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RT Misconception #10: God an evil puppet master

Very few believers in their right minds would ever accuse God of being sadistic and
vengeful, waiting gleefully to punish the wicked. So why do Reformed believers get
accused of believing this about God? More often than not, it is simply because they
disagree with the system of Reformed Theology, rather than what is actually believed.
They then take their own prejudices and pass them along to their congregations and
eventually it becomes an all out war against those who don't hold to their own ideas of
who God is supposed to be.

This, my friends, is not just a mere "disagreement". It goes beyond differing on


conclusions about the nature of God. Those who accuse us of having a cosmic puppet
master for a God are most times the very ones that affirm the Reformation movement of
Protestantism that broke away from the Roman Catholic church. And while they heartily
agree that these men (Luther, Calvin, Knox, Zwingle) were pious men of God, somehow
those who still pattern their beliefs about God after them are accused of having a make-
shift God; A God who is not of the Bible. If this is the case, they themselves ought to stop
praising the men of the Reformation, for what these men believed and taught about God
have become the basis of Reformed Theology.

What ought to be considered then, is just what these men believed and taught about the
nature of God. If they believed God was somehow sadistic in His decrees then Reformed
Theology should undergo a complete make over. But if their view of God was that He
was good, kind, willing to receive anyone who repents, it is those opponents of Reformed
Theology that should go back to the drawing board and at the least, come up with a new
set of reasons why Calvinism is unbiblical and should cease its teachings.

The thrust of Reformed teaching was indeed the sovereignty of God. But more, it was His
hand in all things good and bad. Their reason? To honor God in life! The Roman Catholic
church had made the gospel a man-made, non-effectual thing. Selling indulgences,
making the Word only available to the "elite," and abusing authority caused these
Reformers to re focus their attention and energies upon a God who desired genuine
worship from His people.

This shift suddenly began to focus on God's part in the role of salvation rather than man's
part. With God at the focal point, man no longer could boast about his performance and
the priests and bishops could no longer rely on their penances and damn people to Hell
because they were excommunicated from the church for their "sins." The inability of man
to spirituality reform himself, God's faithfulness to those who were truly His, and man's
responsibility to repent became the prevailing doctrines of these preachers.

But then, just as now, there were those men whose faithfulness to the prevailing church
caused them to condemn these preachers. Many men of the "church" opposed these
teachings and their counterparts continue to do thus today. The situation that remains,
then, is just what these men taught about the nature of God. Did they themselves see God
as somehow sadistically pulling man's strings? Did they view God as one who kept
people from coming in sincere repentance to Him? Hardly! These proclaimers of truth
simply allowed the text of Scripture to speak for itself and be their guide for discovering
the nature God. They were the masters of the original languages and very few today, even
with the amount of resources, can rival their competencies in exegeting the Scriptures.
Wycliffe, Tyndale, Luther, Calvin, and a score of others learned til the time of their
deaths. Their studies led them to believe and teach the complete sovereignty of God in
everything—including salvation.

But let the Reformers speak for themselves, for it is they that must be allowed to speak
rather than some seminary professor who has never taken time to read, nevertheless,
sought to earnestly understand these doctrines.

Moreover, such is the proneness of the human mind to indulge in vain subtleties, that it
becomes almost impossible for those who do not see the sound and proper use of this
doctrine, to avoid entangling themselves in perplexing difficulties. It will, therefore, be
proper here to advert to the end which Scripture has in view in teaching that all things are
divinely ordained. And it is to be observed, first, that the Providence of God is to be
considered with reference both to the past and the future; and, secondly, that in overruling
all things, it works at one time with means, at another without means, and at another
against means. Lastly, the design of God is to show that He takes care of the whole
human race, but is especially vigilant in governing the Church, which he favours with a
closer inspection. Moreover, we must add, that although the paternal favour and
beneficence, as well as the judicial severity of God, is often conspicuous in the whole
course of his Providence, yet occasionally as the causes of events are concealed, the
thought is apt to rise, that human affairs are whirled about by the blind impulse of
Fortune, or our carnal nature inclines us to speak as if God were amusing himself by
tossing men up and down like balls. It is true, indeed, that if with sedate and quiet minds
we were disposed to learn, the issue would at length make it manifest, that the counsel of
God was in accordance with the highest reason, that his purpose was either to train his
people to patience, correct their depraved affections, tame their wantonness, inure them
to self-denial, and arouse them from torpor; or, on the other hand, to cast down the proud,
defeat the craftiness of the ungodly, and frustrate all their schemes. How much soever
causes may escape our notice, we must feel assured that they are deposited with him, and
accordingly exclaim with David, “Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works
which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: if I would declare and
speak of them, they are more than can be numbered,” (Ps. 40:5). For while our adversities
ought always to remind us of our sins, that the punishment may incline us to repentance,
we see, moreover, how Christ declares there is something more in the secret counsel of
his Father than to chastise every one as he deserves. For he says of the man who was born
blind, “Neither has this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be
made manifest in him,” (John 9:3). [Calvin—Institutes 1.17.1]

