there. I just smiled and said, "Yes, WE are!" :-) "We?" she asked. "We." She seemed a bit taken back and some in the class got a little laugh out of that-- I think even more of the class may have turned to see what a Calvinist ACTUALLY looked like. As if I had an extra head or something and was needing to be locked up in a cage and stared at by paying onlookers. "Well then, I guess I'll have to watch what I say now." ... I am not sure about this statement-- what bad could she say about such a view. Although she's right-- it is uncommon for good sound biblical doctrine to grace the presence of the liberal-leaning Religious Studies Dept. @ MSU. ;-)
I guess I'm not one to embrace much man-centered theology...
<><
ANYWAY.
A student in the class brought up a point that he had always struggled with growing up: If it was foreordained that Judas would have to betray Jesus, and it had to happen for Jesus to save the world, why should Judas suffer and be held to blame for his actions? I just sat there in my silence fully confidant of the answer. And yes, I too had wondered this before -- he was supposed to do this, and yet he is held to blame? But after years of maturing in the faith, I was able to see that it doesn't matter that he was supposed to do this, foreordained by God. The question is: DID JUDAS SIN? Answer: YES! He betrayed the Savior -- a sin against God. Because he sinned, he along with EVERY OTHER HUMAN BEING, DESERVES DEATH AND PUNISHMENT IN HELL!! No one deserves Heaven -- if they did, it wouldn't be grace, would it? It would be earned merit. They are not the same. Besides, are not all men his? Can he not do with his creation what he wishes? Apparently this gentleman (and other fellow students) had never read/fully understood Romans 9.
But instead of pipping in I just sat there with a sort of grimace on my face... amazed that someone would imply that another DIDN'T deserve Hell because of their sin. However this notion continued to flow about the room as Dr Baynes too seems to imply that it is somehow unjust that Judas should be cursed, when this was all predestined to happen. "Many people today have a problem with this notion of Predestination." I just sat and quietly rolled my eyes to myself. THEN came the statement that nearly knocked me out of my seat -- "And very few (if any) believe in this idea of Predestination today." :-O The manner in which she said this implied, to me, that she felt Predestination is some irrelevant archaic product of the Reformation that really has an average of maybe 8 or 9 that accept this as truth. I am not denying that the majority rejects this fundamental concept upon which the Reformation was built upon (this may not even bother me so much -- Mt 7:13-14)
However the idea that she seemed to convey that practically NO ONE believes in such a doctrine anymore is quite silly, and really showed her ignorance on the issue IF she was implying practically no one upholds such doctrine. Maybe she hasn't heard of RC Sproul. John MacArthur. John Piper. Dr. James White. Mark Driscoll. Phillip Johnson. Those are just a small handful of leaders within Christendom who recognize the biblical doctrine of Election. However Dr. Baynes seemed to just pass the idea off as something that could be compared to the old belief that the world was indeed flat.
Eventually I did speak up from the back of the class and proclaim, "Well, they are out there," to which she did acknowledge this is true -- they are out there. I just smiled and said, "Yes, WE are!" :-) "We?" she asked. "We." She seemed a bit taken back and some in the class got a little laugh out of that-- I think even more of the class may have turned to see what a Calvinist ACTUALLY looked like. As if I had an extra head or something and was needing to be locked up in a cage and stared at by paying onlookers. "Well then, I guess I'll have to watch what I say now." ... I am not sure about this statement-- what bad could she say about such a view. Although she's right-- it is uncommon for good sound biblical doctrine to grace the presence of the liberal-leaning Religious Studies Dept. @ MSU. ;-)
I guess I'm not one to embrace much man-centered theology...
<><
Haha, I read your blog and you sound like me! I go through the same thing at HBU. Anyways, I enjoyed reading your entry, good to know there is another Calvinist out there =)
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