Is Calvinistic Compatibilism Just?

About this sermon

Dr. Leighton Flowers, Director of Evangelism and Apologetics for Texas Baptists, discusses why Calvinistic Compatibilism is not a sound philosophical worldview because it undermines divine justice and human culpability for unbelief. WHAT IS COMPATIBILISM? A form of theistic determinism (typically promoted by Calvinistic scholars) which maintains that people are free and thus accountable for choices that are in accordance with their nature (or desires). Compatibilism is no less deterministic than hard determinism. In other words, this worldview maintains the belief that God meticulously and unchangeably determined whatsoever comes to pass. They simply add the caveat that people’s choices are still deemed as free and accountable because they are in accordance with their nature. So, on Compatibilism, as long as a man is doing “what he wants” he is justly held accountable for his choices and actions. DOES COMPATIBILISM PROVIDE A SUFFICIENT BASES FOR HUMAN CULPABILITY? Basing human culpability on the definition of “doing as one desires” appears to be an insufficient explanation to maintain any sense of true freedom considering that compatibilists also affirm that even the desires and thoughts of men are decreed by God. (i.e. WCF: “God has decreed whatsoever comes to pass.”) This is an important circularity in the claim by Calvinists that humans can be considered genuinely free so long as their actions are in accordance with their desires (i.e. “voluntary”). Given the long-held Calvinistic belief that all events and actions are decreed by God, then human desire (the very thing that compatibilists claim allows human choices to be considered free) must itself also be decreed. But if so, then there is nothing outside of or beyond God’s decree on which human freedom might be based. Put differently, there is no such thing as what the human really wants to do in a given situation, considered somehow apart from God’s desire in the matter (i.e., God’s desire as to what the human agent will desire). In the compatibilist scheme, human desire is wholly derived from and wholly bound to the divine desire. God’s decree encompasses everything, even the desires that underlie human choices. This is a critical point, because it undercuts the plausibility of the compatibilist’s argument that desire can be considered the basis for human freedom. When you define freedom in terms of ‘doing what one wants to do’, it initially appears plausible only because it subtly evokes a sense of independence or ownership on the part of the human agent for his choices. But once we recognize (as we must within the larger deterministic framework encompassing compatibilism) that those very desires of the agent are equally part of the environment that God causally determines, then the line between environment and agent becomes blurred if not completely lost. The human agent no longer can be seen as owning his own choices, for the desires determining those choices are in no significant sense independent of God’s decree. For this reason, I feel human desire within the compatibilist framework forms an insufficient basis on which to establish the autonomy of human freedom and from this the legitimacy of human culpability for sin. ***To read more on this topic: https://soteriology101.com/2016/05/11/philosophical-reflections-on-free-will/ To watch Dr. Flowers confront compatibilism directly from a Calvinistic pastor go here: https://soteriology101.com/2018/09/20/why-compatibilisms-theodicy-fails/ To ORDER Dr. Flowers Curriculum “Tiptoeing Through Tulip” please click here: https://soteriology101.com/shop/ To listen to the audio only be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or one of the other podcast players found here: https://soteriology101.com/home/ For more about Traditionalism (or Provisionism) please visit www.soteriology101.com Dr. Flowers’ book, “The Potter’s Promise” can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Potters-Promis... Dr. Flowers’ book, “God’s Provision for All” can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Provision... To engage with other believers cordially join our Facebook group: https://m.facebook.com/groups/1806702... For updates and news follow us at: www.facebook/Soteriology101 Or @soteriology101 on Twitter Please SHARE on Facebook and Twitter and help spread the word! To become a Patreon supporter or make a one time donation: https://soteriology101.com/support/