Au contraire!
"Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand." Isaiah 53:10
It being the Lord's will that Christ suffer and die as a sacrifice doesn't mean God ordered Christ crucified! If God had ordered it, there would be no need for Christ to cry "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" since they would have just been following orders.
While the sovereign will of God is a difficult discussion - attempts to deny His absolute sovereign predestination of everything which happens in His creation is an attempt to diminish Him and it does not please Him for anyone to do so.
This is both a misunderstanding of predestination and sovereignty and an unfair mischaracterization of other Christians.
#1
Sovereignty doesn't, and never has, meant absolute determination of the movement of every person and molecule under one's control. Rather, sovereignty is a term of Dominion - the power and right to make and enforce rules and laws. A sovereign may delegate, allow freedom within bounds, punish wrongdoers, etc. A sovereign does not have to micromanage, and it would be a poor sovereign who forced his people to break the laws he himself made.
How does God's supreme sovereignty, in particular, play out? Here are: some ways
* He makes provision for nature and man (
I Chron 29:12-15,
James 1:17,
Psalm 84:3,
Psalm 104:14-23,
Psalm 104:27-30,
Psalm 12:5,
Matt 6:26)
* He tasks us as His servants to perform His will (
Acts 1:8,
Rom 12:2,
II Cor 10:13-15,
Matt 14:13, I Thess 5:12-18,
I Pet 2:15,
Heb 10:36,
I Cor 4:1,
Rom 2:13)
* He gives us power to perform His will (
Ex 10:1-20,
Rev 11:6,
Acts 1:8,
Heb 11;
Phil 2:12-13,
Ezra 6:1-12,
I Peter 4:10,
Mark 16:15-18,
Isaiah 45:1-7)
* He sets the standard of righteousness (
Rom 1:17,
Psalm 18:30,
Eph 2:3,
Psalm 119:3,
Deut 32:4, PSalm 145:17,
Isaiah 5:16,
Isaiah 51:6,
Dan 9:14,
Jer 9:24)
* He punishes the wicked and is the final judge of the fate of man (
I Pet 3:10-12,
Rev 20:11-15,
Isaiah 13:11,
Rom 6:23,
Psalm 145:20,
Rom 2:6-10,
II Thess 2:8)
* He sets the rules by which deliverance, forgiveness, and pardon are obtained (
Num 25:22-29,
Jer 26:1-6,
II Chron 7:14,
John 3:16,
Heb 10:11-18,
Luke 4:14-21,
Heb 9:22,
Matt 5:29, Isiah 45:22-25)
* He makes righteous laws and decrees (
Ex 19:12-23,
Lev 20:8,
Psalm 93:5,
Num 23:19,
Deut 6:1,
Rom 1:32,
Rom 5:18,
Rom 10:4)
* He appoints others to carry out His decrees [God delegates] (
Heb 1:14,
Matt 25:14-30,
Hab 1:6,
Zech 11:16, Amons 6:4,
Acts 3:26,
Gal 4:6,
John 3:31-36,
II Chron 18:21,
I Kings 14:14,
I John 4:10)
*He punishes the servants that do not follow his decrees (
Matt 25:24-30,
II Pet 2:4-22,
Mal 3:17-18,
Matt 18:21-35, )
* He binds even time and space to subject to His eternal plan (
Heb 4:7,
Rom 16:25-27,
Rom 8:22-25,
Rev 21:21,
II Pet 3:3-10,
I Cor 2:7,
I Pet 1:20,
Isaiah 46:9-10,
Acts 2:23)
* His kingdom is eternal and cannot be destroyed by man or Satan (
Dan 7:13-27,
Eph 1:15-23,
I Chron 29:10-13,
Rev 1:18,
II Pet 1:10-11,
Psalm 145:13,
Dan 6:26,
Dan 2:44,
Matt 6:19-20)
The ability for man to act in obedience under God's commands, or rebel and disobey and God's authority to punish, is actually a mark of God's supreme sovereign power. Believing that man has a free will to act and choose obedience in no way contradicts or minimizes God's power and kingship.
[Question: Is God sovereign or do we have a free will?
See Answer:
Is God sovereign or do we have a free will?]
#2
Predestination, as per the Greek, means to 'pre-limit' or 'set boundaries beforehand.' It does not have connotations of the English term 'destiny.' God setting the limits and boundaries of the sea is an example of predestination, but God determining the motion of every water molecule and every wave is not.
* He puts boundaries and limits on nature. (
Jer 5:22,
Job 38:4-41,
Job 9:4-9,
Psalm 104:1-13,
Lev 26:3-5,
II Chron 7:11-16,
Jer 8:7,
Jer 10:13)
* He puts boundaries and limits on the life and history of man and the nations (
Job 14:5,
Acts 17:26,
Num 34:1-12,
II Chron 13:4-18,
I Kings 9:5,
Psalm 2:1-12,
Jer 45:4,
Luke 12:25,
II Kings 7:1-20,
Gen 22:8-14,
Isaiah 45:9-13,
Dan 4:34,
Dan 2:21)
* God predestined the plan of salvation to include Gentile believers, not just Jewish believers (
Eph 3:2-6,
Rom 3:21-31,
Rom 9:1-26,
Rom 15:5-13,
John 1:11-13,
Isa 45:9-10,
Rom 9:11-16, etc).
[How are predestination and election connected with foreknowledge?
See Answer:
How are predestination and election connected with foreknowledge?]
People may be well meaning, I suppose, in their unscriptural conjectures - but they are rejecting the Word of God non the less.
People aren't somehow rejecting Christ or scripture by rejecting one proposed earthly interpretation of scripture. All Christians grow in knowledge as they walk with Christ (II Pet 1:3-11.) Not having perfect knowledge or rejecting one earthly theory among many doesn't mean they are rejecting scripture, especially if they base their rejection of that theory in scripture.
Calvinists may have some faults theologically. They are debatable. But their theology concerning the sovereignty of God is a well meaning (and pretty much right on IMO) attempt to tackle a difficult subject.
I agree that that is your personal opinion, that Calvinism is debatable, and that soteriology can be a difficult subject to tackle.
It is better by far than the statements of those who simply want to criticize while adding little to the theological discussion on the subject.
The substance of this argument of yours I am responding to adds no scripture or new theological angle to the discussion, but relies on criticizing half of the church as rejecting scripture and diminishing God. If offering criticism instead of substance is a concern for you, than I suggest you look to your own writings.