In this quote alone (and there are many more) we see that Calvin affirmed God's
sovereignty, even taking on those who claimed that God was some kind of evil God
waiting to squash sinners. But let us continue our examination of the Reformers.
Tyndales's reply to Thomas Moore's book explains the nature and benevolence of God to
His own children. In context, Tyndale is distinguishing the Catholic Churches abuse of
the people of God. Tyndale, therefore, uses a parable of sorts to debunk Moore's idea of
church:

Another is this: God giveth not the promises that are in Christ for bodily service, but of
his mercy only, unto his own glory. Yea, and of the Father's goodness to all natural
children receive. Ask a little boy who gave him his gay coat. He answereth, his father.
Ask him why and he answereth, because he is his father and loveth him. Ask him whether
his father loveth him and he saith, "Yea." Ask him how he knoweth it and he saith,
"Because he gaveth me this or that." Ask him whether he love his father and he saith,
"Yea." Ask him why, he saith his father loveth him and give him all things. Ask him why
he worketh, he answerth his father will so have it. Ask him why his father not giveth such
and such boys coats, too. Now saith he, they be not his sons. Their fathers must give them
as my father doeth me. Go now ye Popish bond servants and receive your reward for your
false works and rob your brethern and reign over them with violence and cruel tyranny
and make them worship your pillars, polyaxes images and hattes. And we will receive of
the merciful kindness of our Father and will serve our brethern freely of very love, and
will be their servants and so, for their sake. [William Tyndale, An Answer Unto Sir
Thomas Moore, pp.81-82]
This was my own translation of the old English. A couple of words, I was not too sure of.
Here is the link to the book so that you may read it for yourself: Tyndale book

So we see Tyndale's passion for a church of true worship and service before God. He
expounds God to be the merciful giver of all things to His true children. Hardly a the
Fatalistic God that He is often made out to be.

Jonathan Edwards, the great Puritan preacher of the 18th century, expresses God's
concern for sinners to repent in his sermon titled, Sinners in Zion Tenderly Warned.

Now, God is pleased again to pour out his Spirit upon us; and he is doing great things
amongst us. God is indeed come again, the same great God who so wonderfully appeared
among us some years ago, and who hath since, for our sins, departed from us, left us so
long in so dull and dead a state, and hath let sinners alone in their sins; so that there have
been scarcely any signs to be seen of any such work as conversion. That same God is
now come again; he is really come in like manner, and begins, as he did before,
gloriously to manifest his mighty power, and the riches of his grace. He brings sinners
out of darkness into marvellous light. He rescues poor captive souls out of the hands of
Satan; he saves persons from the devouring fire; he plucks one and another as brands out
of the burnings; he opens the prison-doors, and knocks off their chains, and brings out
poor prisoners; he is now working salvation among us from this very destruction of
which you have now heard. Now, now, then, is the time, now is the blessed opportunity
to escape those everlasting burnings. Now God hath again set open the same fountain
among us, and gives one more happy opportunity for souls to escape. Now he hath set
open a wide door, and he stands in the door-way, calling and begging with a loud voice to
the sinners of Zion: Come, saith he, come, fly from the wrath to come; here is a refuge
for you; fly hither for refuge; lay hold on the hope set before you.[Courtesy of CCEL]

We will at two more quotes before I close this post. These last two will conclude
Reformers' teachings of the love and nature of God from the pre-Reformation to modern
times. The two will come from Charles Spurgeon and R.C. Sproul

To-night, we have to talk about the love of God: "God so loved the world." That love of
God is a very wonderful thing, especially when we see it set upon a lost, ruined, guilty
world. What was there in the world that God should love it? There was nothing lovable in
it. No fragrant flower grew in that arid desert. Enmity to him, hatred to his truth,
disregard of his law, rebellion against his commandments; those were the thorns and
briars which covered the waste land; but no desirable thing blossomed there. Yet, "God
loved the world," says the text; "so" loved it, that even the writer of the book of John
could not tell us how much; but so greatly, so divinely, did he love it that he gave his
Son, his only Son, to redeem the world from perishing, and to gather out of it a people to
his praise.[Immeasurable Love, courtesy of Spurgeon Archive]

Jesus' radical demand to love extend beyond the love of God and the love of neighbor to
include within its bounds the love one's enemies. This mandate is expressed in the
Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:43-48. . .With this command Jesus gave content to
what it means to love one's enemy. It includes blessing those who curse us, doing good to
those who hate us, and praying for those who spitefully use us and persecute us. Jesus
grounded this demand of agape love on the prior example of the Gather's agape love for
us. We are to behave in this manner in order to show that we are sons of our heavenly
Father. He reminded His hearers of the benevolent and beneficient lov of God for His
own enemies.[Loved By God, R.C. Sproul, pp.162-163]

In closing, I would simply point out that the Reformers were consistent all the way
through in their views on God. Though they primarily focused on God's sovereign rule
they never failed to show forth the incredible love of God in Christ Jesus and continually
in their ministries called sinners to repentance.

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