Just 20 of the Many Flaws with Calvinism

1. Calvinists insist that faith itself is a gift from God and that if it is not a gift then it must be a meritorious work. They can never see it as a simple condition ordained by God.

2. That regeneration must precede faith in the order of salvation.

3. They claim that Calvinism is the only system that truly upholds the God’s Sovereignty.

4. Since they teach that God unconditionally chose who would be saved then He also must have chosen who would be damned. This is a necessary conclusion even though they insist otherwise.

5. Their teaching that Christ died only for the elect clearly conflicts with the plain reading of Scripture.

6. The doctrine of total depravity is pushed to the farthest extreme to the point that people no longer have free wills to make any moral or spiritual choices.

7. The doctrine of irresistible grace teaches that God forces unwilling sinners to become willing. The only possible conclusion is that we are puppets and robots.

8. If the sovereignty of God, as Calvinists teach, is true then praying for the lost is needless. Really, all praying is needless.

9. They turn conditional “if” statements into statements of fact: (Col.1:23; Heb. 3:14).

10. They push analogies farther than were intended: dead men can’t do anything including believe; a blind man can’t see no matter how much light shines to him.

11. If God draws sinners and gives them faith to believe, why do we even need to preach the gospel at all?

12. Calvinists can never have assurance of salvation right now because according to the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints one must reach the end before they can know if they truly are one of the elect.

13. The inconsistencies between the Sovereignty of God and the free will of man are punctuated to the extreme in Calvinism.

14. The Sovereignty of God in Calvinism makes God the ultimate cause of evil.

15. They invented the doctrine of Compatibilism to try and reconcile God’s determination of our actions while still holding us responsible for them.

16. How can the gospel message be a genuine invitation to the non-elect?

17. Monergism can’t explain why God sanctifies some believers better than others.

18. They use flawed reasoning such as: “if salvation is our choice then we would stick our noses up in the air and think of ourselves as smarter than others who didn’t choose.”

19. They nullify the warnings in Scripture that a true believer can fall away and perish eternally. They do this by claiming that either the warnings are only hypothetical or that they are not directed toward true believers.

20. They have to appeal to “mystery” quite often when confronted with the inconsistencies in their system. The “secret things” (Deut. 29:29) is their favorite trap door to escape.

Jesus is God

The Messiah is called God

“The LORD said to my Lord, sit at my right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool” (Psalm 110).
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Is.9:6).
“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Is.7:14).
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting” (Mic.5:2).
“‘Behold, I send My messenger, ad he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming’ says the Lord of hosts” (Mal.3:1).

Jesus is called Jehovah

“The LORD [Jehovah] is my Shepherd; I shall not want” (Ps.23:1).
“I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11).
“Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant” (Heb.13:20).

“So I said: Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, The LORD [Jehovah] of hosts” (Is.6:5).
“These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him” (John 12:41).

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the; LORD [Jehovah]; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Is.40:3).
“This is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight’” (Matt.3:3).

“And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls” (Joel 2:32).
“And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21).
“For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom.10:13).

Titles reserved for Jehovah are also applied to Christ

“And it shall come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel, and such as have escaped of the house of Jacob, will never again depend on him who defeated them, but will depend on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth” (Is.10:20).
“But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you” (Acts 3:14).

“Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God’” (Is.44:6).
“And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid: I am the First and the Last’” (Rev.1:17).

“I, even I, am the LORD, and besides Me there is no savior” (Is.43:11).
“Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn” (Zech.12:10)
“And again another Scripture says, ‘They shall look on Him whom they pierced’” (John 19:37).

“For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe” (Deut.10:17).
“These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful” (Rev.17:14).

Jesus possesses all the incommunicable aspects of God

Christ is Omnipresent
“For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” (Matt.18:20).

Christ is Omniscient
“And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Heb.4:13).
“I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works” (Rev.2:23).

Christ is Omnipotent
“Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb.1:3).
“Far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come” (Eph.1:21).

Christ is Immutable
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb.13:8).
“For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col.2:9).

Jesus does the works of God

He is the Creator
“All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3).
“For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him” (Col.1:16).
“Has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds” (Heb.1:2).

He forgives sins
“Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:7).
“But that you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins – then He said to the paralytic, ‘Arise take up your bed, and go to your house’” (Matt.9:6).

He judges
“For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22).
“And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead” (Acts 10:42).
“I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom” (2Tim.4:1).

