Whosoever Is Libertarian Free-will?

A great example of the power of Tradition within Baptist camps comes from Tony Cartledge, the editor of the Biblical Recorder. I must agree with Tom Ascol that Tony is hardly an anti-Calvinist. He admits to not understanding Calvinism and that there may be other ways of understanding a particular text.

For instance he concludes with this statement, "I'm probably more open than many Baptists to the idea that scripture can often be interpreted in different ways. The plain meaning of John 3:16, however, is something I can't imagine giving up."

I would like to examine his understanding of John 3:16 and see what his plain meaning is.

He says earlier in his Blog:

What about John 3:16, which says "whosoever believes in him shall have everlasting life"?

I don't claim to understand the inner workings of Calvinism in all its modified forms, but there must be some heavy parsing of meaning going on if you can turn "whosoever believes in Him" into "whosoever God has elected to infuse with grace so their eyes might be opened to respond in faith."

Now there is much wrong in his view of the Calvinist understanding, but notice he defines "whosoever" as being equivalent with a person with autonomous free-will. Notice he never comes right out and admits that. It is just assumed into the word. Surely Jesus never would have said "whosoever" unless He meant it in an Americanized free-will culture...would He?

There are two problems with the arminian or non-Calvinist understanding of the term whosoever. First is that whosoever could easily mean any kind of man. Whether slave or free, rich or poor, male or female and ect.. This idea fits much better with the context since Jesus is explaining that the Kingdom of God does not come through natural birth, but by a work of the Holy Spirit in a person's life.

Therefore the power of Tradition defining terms without people even realizing they are assuming definitions shines through. "Whosoever" can and should be defined by the passage and not by a philosophical viewpoint.

Secondly and even more important, the term "whosoever" does not exist in the text. Go ahead and look it up in the Greek interlinear translations. It is not there. Here is a literal translation:

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone believing into Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Please keep in mind that Jesus is describing the work of the Trinity in saving sinners. He describes that "everyone believing" or the "believing ones" have everlasting life. No mention of free-will is even hinted at in this text.

So in conclusion, whenever we approach the Bible, we must do so in a God-honoring fashion. We must keep in mind we do have our Traditions. Lest we be like the Dave Hunts who think they have none. For in doing so, as Dr. White has stated many times, we become those, "who are the most influenced by them."

Soli Deo Gloria