Free Will Costs More than You Can Afford

Just yesterday, I was watching the television show House, and I was quickly reminded why I watch so little TV. For those of you unfamiliar with the show, Dr. House is a cynical, sarcastic skeptic who seems to be seriously out of touch with his feelings. In this particular episode, he met a faithless Catholic priest trying to reconcile his lack of faith with an apparent "hallucination" of a crucified Jesus. As usual, the lack of faith was blamed on "free will" and the problem of evil that results. It was the same, tired story about God "letting us make our own decisions and suffer the consequences" (to paraphrase). God's sovereignty was reduced to, as the priest stated, " coincidence...God working anonymously." Sound familiar?

Unfortunately, it usually does. I was in a discussion on a "General Discussion" section of a car forum the other day, and lo & behold, an agnostic was stating the inconsistencies of the concept of "free-will" and the Bible....and using it as one of the main objections to the Christian faith. Wait, what? The sad thing is (in my experience anyway) that Arminianists are typically so biased on the subject, that their presuppositions veil their eyes from what is obvious even to a non-believer.

The biggest issue here is that the issue of "free-will" seems to be central to the "Christian" belief system, no matter how many preachers try to avoid it. At its core, Calvinists and Arminianists preach an altogether different kind of gospel. Check out what Charles Spurgeon once had to say on the subject:

"And I have my own private opinion that there is no such a thing as preaching Christ and him crucified, unless you preach what now-a-days is called Calvinism. I have my own ideas, and those I always state boldly. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the gospel, if we do not preach justification by faith, without works; nor unless we preach the sovereignty of God in his dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering, love of Jehovah; nor do I think we can preach the gospel, unless we base it upon the peculiar redemption which Christ made for his elect and chosen people; nor can I comprehend a gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called, and suffers the children of God to be burned in the fires of damnation after having believed. Such a gospel I abhor. The gospel of the Bible is not such a gospel as that. We preach Christ and him crucified in a different fashion, and to all gainsayers we reply, "We have not so learned Christ."
(Sermon number 98 New Park Street Pulpit 1:100)

More coming soon...