Jesus receives worship as God

“The Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve’” (Matt.4:10).
“And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean’” (Matt.8:2).
“Then he said, ‘Lord, I believe! And he worshiped Him’” (John 9:38).
“That all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him” (John 5:22).
“But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him’” (Heb.1:6).
“And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid: I am the First and the Last’” (Rev.1:17).

The Bible says Jesus is God

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).
“And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” (John 20:28).
“Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God” (Phil.2:6).
“Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).
“But to the Son He says: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom’” (Heb.1:8).
“Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ” (2Pet.1:1).
“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (1Jo.5:20).

Jesus said that He is God

“So He said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments’” (Matt.19:17).
“Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM’” (John 8:58).
“I and My Father are one” (John 10:30).
“And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was” (John 17:5).

Answers about the Sabbath Day

In its original setting and application the Sabbath command was a law intended only for the people of Israel. The Deuteronomic version of this commandment gives the deliverance of Israel from the bondage of Egypt as the primary reason for observing it. The keeping of the Sabbath is elsewhere declared to be the sign of Israel’s allegiance to God (Exod. 31:13; Neh. 9:14).

One way we can understand the law is in a two-fold summarization, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deut. 6:5). This is the first and great commandment and the second is like unto to it, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18). Similarly, the first half of the Ten Commandments deals with how we relate to God and the second half our relationship with people. We can only have relationships in these two directions and so all the law covers these two categories. And right in the middle of these two divisions of the Decalogue is the fourth commandment of keeping the Sabbath day.

“Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations” (Exod. 31:13). The Sabbath was a ceremonial sign placed within the Ten Commandments. We don’t have a command to circumcise every man who becomes a Christian. Why then would we extricate the very complex Sabbath law which involved every seventh day and a long list of festivals?

The Mosaic law of the Sabbath is a pretty complicated system. You go from the weekly Sabbath to the Passover. Following the Passover is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Pentecost, and then the Feast of Trumpets. All of these were counted and based upon a seven day cycle. Furthermore, there were not only weekly Sabbaths but yearly Sabbaths too including sabbaths of Sabbaths. The Year of Jubilee was counted as seven Sabbaths of years; seven times seven years. Therefore, if the Sabbath is binding on believers today then we are responsible for far more than just resting once a week; we are obligated to observe it all.

What we need to understand is that the Ten Commandments as a unit was the law of the Old Covenant which passed away (2 Cor. 3:7, 13; Eph. 2:15; Col. 2:14; Heb. 8:8-13). Now this does not mean, of course, that any moral laws have passed away. Moral laws proceed from God and are timeless and universal; they existed before the Old Covenant and continue to be in force today for all people. The Ten Commandments, along with hundreds of other commandments in the Pentateuch, simply revealed to the Jews a standard of morality they had not known before even though the moral standard had always existed. Truly the Ten Commandments as a unit passed away with the Old Covenant. This means that all of the ceremonial laws, including the Sabbath, were abolished at the time of Christ’s death yet the moral aspects continue to be in force as always.

Paul informed us that Christians are not under the law but under grace (Rom. 6:14). Peter reminded us, “But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’” (1 Pet. 1:15, 16). Therefore, our moral behavior is to be based upon the holiness of God.

How did Christ treat the Sabbath day?

If you were to ask how Christ treated the Sabbath day the answer would be “Anyway He wanted!” Christ said of Himself, “For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (Matt. 12:8). He is in charge of the Sabbath and He can do whatever He wants. He was constantly derided by the Pharisees for breaking it.

On one occasion after healing a man on the Sabbath, the Jews sought to kill Him (John 5:1-16). But Christ’s simple response was, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working” (John 5:17). His answer made Himself equal with God and above the law of the Sabbath. And the fact that Christ could “work” on the Sabbath day thereby violating it and yet still being pure from sin proves that it was not a moral but a ceremonial law. The bottom line is that Sabbath law is not moral and there are times when reason dictates it to be set aside for man’s benefit.

One thing the Pharisees did was overemphasize ceremonial laws and traditions while minimizing moral laws. But Christ did just the opposite. He stressed the absolute standard of moral laws and at times almost disregarded the ceremonial. On one occasion after healing a man on the Sabbath, He told him to “Rise, take up your bed and walk” (John 5:8). By picking up his bed and carrying it, it is as though Christ purposely wanted this man to “work” on the Sabbath to stimulate controversy over this issue.

