The Bible is an interesting book. It is one story authored over thousands of years that tells us the history of redemption by God in Christ. It is the wisdom and guidance of God, a love story for sinful human beings; inspired, infallible and inerrant. The Bible is all of that.
And it is also, at times, very confusing. Admit it. There are a lot of passages I just don’t understand. There are things God does that boggle my senses and truths taught in the Bible that blow my mind.
And to cap it all off, there are verses that seem to line up on both sides of most issues. You know it’s true! Even though we uniformly believe in eternal security, there are some verses that are easier for the other side to argue. Even the most ardent anti-Calvinist has to admit that there are some verses that work better for the Calvinist side. And the honest Calvinist has to admit that there are some verses that make more sense on the other side of the aisle.
Good theology can never pick verses that support a doctrine and ignore, deny or explain away those that support the other side. It must recognize the entirety of scripture and account for it.
Throughout church history, the nature of Christ has been challenged from both sides. Early in church history there was a Gnostic dualism that believed that the physical world was evil and denied that Jesus was truly incarnated. How could Jesus really encase himself in this evil world of flesh. Later, the Arian heresy arose which affirmed Jesus’ humanity but denied his deity. The understanding of the nature of Christ has often ping-ponged between these extremes – denying either the deity or the full humanity of Christ. How could he be both God and man? But the Bible affirms both.
How many Gods do we have? There is only one God. But wait! We believe in the Father, who is fully God. We believe in the Son, who is fully God. We believe in the Spirit, who is fully God. That makes three doesn’t it?
There is no way within the boundaries of human logic that Jesus can be both fully God and fully man. It is beyond our understanding. And there is no way that God can be both one and three. Yet, we believe that the Bible affirms both the deity and humanity of Christ, and the existence of one God in three persons.
How can this be?
It is called an antinomy.
In philosophy, an antinomy is defined as a “contradiction between principles or conclusions that seem equally necessary and reasonable; a paradox.” In theology, we narrow the focus a little. An antinomy is a logical contradiction between principles that are both affirmed in Scripture. God is one. God is three. Jesus is man. Jesus is God. In the limits of human logic, these cannot both be true, but they are biblically evident.
Isaiah 55:8-9 provides an explanation for this. In context, Isaiah is talking about God’s mercy to sinful Israel. God is a holy God who must punish sin. He is also a merciful God who loves sinners. Isaiah records the words of God addressing this logical conflict between God’s holiness and mercy, his wrath and his love.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
In this specific instance, and in general, we learn that God has a level of logic that goes beyond our highest understanding. God has ways that are so far beyond our ways that we cannot comprehend them.
God, Me and My Dog Tubbs
I have a dog named Tubbs. Supposedly, labs are among the smartest of dogs, but Tubbs can only understand the most basic of commands. I can communicate with him, but I cannot fully explain myself to him. He just doesn’t understand. Why not? I have a level of understanding and intelligence that he cannot grasp. He knows the word “outside” and understands the command to “go lay down.” But beyond that he is just lost.
God reveals himself to us, but he cannot reveal all of himself because we are simply not able to understand it all. I would guess that the difference between God’s intelligence and mine is probably greater than the difference between my intelligence and Tubbs’. The greatest of human intellect is but a grain of sand on the seashore of God’s brilliance. He has an intelligence we simply cannot access.
So, the Bible sometimes affirms truths that seem in logical conflict to us. Both truths cannot be true according to human logic. And yet, in the higher intelligence of God, these truths can be brought together. I cannot understand how God can be three and one, but it can still be true even if it is beyond my understanding. Jesus can be both fully divine and fully human even if it is beyond my understanding to comprehend. God is beyond the limits of my intelligence.
Calvinism and the Antinomy Principle
With apologies to those who those who are tired of the theological issues that swirl around the Calvinism debate, I would like to reflect for a moment on how the antinomy principle applies to the Calvinism debate. I believe that much of the fighting, fussing and feuding going on in the SBC over Calvinism is rooted in the fact that we are asked to choose between truths that are logically exclusive but are affirmed in Scripture.
- First, the Bible affirms that God chose before the foundation of the world those who would be saved, based not on any merit in them, but solely on his own sovereign grace. Calvinism exists because there are so many verses that support this concept. We were chosen by his grace.
