Point 3, The Gross Caricature

"It also makes Him capricious in that He chose winners and losers before the foundation of the world based on whim. In other words, He chose to affirmatively damn billions of souls before he ever created them. That kind of picture of my Lord is a gross caricature of Him."

I agree. The above is a gross caricature, not only of God, but the Reformed beliefs that supposedly teach this. Perhaps this is a repeat of Dave Hunt's "doomed from the womb" mentality. Whatever the case is, it shows that most people who think this way have never really read Reformed writings for themselves. Therefore, they have passed judgments on a system they have never truly investigated.

To give a great example, I once heard James White debating Dave Hunt on a radio program. Hunt admitted having never read the Reformers. Yet in six months time, he was suddenly an expert and decides to write, What Love Is This. It is more than the inability of Hunt to even understand Reformed theology, it is his inability to be honest with the people he ministers to, that may lead to such confusion.

The idea that God has forced men against their wills and forced them to sin in Adam is not Reformed theology. Confusing God's decree and his wrath against sin as being on the same basis as God's positive election of sinners to salvation by Grace Alone as being "capricious" is simply showing a great misunderstanding. Simply because we do not see why God has chosen to do what He does, does not mean God is "capricious". If God decides to give one man salvation, and God decides not to tell us why He chose that man, how is that being "capricious"?

Was God being "capricious" when He chose to raise Pharoe up for destruction? Was God being "capricious" when He chose to show mercy to Moses? God's secret purposes were being fulfilled in the lives and nations of these men. To be honest though, God did tell us why He raised Pharoe and Moses. He explains His purpose for Pharoe's destruction as well Moses's receiving mercy in Romans 9.

I once called the Dividing Line and talked with Dr. White about "Double Predestination". His conversation with me may shed some light for those of you, who may be wondering how God works in our lives when He has decreed all things. Here is the clip.

Using terms that enflame a discussion on an emotional level simply will not convince a Reformed person who knows his Bible. Saying God makes decisions based on a "whim" is simply nonsense, and any Reformed person reading the above quote would wince at the thought of comparing God's choosing of men based on His uniting them in Christ to a mere "whim". More thought needs to be put into a critique of Reformed theology before the non-Calvinist becomes convincing.