“Then He said to them, ‘What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.’” (Matt. 12:11, 12). Christ asked this question in the synagogue before healing the man with the withered hand. His example scenario implied that even the Jews would “work” on the Sabbath to lift their own sheep out of a pit. The conclusion is that it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.

In John chapter 7, Christ gave an example of a situation where two provisions of the Law were in conflict. All male babies were to be circumcised the eighth day after their birth. But the eighth day could fall on any day of the week including the Sabbath yet the priests still carried out the “work” of circumcising children on this day. The priests concluded that circumcision took precedence over the Sabbath day and Christ agreed with them.

The Sabbath was made for man

Christ’s statement, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27), has been interpreted several ways. One understanding of it is that it points back to the original Sabbath rest of God at the time of creation. In other words, the Sabbath was made for man at the time man was made. But the problem with this view is that the book of Genesis, which records the early history of mankind, never gives account of any man keeping the Sabbath. The Sabbath day of rest was not introduced to man until the time of Moses.

Another way this statement has been understood is that the Sabbath was not just made for the Jews but for all of mankind; it “was made for man.” Yet this is difficult to reconcile with the remaining part of what Christ said “and not man for the Sabbath.” Christ was revealing the purpose for the Sabbath not who the recipients of it are.

In most likelihood, this statement reveals the ceremonial nature of the Sabbath. Ceremonial laws are “made for man,” i.e., for man’s assistance and learning. Christ was saying that just as the law concerning the showbread (Mark 2:26) was “made for man” so also was the Sabbath. Christ and His disciples could “break” the Sabbath just as David and his men could “break” the law about showbread because both were ceremonial and not moral.

Did God make the Sabbath day to be burdensome in its requirements? No, the Sabbath day was made to serve man not to be a master over him.

What is the "rest" in Hebrews 3 and 4?

Some have used this passage to teach that the keeping of the Sabbath day is binding upon Christians today. But please notice that nowhere in the whole book of Hebrews is the Sabbath day even mentioned. What is spoken of in Hebrews 3 and 4 is the rest of salvation that belongs to the people of God. The writer refers back to the beginning and teaches that God’s rest after the six days of creation is a type of the rest we have in Christ. When we believe on Jesus Christ we “rest” from our own works as God did from His (Heb. 4:10).

The writer of Hebrews was warning his Jewish Christian readers against the possibility of apostasy in “departing from the living God” (Heb. 3:12), by falling back into the works of Judaism. He used the children of Israel as an example of this. The “gospel”—the good news about the Promised Land of rest—was preached to them yet they did not enter in because of unbelief. The gospel message of the Cross had also been preached to these Christians but they have to believe it to enter in.

He then clarifies that when Israel finally did enter the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua (Heb. 4:8), this was not the fulfillment of the true rest. Otherwise David would not have prophesied many years later about the rest in Psalm 95. Remember, the type is when God rested from His works after creating the universe. The antitype is the rest of salvation in Christ that still belongs to the people of God.

On a different note, the Sabbath day itself was also a type of the rest of Christ. “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” (Col.2:16, 17). Ceremonial laws, including the Sabbath, are types of Christ. The true substance and fulfillment are found in Him.

A few points for thought

• If keeping the Sabbath is a moral law, why is it never repeated in the New Testament like the other nine of the Ten Commandments?

• Nowhere in the New Testament is there prescribed any adherence to the Sabbath. Not only this, but never does the apostle Paul or any New Testament writer chide believers for violating the Sabbath.

• Jesus equated the Sabbath with ceremonial sacrifice in Matthew 12:1-7. Therefore, He taught that it was a ceremonial law.

• Old Testament and New Testament writers consistently place the Sabbath in lists of other ceremonial laws. No moral law is grouped or listed with ceremonial laws (1 Chr. 23:31; 2 Chr. 2:4-8, 13; 31:3; Neh. 10:33; Ezek. 45:17; Hos. 2:11; Col. 2:16).

Reply to Francis Beckwith

Dr. Beckwith, you asked, “Where have I gone wrong in this reasoning?”
http://romereturn.blogspot.com/2010/01/sola-scriptura-and-canon-of-scripture.html
Well, sir, I believe you went wrong in your very first statement, “Because the list of canonical books is itself not found in Scripture…” What you’ve done is set up an artificial criteria (which you already know won’t be met) and basically said that since it isn’t met then it isn’t true. It’s not too much different, for example, than non-Trinitarians arguing that since the word “Trinity” isn’t found in Scripture then the doctrine of the Trinity must not be true.

