First off I've printed the quotation again with certain areas highlighted as pertaining to your questions. I've done that so others can see your questions in context in case they missed the other post.
Those questions are not unique to you and others who deny total sovereignty.
For the record, I do not, nor have I ever denied God's sovereignty. I just see it differently than Calvinists do.
You said, "The sad thing is that reformed folks just don't see any contradiction, when there clearly is a big one."
I don't know of any so called Calvinist or anyone else who does not see the difficulty here. Having said that - some knuckle head will probably chime in and prove me wrong. If they do they deserve any derogatory names you and I might hurl at them. We won't of course. It's against the rules.
The writers of the WCF didn't shrink from the apparent contradiction. that is why they penned some of the additional qualifiers the I've highlighted.
Glad to see that you acknowledge the apparent contradiction. It is apparent, and it is a contradiction.
What we have here is nothing less than the question of evil's existence in a world a so called good God created. It's one of the bigger issues that I address in the concepts outlined in the OP of the "what's the beef" thread. It doesn't go away by simply referring to the free choice of people IMO.
I've asked several Calvinists why it doesn't "go away" by mentioning free choice. I've not gotten any answers. Can you explain why free choice doesn't solve the problem of free will?
Surely you and I can agree that God could have done things a lot differently than He has done them. He didn't need to do anything at all much less devise a world where suffering and pain exist - hardly even mentioning eternal damnation.
Sure, we can agree on that. But He created what we have to deal with and understand. I don't find any answers from Calvinism that answer any of the questions.
I'm not sure we can ever understand it. The framers of the WCF were content to comment on it to make the record clear and then leave it alone. That might be the wisest thing to do.
I don't leave contradictions that are apparent alone.
But my wisdom may not have been up to snuff in the first part of my Christian life. I railed against God concerning this in ways you can only imagine. I've never been shy when it comes to letting my feelings be know to God. Luckily He's let me live in spite of some of the things I've said.
I believe we're all in the same boat on that one.
I realize that I am in the minority among evangelicals in my blunt railing against God. The reason that is, as I see it , is that the majority have cleverly (they think) gotten around the problem by denying the truth of absolute sovereignty.
I don't see how absolute sovereignty solves anything. If anything, it puts the blame of sin directly on God Himself, which I cannot accept. He is perfectly holy, and cannot sin, cannot tempt to sin. How in the world could He be the cause of sin and evil? It doesn't make sense to me.
If He is the cause of sin, why does He punish said sin? That doesn't make sense to me.
But being in the majority has never guaranteed being right when it comes to what men believe concerning God.
How very true.
I have a lot that could be said about this problem of evil but for now I'll just say that not having a complete understanding of a matter and not believing and obeying God in spite of not understanding every mystery played a big part in the fall of man. We sure don't want to go there. That fact is a lot of what this mess we're in is all about as I see things. I think that's why God left so many mysteries in His Word. It's a test of our faith as I see things. There's a whole lot evangelicals failing the test when it comes to this area of faith in the face of mystery.
I agree that lots of evangelicals have failed the test, thanks to poor training of pastors. Many are just ignorant of truth. Which is why they fail.
But I don't really see mysteries in Scripture.
There's a certain amount of faith required here. There's no getting around it. I determined quite a while ago that someone who would die for me can be trusted with a little mystery - even a huge mystery like this.
Yes, faith is required, because it pleases God. But I don't see any mystery connected with faith.
IMO non sovereignty people's (the majority of evangelicals) working overtime to find ways around the sovereignty of God is nothing less than a demonstration of their lack of faith. Sorry! I'm not meaning to flame anyone. That's just the way I see it.
Could you elaborate on that a bit? I'm not sure I understand that anyone is finding ways around God's sovereignty.
“God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeable ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established. [/FONT]
The contradiction is quite apparent. What He ordains, He authors. Or, to put it another way, what has He ordained that He didn't author?
[FONT="]Although God knows whatsoever may or can come to pass upon all supposed conditions; yet has He not decreed anything because He foresaw it as future, or as that which would come to pass upon such conditions.”[/FONT]
Could you put in to plain English the phrase: "yet has He not decreed anything because He foresaw it as future, or as that which would come to pass upon such conditions." Thanks. I have no idea what is being conveyed.