"To escape such utterly unambiguous verses the Arminians are forced to
invent utterly ridiculous misinterpretations, for otherwise they would
have to repudiate their beloved free will and become Calvinists – a
disaster not to be contemplated." -- Dr. Gordon H. Clark
John 10:28, 29: “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
It must be a most elementary student and immature Christian who is unfamiliar with John 10:28-29. And it must be a most confused mentality that cannot understand it correctly. “They shall never perish.” Could anything be easier or plainer? Who are the “they”? They are Christ’s sheep; Christ knows them all by name; he gives them eternal life, a life that is everlasting. Clearly a life that lasts only a year or two is not eternal. “They shall never perish” is written with a double negative, and double negatives in Greek do not make an affirmative, but an emphatic negative. As if that were not enough Christ adds, “Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” Relative to this phrase I either read or heard an Arminian say that although no man can pluck a Christian out of God’s hand, the word man means “no other man;” but the man himself can pluck himself out of God’s hand. I have no documentation for this, and it may not be typical of all Wesleyans. But at any rate, the word in the New Testament is tis, anyone, including the man himself as well as Satan. Then to pile emphasis upon emphasis Jesus continues, “My Father is greater than all, and no one is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
To escape such utterly unambiguous verses the Arminians are forced to invent utterly ridiculous misinterpretations, for otherwise they would have to repudiate their beloved free will and become Calvinists – a disaster not to be contemplated.
Gordon H. Clark (2013-03-04T05:00:00+00:00). What Is The Christian Life? (Kindle Locations 824-838). The Trinity Foundation. Kindle Edition.
John 10:28, 29: “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
It must be a most elementary student and immature Christian who is unfamiliar with John 10:28-29. And it must be a most confused mentality that cannot understand it correctly. “They shall never perish.” Could anything be easier or plainer? Who are the “they”? They are Christ’s sheep; Christ knows them all by name; he gives them eternal life, a life that is everlasting. Clearly a life that lasts only a year or two is not eternal. “They shall never perish” is written with a double negative, and double negatives in Greek do not make an affirmative, but an emphatic negative. As if that were not enough Christ adds, “Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” Relative to this phrase I either read or heard an Arminian say that although no man can pluck a Christian out of God’s hand, the word man means “no other man;” but the man himself can pluck himself out of God’s hand. I have no documentation for this, and it may not be typical of all Wesleyans. But at any rate, the word in the New Testament is tis, anyone, including the man himself as well as Satan. Then to pile emphasis upon emphasis Jesus continues, “My Father is greater than all, and no one is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
To escape such utterly unambiguous verses the Arminians are forced to invent utterly ridiculous misinterpretations, for otherwise they would have to repudiate their beloved free will and become Calvinists – a disaster not to be contemplated.
Gordon H. Clark (2013-03-04T05:00:00+00:00). What Is The Christian Life? (Kindle Locations 824-838). The Trinity Foundation. Kindle Edition.
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6 comments:
What a quote from Clark on the unregenerate inventors!
Philosophy and twisting of Scriptures never saved anyone.
That's why I posted this quote:) I have heard that Arminian argument many times. I once even heard it put forward by Dr. Jerry Walls at Asbury Seminary.
I'm not against philosophy per se. Rationalism or placing reason above the special revelation in the Bible is rationalism. Clark emphatically rejected rationalism since it always leads to skepticism. He also rejected secular philosophy. But he did not reject logic because he said that the Scriptures are embedded with logic and that Jesus himself is the Logic. Man is a rational and logical being because that is the image of God in man. Birds cannot do calculus or read the Bible.
The Arminians are rationalists. Clarkian Scripturalists are not.
That's the problem.
Arminian philosophy isn't philosophy founded in the Bible.
Colossians 2:8, Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
Paul's telling us that there is false philosophy of the world, and there is true philosophy, after Christ.
Absolutely. That's why G H Clark's philosophy begins with the axiom of Scripture. Logic is embedded in the Scriptures. And Christ is Logic. John 1:1
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