The Jews already set the Old Testament canon before Christ came and established His church. The same 39 books we use today, no more and no less, were contained in the Jewish Tanakh, just grouped differently. The apostle Paul even said that they were “entrusted with the very words of God” (Rom. 3:2). And Christ did refer to this canon: “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms concerning Me” (Luke 24:44). Also, Christ and His apostles quoted from 36 of the 39 books (the exceptions being Esther, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs). The Deuterocanonical books, however, recognized by the Roman Catholic Church (Judith, Maccabees, etc.), were not written in Hebrew but in Greek. And not only were they not included in the Jewish canon but were never quoted by Christ or His apostles. Therefore, if the New Testament doesn’t recognize any of the Deuterocanonical books by quoting from them, then they must not be the word of God.

Roman Catholics also construct the same type of artificial criteria for Sola Scriptura; they say if it isn’t explicitly taught in Scripture then it isn’t true. Yet we know the Old Testament is the word of God because Christ endorsed it. And we know the New Testament is the word of God because it was written by those commissioned by Christ. Up to this point we can be confident that the Scriptures, the 66 books of the Bible, are the word of God. Oral tradition, on the other hand, is claimed to be derived from the same source—the apostles—yet clearly contradicts many times what they wrote. So, how can we accept any additional “authority” that contradicts what we already know to be God’s word? The simple fact that it contradicts the known word of God exposes that it is not the word of God. This is why we claim Sola Scriptura!

Why is Hell So Bad?

One objection unbelievers typically have about hell is that it is too severe of a punishment. Yes, they might agree that it is the right place for the “Hitlers” of the world but not for the majority of us who are pretty good people. But the reason it seems this way is because we all downplay and lightly esteem the severity of our own sins.

We wrongfully think that sin isn’t really that bad so therefore eternity in hell is an unreasonable punishment. But the fact that hell is so severe reveals just how serious our sins are in God’s sight. It is our estimation of sin that is flawed. The Bible says that our hearts are darkened (Rom. 1:21), our minds are blinded (2 Cor. 4:4), and it describes us as: “Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Eph. 4:18). The truth is we don’t see sin the way God does because we are in a morally depraved condition.

The apostle Paul said that the law gave him the knowledge of sin, “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet” (Rom. 7:7). This is the Tenth Commandment and it revealed to Paul just how exceedingly sinful he really was, “that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful” (Rom. 7:13). We don’t see our sins as being that bad until they are measured against God’s standards.

We jump through a lot of hoops trying to justify our sins to ourselves. One way we do this is by appealing to the fact that everyone does the same things. But even if everyone really does sin in the same way then it doesn’t lessen its severity before God, it only shows that we are all just as guilty of sinning. We become comfortable in our sins when others around us are doing the same things. Our sins become somewhat camouflaged with everyone else’s and therefore don’t seem to be that bad.

Another way we justify our sins is by claiming that we can’t help but do it or that God made us this way. But the very fact that God holds us accountable indicates that sinning is our own choice. God is not unjust but would be if He punished us for something we had no control over. Also, the simple reason we are commanded by God to not sin reveals that we can stop doing it.

Have you ever told a lie? I have. Scripture says “all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone” (Rev. 21:8). We don’t think of lying as being all that bad yet it is enough to doom us eternally in hell. It’s not that hell is too severe of a punishment for a little lying. It’s that lying is such a severe sin before God that it deserves eternal punishment in hell. The problem is not with God’s justice, it’s with our extremely low standards and light estimation of sin.

Will a Child Never Depart?

“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6). The Pastor of a church I used to attend held a very strong conviction about this verse. He believed that following it ensured one hundred percent results every time. According to him, if parents train up a child in the correct Biblical way they are guaranteed that the child will never depart from it. On the other hand it also meant that if a child reached adulthood and did depart from the way he was trained then the parents failed in their duty of training him. As you can imagine this Pastor was not popular among parents whose grown children were not serving the Lord. In fact, it was well known that several people had left the church because of this extreme teaching.

But what we need to understand is that the Proverbs are generally true statements. If parents train up a child in the way he should go then it is very likely that he will not depart from it when he gets older. This is not, however, a one hundred percent guarantee of success. We probably all know some who were raised in godly Christian homes but are not following Christ today. This is not necessarily a reproach upon their parents. Likewise there are also those who were not raised in Christian homes, such as both my wife and me, who are serving Christ today.