- Second, the Bible also affirms that a human being must make a genuine response of faith, a decision to repent of sins and trust Jesus Christ as Lord. Non-Calvinism exists because some (certainly not all) Calvinists forget or at least de-emphasize the human decision in salvation.
Wait a minute, if God chose me, how can I need to choose repentance and faith? Can both of these be true? Aren’t these truths mutually exclusive? Obviously, many seem to believe that they are. They demand that I choose either the Calvinist emphasis on sovereignty or the non-Calvinist emphasis on decision. They deny that both can be true. If God is in control of my choice, how can I also be making a genuine decision? They want me to choose.
I refuse.
Both are taught in the Bible. God is sovereign and salvation is his work from start to finish. Before this world began, God set his affections on me, selecting me by his grace and settling my destiny. But I must make a genuine decision to repent of my sins and place my faith in Jesus Christ to receive that grace. Two things that are logically exclusive are both affirmed in God’s Word. It’s an antinomy.
So, is God three or one? Yes! He is one God eternally existent in three distinct persons each of which is fully God. I don’t understand that and I cannot explain it. But I can believe truth even which I do not understand.
In his sojourn here, was Jesus fully a man or was he fully God? Yes! Don’t ask me to choose one or the other. To choose one truth over the other drives me to heresy. Jesus was both. God is smarter than me. I can believe in his son even if I am not able to understand his dual nature.
Does God choose me or do I choose Christ? Yes! Do not ask me to choose one truth or the other. If I choose either God’s threeness or his oneness, I deny the Godhead. If I choose Christ’s humanity or his divinity, I deny the glory of his true nature. And if I choose either God’s sovereignty or man’s decision in salvation, I deny the full wonder of God’s salvation. Can I understand how both these truths can be? Of course not. But that doesn’t make them any less true.
So, I choose not to join in the Calvinism/anti-Calvinism fights. Don’t ask me to choose between truths that are both affirmed in the Word.
I serve a God who is so much more intelligent than I (and you) and works in ways I cannot understand. I just believe what his Word says.
So, those of you who want to continue to fight the petty blogging battles of Calvinism and anti-Calvinism can do so without me.
NOTE: Be gentle. I will be on the road Tuesday, headed from Virginia to Sioux City. Leaving my grandson is always cause for depression, so I’ll probably be grumpy. Besides, it’s always best to agree with me anyway!
Pewter is made with antimony. It is toxic.
Glad I could help. 😉
That is a mystery.
Sb is the periodic table symbol for antimony. Glad I could help, too.
Would it be right to throw out the accusations of “antinomyanism”?
As one famous guy, beloved by all, said regarding man’s responsibility and God’s sovereignty, “I never try to reconcile friends.”
I think that most people recognize the mixture of sovereignty and responsibility, but many tend to focus more on one or the other. Some focus on God’s sovereignty and admit the responsibility, if somewhat reluctantly. Other’s focus on responsibility and admit God’s sovereignty.
I am saying that the proper understanding of both of these concepts is strong enough that they cannot be humanly integrated. If I can understand how both can be true, I’m probably not understanding either.
Maybe I’m just picking a fight!
in the final moments of a life where there is no escape from the ravages of an illness . . .
still a person may have a choice in his own attitude towards his situation.
It is that ‘choice’ that often so profoundly confirms that we, frail and mortal even in our dying, do retain a human dignity that derives from Him in Whose Image we were formed
Obviously the biggest problem here is that Dave can teach one of the smartest breeds of dogs only two commands.
Now, that was funny.
And, even the smartest of breeds has its issues.
And just to put a fine point on it: the smartest of dogs isn’t bred. Mutts for the win.
Dave, I appreciate your insight here. I wish more folks could just get over the the whole thing and forget the unhelpful kerfuffle so we can focus more energy on making disciples of all peoples.
I’m sure this analogy breaks down along the way, but I was once told to view the two sides in this argument as you view a railroad track: both rails are there, both are necessary for the train to run smoothly.
Of course, one would have to view that concept without elevating the “man’s responsibility” rail to saying that man is equal to God–it’s an analogy. They don’t come perfectly, do they?
Analogies all tend to break down at some point. The question is whether they speak a truth before they do.
I think the railroad analogy has some merit.
