Evidently Anthony Buzzard was listening to my exchange with Michael Brown today, and, not surprisingly, being a Socinian, is far more in line with Arminian soteriology than Reformed. Here is a comment he left on Dr. Brown’s website:
Dr. Brown,
I think you should continue to press your point about the constant plea of God that we choose to do right. If in fact we’re not making any choice, and all the choices are made by Him, then language has ceased to have any intelligible meaning. Calvin’s God simply plays games with the human race if He commands everyone everywhere to repent, knowing full well that He has already decided that it is impossible for the non-elect to be saved.
You will note that Buzzard does not understand the position he is denying: who said “we’re not making any choice”? Surely not I. We make choices all the time. What I did assert was what the Scriptures teach:
“because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Rom. 8:7-8)
We make decisions all the time: outside of grace, rebellious decisions, sinful decisions. Notice as well the Socinian man-centeredness, as if condemned men deserve some kind of “chance.” The Gospel isn’t a game of chance, a system to be “worked” to gain something from God. It is the Triune God’s central act of self-glorification. But, again, we are dealing with a non-Christian view of the Bible here (Socinianism), so that should hardly be surprising.
Of course, the question in my mind is, “Was Sir Anthony listening to the DL as well?” Let’s hope so!
My thanks to Michael Brown once again for a very engaging conversation. I really look forward to tomorrow, and even more so, when we can have Dr. Brown on the DL. We should try to arrange that as soon as possible, though, my trip to London will put a major hole in the upcoming schedule, obviously. I didn’t mention it, but I wanted to chuckle on the air, since each time Dr. Brown said he was going to join me on the DL, he said, “God willing.”