If all of the Proverbs are absolute laws that never fail then what about this one: “The eye that mocks his father, and scorns obedience to his mother, the ravens of the valley will pick it out, and the young eagles will eat it” (Prov. 30:17)? Will every disobedient child have his eye plucked out and eaten by birds? This Proverb, obviously, very rarely comes to pass literally. It uses colorful imagery to depict utter disdain upon a child who would dare despise his own parents.

All people have free wills and must choose for themselves if they will follow Christ once they are no longer in their parents’ homes. Though a child who has been taught about Christ all his life will tend to continue following Him, he is not guaranteed to. We are all individually held accountable before God once we reach the age of accountability.

Did Nothing Create Everything?

In order to maintain their conviction that there is no God, atheists and evolutionists must necessarily believe that nothing created or produced everything. But this is both illogical and scientifically impossible. Yet they pride themselves on being intelligent and rational.



Atheists must answer this question first

One of the main arguments the Bible uses for God’s existence is the existence of the universe itself: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” (Rom. 1:20). The fact that the universe exists proves the existence of God. It is really that simple.

Until atheists and evolutionists can rationally and scientifically explain how nothing created everything, then anything else they propose does not even matter. Why should they talk about natural selection, fossil records, transitional forms, genetic mutations, and vestigial organs if they cannot answer this fundamental question? They are already defeated before they even start.

Really the burden of proof is not on Christians to prove God exists; the universe itself already proves this. The burden is on atheists and evolutionists to prove God does not exist. They must answer this question first. Now some claim the universe is eternal and therefore not created but science has proven this false.


Science has proven the universe is not eternal

From the popular website GotQuestions.org, here are five proofs that the universe is not eternal:

(1) The universe is running down, and something that is running down must have started at some point. The second law of thermodynamics states that the universe is running out of usable energy and if you doubt this, look in the mirror (you’re aging and running down just like everything else).

(2) The universe is expanding. This was confirmed through the Hubble telescope many years ago, and it is interesting to note that the universe is expanding from a single point, meaning the entire universe could be contracted back into a single point. Also note that the universe is not expanding into space, but space itself is expanding.

(3) The radiation echo was discovered by Bell Labs scientists in 1965. What is it? It is the heat afterglow from the Big Bang. Its discovery dealt a death blow to any theory of the universe being in a steady state because it shows instead that the universe exploded.

(4) Galaxy Seeds. If the Big Bang (first there was nothing, then BANG, something came into being) was true, then scientists believed that temperature “ripples” should exist out in space, and it would be these ripples that would be the enabler for matter to collect into galaxies. To discover whether this is true, the Cosmic Background Explorer – COBE – was launched in 1989 to find them, with the findings being released in 1992. What COBE found was perfect/precise ripples that, sure enough, enable galaxies to form. So critical and spectacular was this finding that the NASA lead for COBE, said “If you’re religious, it’s like looking at God.”

(5) Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity meant that the universe had a beginning and was not eternal as he had previously believed (Einstein was originally a pantheist). Instead of being self-existent, his theory proved that the universe is not a cause, but instead one big effect—something brought it into existence. Einstein disliked his end result so much that he introduced a “fudge factor” into his theory that allowed it to leave room for an eternal universe. But there was only one problem. His fudge factor required a division by zero in his calculations—a mathematical error any good math student knows not to make. When discovered by other mathematicians, Einstein admitted his error calling it “the greatest blunder of my life.” After his acknowledgment, and upon confirming further research that showed the universe expanding just as his theory of relativity predicted, Einstein bowed to the fact that the universe is not eternal and said that he wanted “to know how God created the world.”

http://www.gotquestions.org/universe-eternal.html

At an international gathering of scientists in Beijing, one of the most well known and intelligent astrophysicists Stephen Hawking shared this:

He described -- through his electronic speech synthesizer -- how the general theory of relativity and the discovery of the expansion of the universe provoked conceptual changes, which meant that the idea of an ever-existing, ever-lasting universe was no longer tenable.

http://english.cri.cn/2946/2006/06/19/421@104361.htm


Conclusion

When talking with atheists and evolutionists, I continue to drive home the point that until they can scientifically and logically prove that everything can come from nothing then they are defeated at the onset. I pitch camp right there. The majority of the scientific community including Einstein and Hawking believe the universe had a beginning. This means that matter somehow came from non-matter which is scientifically impossible. The only rational conclusion that can be drawn is that the natural world was caused by supernatural force, i.e. God.

