Calvinism’s doctrine of Total Inability suggests that all people are born as “spiritual corpses,” morally unable to see, hear, understand and repent even in response to God’s own inspired truth. But this seems contradictory to what some leading Calvinists teach regarding the impact Satan has in our world.
For example, in an article titled, “Satan’s Ten Strategies Against You,” Calvinistic Pastor, John Piper, mentions this about the the great deceiver, Satan:
“1) He blinds the minds of unbelievers.
“The god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4). So he not only speaks what is false. He hides what is true. He keeps us from seeing the treasure of the gospel. He lets us see facts, even proofs, but not preciousness.
2) Satan plucks the word of God out of people’s hearts and chokes faith.
Jesus told the parable of the four soils in Mark 4:1–9. In it, the seed of the word of God is sown, and some falls on the path and birds quickly take it away. He explains in verse 15, “Satan immediately comes and takes away the word which was sown in them.” Satan snatches the word because he hates faith which the word produces (Romans 10:17).
Paul expresses his concern for the faith of the Thessalonians like this: “I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain” (1 Thessalonians 3:5). Paul knew that Satan’s design is to choke off the faith of people who have heard the word of God.”
Does this effort of Satan strike anyone as being completely unnecessary if the claims of Calvinism are true regarding man’s Total Inability from birth?
If we are born completely unable to see, hear, understand or respond willingly to the word of God, as the doctrine of Total Inability suggests, wouldn’t Satan’s work to blind people and snatch away the word be completely unnecessary and redundant?
Imagine visiting your local cemetery and discovering they hired a person to put blind folds and ear plugs on the corpses lest they respond willingly to the sights and sounds around the graveyard. Would this strike you as peculiar?
If you asked the cemetery’s director of operations why such an employee was hired and he sarcastically and confidently said, “Well, there are means to accomplish the ends. How do you think we keep corpses from responding to the sights and sounds around the graveyard except by means?” How would you reply?
Wouldn’t you ask, “But, sir, why are the means of blindfolds and ear plugs necessary given their corpse like condition?”
If he were to reply by rolling his eyes in disgust and saying, “You obviously know nothing about running a cemetery! How dare you question our methods. If you were more intelligent or insightful you would know the answer to this question already, so move along.” How then would you reply?
Would you conclude he was mentally unfit to do his job? Would you try and reason with him further? What is the appropriate response to something that appears to be blatantly contradictory and absurd?
Have you ever read Adam Clarke’s commentary on 2 Cor 4:4? It basically sees the “God of this world” statement as a reference to God, not Satan. If we were to accept that premise, would this be an argument or another bullet in the arsenal of our Calvinist friends, who would say God is sovereign and can blind whomever he wants to blind? The following is what Adam Clarke’s commentary says on 2 Cor 4:4. Just pretending that Clarke is correct that the reference is to God, how would a provisionist counter the idea that God blinds the minds of them that believe not?
Adam Clarke:
“I must own I feel considerable reluctance to assign the epithet ὁ Θεος, The God, to Satan; and were there not a rooted prejudice in favor of the common opinion, the contrary might be well vindicated, viz. that by the God of this world the supreme Being is meant, who in his judgment gave over the minds of the unbelieving Jews to spiritual darkness, so that destruction came upon them to the uttermost. Satan, it is true, has said that the kingdoms of the world and their glory are his, and that he gives them to whomsoever he will; Mat 4:8, Mat 4:9. But has God ever said so? and are we to take this assertion of the boasting devil and father of lies for truth? Certainly not. We are not willing to attribute the blinding of men’s minds to God, because we sometimes forget that he is the God of justice, and may in judgment remove mercies from those that abuse them; but this is repeatedly attributed to him in the Bible, and the expression before us is quite a parallel to the following, Isa 6:9: Go and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the Heart of this People Fat, and Make their Ears Heavy, and Shut their Eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, etc. And see the parallel places, Mat 13:14, Mat 13:15; Mrk 4:12; Jhn 12:40; and particularly Rom 11:8-10: God Hath Given Them the Spirit of Slumber, Eyes that they Should not See, and Ears that they Should not Hear; let their Eyes be Darkened, etc. Now all this is spoken of the same people, in the same circumstances of wilful rebellion and obstinate unbelief; and the great God of heaven and earth is he who judicially blinds their eyes; makes their hearts fat, i.e. stupid; gives them the spirit of slumber: and bows down their back, etc. On these very grounds it is exceedingly likely that the apostle means the true God by the words the god of this world.
Hello Al and welcome
I think what you are noticing here – is the fact that Satan is functionally superfluous in Calvinism.
We know the foundational core of Calvinism is EXHAUSTIVE DIVINE DETERMINISM (EDD) as enunciated within Calvin’s doctrine of decrees
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John Calvin
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The creatures…are so governed by the secret counsel of god, that *NOTHING HAPPENS* but what he has knowingly and willingly decreed. (Institutes 1. 16. 3)
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But if you look closely – you can observe an internal conflict within every Calvinist.
The Calvinist is human.
And humans are emotional beings as well as rational beings.
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Every human tends to lean more in one direction than the other.
Some people are more emotional than they are rational.
Some people are more rational than they are emotional.
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And there is conflict between these two human attributes.
Within Calvinism – this conflict appears for example with John Calvin himself – where it is said within Reformed academia that there is a conflict between John Calvin the theologian and John Calvin the pastor.
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John Calvin the theologian is has an urgency to be TRUE and uncompromising to the doctrine – which is saturated with components of divine malevolence towards created beings – in the manifestation of divine sovereignty and divine glory.
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So we find John Calvin the theologian – making *IN YOUR FACE* declarations of divine malevolence without flinching.
And in this case – Calvin attributes *EVERYTHING WITHOUT EXCLUSION* (including evil) to the divine decree.
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But then there is John Calvin the pastor – who recognizes that many of his followers are not going to find such strong declarations of divine malevolence palatable. And these Calvinists are likely to fall away from the doctrine.
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This is a very critical concern for all Calvinist ministries.
Consequently – it is not at all unusual for Calvinist pastors today to distance themselves completely from any and all of John Calvin’s writings – because they depict images of divine malevolence which many people will not find palatable.
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Consequently – there is a pattern that you will observe with Calvinists.
1) For events considered “Good” events – these are commonly attributed to an infallible decree.
2) For events considered “Evil” events – these are commonly attributed to some component of nature.
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So “Good” events are attributed to a THEOS as the determiner (aka theological Determinism)
But “Evil” events are attributed to NATURE as the determiner (aka Natural Determinism)
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This is a manifestation of the internal emotional conflict which every Calvinist has with the doctrine.
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So concerning Satan – you will find a large percentage of Calvinists attributing things to him – as a strategy for evading attributing those things to Calvin’s god – because they are considered “Evil” events.
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But the truth is – since *NOTHING HAPPENS* that is not knowingly and willingly decreed – it follows – Satan (just like humans) functions as nothing more than an instrument which Calvin’s god moves per his good pleasure.
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John Calvin
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The devil, and the whole train of the ungodly…..can neither conceive any mischief, nor plan what they have conceived, nor how they may have planned, *MOVE A SINGLE FINGER* to perpetrate, unless in so far as He *COMMANDS* They are not only bound by His fetters but are even *FORCED* to do Him service.” (Institutes 1, 17, 11)
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In Calvinism – all creatures – whether human or demonic – are granted the same exact functionality.
They are simply objects which Calvin’s god moves about – according to his good pleasure.
And they are granted *NO CHOICE* in the matter of anything.
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Blessings
br.d