Earlier today, a committed Calvinist named Seth posted this comment to my February debate with Dr. James White: “Wow Dr. Brown’s position is 100% Anthropocentric and his apologetic method is fueled by sentimentalism and not God’s holiness and true character. This is the second time I listened to this and James destroyed Dr. Brown.”
Really? My position is 100% man-centered (anthropocentric) and my apologetic “is fueled by sentimentalism and not God’s holiness and true character”? It looks like Seth really needs to understand the heart of God and the nature of God. (The fact that he believes my friend James White “destroyed” me in the debate brings a big smile to my face, since there are plenty that believe the exact opposite, just as Dr. White and I would expect from folks in our respective theological camps. From my point of view, we accomplished the goals we set for the event, which was to lay out our views clearly, to challenge each other’s views, and to do so in a mutually respectful, Jesus-glorifying way, and we’re both very happy to distribute the debate to others.)
Every point I made in the debate was supported by numerous scriptures, all of which made statements about the God of the Bible. Yet in Seth’s eyes, this was 100% man-centered. Extraordinary. Here were the points I made in my opening comments:
- It is absolutely clear from the Word that there are many things that people do that grieve God and are contrary to His will. He certainly did not ordain them! Throughout the Word, He distances Himself from human sin and evil and makes clear that this was not what He intended for His creation (supported by Gen 6:5-6; Jer 7:31).
- Throughout the Word, He calls us to make choices, commending those who trust and obey Him (like Abraham, whom He calls his friend in Isa 41:8, among many others) and condemning those who refuse His grace (supported by Deut 30:19; Luke 13:24; Rom 2:6-11). I also noted “that it is clear from the language of Scripture that God did not predetermine the response” (citing Jer 36:2-3; Ezek 22:30-31; along with Jer 18:1-12, with reference to God as the Potter).
- Throughout the Word, He makes clear that He takes no delight in the death of the wicked but desires rather that they would repent and live (supported by Ezek 18:23, 30-32; 33:11; Mic 7:18; Jer 31:20).
- This is further confirmed throughout the Word as God expresses His ardent desire for His creation to know Him, with Israel often as the focus of His love (supported by Jer 3:19-20; Luke 13:34; Isa 48:17-19; Deut 5:29). I also noted that “This is the summary of the biblical message: “I will was willing, you were not!” (Cited here were Isa 65:1-3; Luke 7:30.)
- Jesus then comes into the world as the full expression of the Father and sheds His blood for the entire world, meaning, He shed His blood to pay for the sins of every human being and secured the salvation of those who put their trust in Him (supported by John 3:16; 1 John 2:1-2; 1 Tim 2:3-6; 1 Tim 4:10; Titus 2:11; Heb 2:9; 2 Pet 2:1; Acts 26:28-29).
- And this is what our amazing, sovereign God does: Before the foundation of the world, He determines that He will get a people for Himself who will love and serve Him and be with Him forever, chosen and elect in His Son, trophies of His grace – and He carries this out in the midst of a sinning, rebelling world. What an incredible God He is! (Cited here were Eph 1:3-6; 1 Pet 1:1-2.) I also noted that, “In keeping with this, He confirms unbelievers in their unbelief and shows Himself to be just in judging them, but He gives grace to the humble who put their trust in Him. And there is no room for boasting, since it is all of grace by faith, and faith is not a work, and we glory in the Lord alone.” And I urged everyone to remember Deut 29:29, namely, that the secret things belonged to the Lord — in other words let God be God! — whereas He requires us to be obedient to what is open and revealed.
How can anyone listening with an open heart and mind could call this 100% anthropocentric is absolutely beyond me — unless, of course, the simple fact that God deeply loves the people of this world strikes Seth as 100% anthropocentric. Could that be our dear brother’s problem? Perhaps we’re on to something here! Could it be that he is offended by (or unfamiliar with) the depth of God’s love for this suffering world? And when he sees Jesus, does he not see that love radiating out of every pore of His being?
As for the even more ridiculous charge that my apologetic “is fueled by sentimentalism and not God’s holiness and true character,” it now becomes even more clear that this, indeed, is the heart of Seth’s problem. He fails to grasp that God’s holiness includes His love and mercy and compassion, along with His justice and wrath, that His true character is ultimately reflected in the person of Jesus, and that the Scriptures constantly describe a God who, to speak in human terms, has a giant, beating heart.
Unless, of course, it was mere sentimentalism when the Lord’s heart was saddened at man’s sin before the flood (Gen 6), or mere sentimentalism when He expressed His passionate, ardent love for Israel many times in the Old Testament (in some of the verses cited above), even using imagery that some contemporary readers find scandalous (see, e.g., Ezekiel 16 and 23), or mere sentimentalism when He described Himself as a jealous God, even in the Ten Commandments (Exod 20:5), or mere sentimentalism when Jesus wept over Jerusalem in Luke 19 or when He said to His disciples at the Last Supper, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Luke 22:15; I guess He really meant it when He called them His friends in John 15!). And it appears that Jacob [James], who never struck me as much of a sentimentalist, also misunderstood God’s holiness and true character when he wrote, “So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment” (Jacob [James] 2:12-13).
The truth be told, I was burdened to write this post because Seth speaks for many others in terms of a lack of understanding of who the God of the Bible is, which ultimately robs him (and others like him) of something very glorious that our heavenly Father wants us to walk in all the days of our lives. And so Seth (and all of us!) would do well to pray this prayer from the Song of Solomon: “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised. (Sol 8:6-7)