Is There a Middle Ground between Calvinism and Arminianism?

Why do some Christians seem to think that finding a middle ground between Calvinism and Arminianism is a safer route than accepting one system over the other? In my estimation it is a riskier move. Here is why.

The one right view of salvation is the Biblical view. If Calvinism is the Biblical view then we need to be loyal to it or if Arminianism is the Biblical view then our loyalty should be there. Now if one of them is the correct Biblical view while the other is not yet we try to find middle ground between the two we will only end up with a confused mixture of right and wrong. Furthermore, what if it turns out that both views are actually wrong and not Scriptural? What would we accomplish by finding a happy medium between two wrong views?

Calvinism and Arminianism are diametrically opposed viewpoints of salvation. The former claims that God unconditionally chooses which individuals will be saved while the latter says that each individual autonomously chooses this for themselves. These are polar-opposites that cannot both be true at the same time. Either one is true and the other is false or possibly both are false. But we cannot seriously consider that both are false because if God doesn’t choose and we don’t choose then who does? A third viewpoint can only mean that some other being chooses who will be saved. Therefore, sound logic and reason demands that these viewpoints are the only two possible and that one is the correct Biblical view while the other is not. Since one is true and the other false, middle ground between the two will be partially false and not entirely true.

Response to an Atheist Questioning the Sufficiency of Christ's Sufferings

Here is the objection one atheist made to the sufferings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ:

No one disputes that being crucified would be terrible; instead, what's questioned is whether crucifixion would be terrible enough for the purpose which Christians claim Jesus' crucifixion had: paying for the sins of all humanity. . . If Jesus' suffering really was sufficient to balance out the sins of all humanity, none of us individually could have owed very much. If we humans split up equally all the suffering of Jesus (which means most of us would shoulder more of the debt than we should, since most of us aren't mass murderers), what would that really amount to? A paper cut? I'd pay that. I don't need anyone to take on that debt for me. Saying that without Jesus I deserve to spend eternity in hell suffering eternal torment when in fact my actual debt is a paper cut is like forcing me into permanent slavery for a debt of a fraction of a penny -- a tactic that sounds suspiciously like the policies of some credit card companies. Hmmm... maybe Christianity is where they got the idea for their business model?
http://atheism.about.com/b/2010/05/10/did-jesus-really-suffer-enough.htm


If I was to be dragged outside, beaten, flogged, and then crucified, there would be absolutely no price paid for my sins in that. It would amount to nothing. This is because I am already a sinner and the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). Death is what I rightly deserve; it is what I have earned. Therefore my own suffering and death does not pay for anything. But Christ’s suffering and death, on the other hand, is infinitely valuable because He is God and He is perfectly sinless.

We can do nothing to pay for our sins. Not only does our own death not pay for our sins but even eternity in hell does not either. If torment in hell could pay this price then there would come a point, let’s say after a million years, that we would be released to spend the rest of eternity in heaven. But the fact that hell is eternal indicates that it is the punishment for our sins, not the satisfaction of any debt owed. Also, the very fact that Christ came to die for our sins reveals the eternality of hell because if each of us could pay for our own sins by spending a certain amount of time in hell then we could save ourselves in this manner without needing the Savior. We could each just “do our time” and then be free. In that case there would be no gospel message to preach and we would all be better off living shorter lives so that we would have fewer sins to pay for and therefore sentenced to less time. Christ’s sacrifice for our sins was absolutely necessary.

The flaw in this atheist’s reasoning is that he greatly undervalues the immense worth of Christ’s suffering and death. He equates the value with that of any other man. But though Christ is 100% human He is also 100% God and therefore far more valuable than all of humanity combined. It is because of Christ’s infinite worth that His precious shed blood could have paid for an untold number of times more than all of humanity.

The entire human race could never, as the atheist ridiculed, “split up equally all the suffering of Jesus.” And even if we could split it up then it would amount to far more than just a paper cut but eternity in hell for each; exactly what has already been ordained. Just ask yourself how much you suppose God Himself is worth. There is absolutely no way for us to even begin to comprehend this. He is obviously worth more than the combined total of all humans who have ever lived, all life that has ever existed on earth, and the entire universe itself because He is its Creator. Therefore if His worth is infinitely more than all of humanity then certainly His own death was more than sufficient to redeem them all.