PROCRUSTES AND THE TULIP

There is a terrible character in Greek mythology named Procrustes. Procrustes was a host who adjusted his guests to fit their bed. "Procrustes" means "he who stretches."

He had a house by the side of the road where he offered his so-called hospitality to passing strangers, whom he invited for a pleasant meal and a night's rest in his very special bed. Procrustes described it as having the unique property that its length exactly matched whoever lay down upon it. But Procrustes had a secret.

The secret Procrustes didn't mention was the method by which this "one-size-fits-all" bed was achieved. As soon as the guest lay down on the bed, Procrustes went to work on him, stretching him on the rack if he was too short for the bed and chopping off his legs if he was too long.

Today, to say someone is "procrustean," refers to someone who produces conformity by violent or arbitrary means. He's the church parliamentarian--he carries Robert's Rules of Order in his back pocket and by all that's holy, you and everyone else are going to abide by them no matter what. He's that friend you have who goes by the rules and the procedures. He's got the day planned and rain or shine, his plan is going to happen. 

"Procrustean" is a fitting adjective to describe Calvinism. Calvinism is the procrustean bed on which the Bible must lie. For example, here are four texts that the Calvinist puts on Procrustes' bed:


I Timothy 4:10: "We have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of believers."

Tit. 2:11: "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people." 

1 John 2:2: "And He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world."

John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him might not perish but have everlasting life."

The problem is that Calvinism has, as one of its 5 points, the one called "Limited Atonement" which says that Christ died only for a small, very small, percentage of the human race called "the elect," chosen by God arbitrarily in eternity past for salvation. Calvinist R. C. Sproul wrote: "God the Father designed the work of redemption specifically with a view to providing salvation for the elect, and that Christ died for His sheep and laid down His life for those the Father had given to Him." Only those the Father had given him.

To set the two views in contrast, we could say it this way: By ‘limited atonement’ is meant that a limited number of people had their sin imputed to Christ. By ‘unlimited atonement’ is meant every person without exception had their sin imputed to Christ and their sins are paid for.

But there's a huge problem with limited atonement:  If Christ's atonement is limited to only a very small percentage of the human race, why does God invite all men to come to Christ if Christ did not provide for all? If the atonement is limited, is God teasing and tantalizing those for whom Christ did not die if there's absolutely no chance for them to be saved because they weren't chosen in eternity past? One author said, "This is a mere mockery, for God will not tantalize his creatures by tendering them with that which is not in His hand to bestow."

The doctrine of unlimited atonement gives the evangelist a confidence that limited atonement cannot grant. As Dr. Robert Lighner explains: "No greater confidence is needed for the proclaimer of the gospel to lost men than that Christ, the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:22, 45) finished a work through which salvation was provided for every single member of the first Adam's condemned race."  

So, when the Calvinist comes to the many verses in the Bible that are among the four mentioned above, those verses must lie on Procrustes' bed for "adjustment." These verses, taken on face value and normally, do not fit with Calvinism, so they have to be cut or elongated. In other words, they have to be redefined so that "all" does not mean "all" and "world" does not mean "world." 

As Procrustes goes to work, the "world" becomes the "world of the elect." "All" does not mean "all," but means "all the elect." Writing of the Calvinist statement that I John 2:2 refers not to the "world," but to the "world of the elect," New Testament and Greek scholar, Zane Hodges, calls such an interpretation "tortured," and "futile." 

He cites I John 5:19 where John uses the same word as he writes, "the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one."  In John's writing, the "world" means the "world," not "the world of the elect."  He writes: "Johannine thought and terminology leave absolutely no room for any such concept as "the world of the elect."

The idea of limited atonement is part of a philosophy, part of a system that's superimposed on the Bible, and having been superimposed, it must lie down on Procrustes' bed and be forced to fit. 

THE DEATH DEALER

They call it “The Garage Massacre.” It occurred in July when people of the town forced 40-60 of their fellow townspeople into a courtyard of a garage which was in the center of the city.

They spent some time publicly insulting, ridiculing and humiliating the 50 or so of their neighbors and fellow workers. Then the day turned deadly.

An eye-witness said, “I saw a group of well dressed, intelligent-looking people holding iron bars which they used to viciously beat another group of similarly well dressed, intelligent-intelligent looking people.