There are many decent analogies that can be used. A couple that I use from time to time: 1. The Opposable Thumb: In order to pick something up, we employ two opposing forces. We have fingers that all move in the same general direction. But God has designed us with thumbs so that move in opposite the fingers on a hand so that we can pick something up. In the same hand one force from the thumb moves against the force of the fingers so that something can be grasped and manipulated effectively. This is the way it is with… Read more »
It looks like the space after “Here is a picture of God:” was automatically removed. Just imagine a field of white there being presented as a picture of God.
to Jim Pemberton: I like your illustration of the opposable thumb and finger and about the white on white and the need for contrast.
And if you look off into the distance, the rails come together?
They look like they might—but instead they go somewhere together. Perhaps the Glory of God through His will, as He’s the One who laid down the tracks in the first place?
I like train analogies. After all, the light at the end of the tunnel? That’s the headlight on the Midnight Express!
My granddad was an engineer for Santa Fe and Six Flags (over Texas) among other notable trains. I especially enjoyed the rides in the engine at Six Flags when I was five or six.
These two paragraphs are an instant classic: “Wait a minute, if God chose me, how can I need to choose repentance and faith? Can both of these be true? Aren’t these truths mutually exclusive? Obviously, many seem to believe that they are. They demand that I choose either the Calvinist emphasis on sovereignty or the non-Calvinist emphasis on decision. They deny that both can be true. If God is in control of my choice, how can I also be making a genuine decision? They want me to choose. I refuse.” It’s a mystery how that works. I agree 100%. Only… Read more »
You sound like a wovenist Dave.
Those wovenists must have copied from me.
“We love because He first loved us.” He chooses us first. He has to. The Bible telss us that “we are dead in our sins and trespasses”. Dead people don’t make any decisions regarding God, that are in the affirmative. After He chooses us, we make all kinds of decisions regading God. Not all of them good, because like sheep, we tend to wander. But He has made the decision to love us, and forgive us, and to lead us to repentance…all throughout our lives. I’m not a Calvinist. I believe Calvinism leads people into either pride…or despair. Do they… Read more »
“I’m not a Calvinist.”
Yes. You’re a Lutheran. Are you a member of a Lutheran denomination that ordains women as pastors?
Right. I’m a Lutheran.
We are in the process of leaving our denomination, but not because they ordain women (although I’m not too crazy about most women pastors).
Would you like to take issue with me on something that I wrote?
Steve Martin,
Are you leaving the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America for another Lutheran denomination?
Our congregation is studying it. We are a small congregation, so it’s hard to just up and leave.
But many of us find it very difficult to remain in a denomination that has pretty much abandoned God’s Word in favor of more generous words offered by the culture.
But in all of this we must always labor to understand Scripture. While I don’t believe the Bible gives us a full understanding of how we balance God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility, I do believe the Bible has a great deal to say about each. Calvinism does not ultimately resolve the antinomy – many of the best theologians will ultimately acknowledge there remain things in this we simply cannot understand – but the Bible provides us enough to help us understand a lot about what it means to say that God is sovereign, and to understand what it means to… Read more »
The antinomy is well identified by J. I. Packer in his Evangelism and The Sovereignty of God. A friend and I once discussed this issue about 42 years ago. He being, an engineer (electrical) suggested that diaelectric might be a good description of the phenomenon. Coming from the angle of Paul Halmos’ theory of creative dissonance, I suggest the term chrissonance, later shortened to crisonance. The idea of the paradox, antinomy, diaelectric, creative dissonance, and crisonance is that the two sides/two poles/two ideas, set up a tension in the human mind which enables one to deal with the reality of… Read more »
The idea of crisonance, unites Christ and dissonant ideas, ideas which must be dissonant until Christ brings them into tension in the human mind, making the believer to become balanced, flexible, creative, magnetic, and constant.
“The observant man recognizes many mysteries
into which he can not pretend to see,
and he remembers that the world is too wide for the eye of one man.”
(Charles Haddon Spurgeon)
But, Christiane, O what a joy it is to the curious mind to seek for understanding in mysteries as far as God will allow for our good.
I see a problem with this post. You said that the Trinity is a logical contradiction. I don’t believe it is. I do not believe that the Trinity defies the Law of Non-Contradiction and I do not believe that an antinomy does either. An antinomy is an apparent contradiction, apparent, not an actual logical contradiction. An antinomy is two truth statements that seem paradoxical but are supported clearly in the Bible. Antinomies do not defy the laws of logic, rather they cannot be resolved by using the laws of logic. I see a distinction there. Can God say one thing… Read more »