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.