P.S. I have no clue why you place a parenthetical question mark after the word exegesis.
TheEditor wrote:Hi CT,
You r response seems unnecessarily curt. I focused on one word ("cause") because that was the subject of your post to me. You followed my analogy to a point, but said the difference lay in the fact that
"This is the polar opposite of what we're saying God does, which merely "causes" the outcome by letting the man do what the guy wants to do anyway",
and so I addressed you. It does no good to address your second point to me, namely:this whole set of issues is complicated and difficult, and I'm not trying to convince you to become a Calvinist. My ambition here is much more modest. I just want you to see that these sort of arguments that attempt to dismiss Calvinism on casual a priori grounds without doing the hard work of exegesis are wrong, and rest upon a confusion
because this really isn't an issue for me. I have looked at the arguments for Augustinianism and found them wanting. My feeling is that the only thing that makes the "exegesis"(?) "hard work" is the mental gymnastics necessary to make it work to an otherwise rational and reasonable and merciful person.
Regards, Brenden.