But some weren’t dead but lay unconscious. Using a hose for washing cars, they doused them with water until they regained consciousness then they began beating them again. And so it went on and on until the victims lay dead. As some of the citizens watched, they lifted their children onto their shoulders so they could catch a glimpse of one man known as the “Death Dealer.” He was the one who had instigated the Garage Massacre.

A few feet away from him stood another group of individuals who were guarded by armed men. Every few minutes he signaled with his hand and another person quietly stepped forward and had his skull shattered with one blow from the huge iron bar the Death Dealer held in his hand.

Each blow he struck drew another round of clapping and cheering from the enthralled crowd. There were women in the crowd and many of them clambered onto chairs and crates so that they and their children could get a better view of the spectacle taking place in the courtyard below. They were cheering, clapping, and laughing.

The Death Dealer was a blond man of medium height, about twenty-five years old. We know what he looked like because someone took his picture that day. The picture shows him standing and leaning on a wooden club, resting. The club is as thick as his arm and comes up to his chest.

At his feet lie about fifteen to twenty dead or dying people. Water is flowing continuously from a hose washing blood away into the drainage gully. Just a few steps behind this man some twenty men, guarded by armed civilians, stand waiting for their execution in silent submission.

In response to a wave of the hand, the next man steps forward silently and is beaten to death with the wooden club. The audience, seeing each blow enthusiastically shouts with the landing of each blow. Once the mound of the bodies at his feet had reach fifty, a young man who had wielded a crowbar, grabbed an accordion, climbed to the top of the pile of the corpses, and played a patriotic song as he danced and the spectators sang.

This incident was well documented and photographed; it was a public event that happened in Kovno, Lithuania, on June 1941, a day in which all those innocent Jews were beaten to death. Over 95% of that country’s Jewish population was massacred over a three-year period. The estimate is that 190,000–195,000 Jews were murdered in Lithuania before the end of World War II.

The philosopher Karl Jaspers wrote about the Holocaust: “That which has happened is a warning. To forget it is guilt. It must be continually remembered for it was possible for this to happen and it remains possible for this to happen again at any minute.” Karl Jaspers

HOW ABOUT THAT!

Robert Roy Britt, writing for "Living Science," in 2012, was struck by what an amazing thing the planet earth is. He used words like "incredible," "perfect," and "just right." The following are some of the 13 amazing things he mentioned about our planet:

To introduce us to the Big 13, he wrote: "The air is exactly the mix of chemicals we need, there's lots of water, and the temperature is just right — at least in some places some of the time. Then he began his Big 13:

1. Third Rock: Our world orbits the sun at just the right distance — not too hot, not too cold. This habitable zone is where water can exist in liquid form — a basic requirement for life. Nobody is bragging about their oceanfront property on Mars or the cool breeze on Venus.

2. The Moon: But be thankful for our great big beautiful satellite. Its gravitational tug creates tides (with the help of the sun).


3. Stable Rotation: Earth's rotation brings the sun up each morning and, thankfully, puts it back down. If it weren't for this, one side of the world would be unbearably scorched and the other would freeze life to death. So you know, the moon is stealing some of Earth's rotational energy, slowing us down by about 1.5 milliseconds every century. [That IS stable!]

4. Constant Gravity: Nobody expects gravity to go anywhere anytime soon, but it's interesting to note that scientists don't really understand how gravity works. We take it for granted, but gravity helps make us who we are. It defines our strength, contributes to the shape and form of every living thing. An average male human transported to Mars could dunk on a 26-foot-tall basketball hoop due to the reduced gravity.  A 200-pound man trying to stand on Jupiter (good luck) would weigh 480 pounds and would have to get a lot stronger just to jump more than a few inches.

5. The Deep Blue Sea: About 70 percent of our world is covered by oceans. The significance can't be overstated: Abundant liquid water is the most significant distinguishing factor on this planet that supports life.

Well, that's enough of the Big 13. You get the idea of just how special our created planet is, created just for us. How does Roy Britt sum up all of this amazing specialness? Here's what he says: "We're lucky." And, "If our star [the sun] and our world had shorter life spans — as many do — we'd never have gotten on our own two feet and developed brains big enough to ponder just how lucky we are to be here."

Lucky? What is the Bible's pronouncement of this viewpoint? Read Romans 1:21.