Ceaser decreed that the world should be taxed, and everyone moved to be taxed. Caesar's decree was the cause of people moving, and the people being taxed. He know people would move, and was the cause of it.
Exactly. Caesar’s decree was what the WCF would call, when referring to God, the “1st cause“ of any movements of people (if your example can rightly be stretched to apply to the creator and sustainer of the universe - and it really is quite a stretch).
The 2nd causes of any movements,
or lack of movements for that matter, were the choices made by men to either comply with what they knew Caesar wanted or not to comply.
They chose to move or not. It was their choice to make. Caesar made it clear what he wanted. But Caesar did not make them get up and move. They could have rebelled.
What God does is decree that there be choices made under the parameters He has created or allowed to come to exist at any point in time and then leaves it up to the people involved as to what those choices will be.
For instance – He could have decreed that His miracles be done in Tyre and Sidon rather than in Chorazin and Bethsaida and that the people of Tyre and Sidon would make their own choices to repent or not to repent. It would be their choice to make.
According to what
you say the WCF teaches – God authored the sin of a lack of repentance and then assign that sin to the people of Chorazin and Bethsaida and then held them responsible.
That is not the teaching of the WCF by any stretch of interpretation.
To make your own analogy fit our discussion – you would have to say that Caesar decreed that a particular person (say like Barabbas) would refuse to do his will to pay taxes and that Caesar would then hold him responsible when all he did was obey that decree by not paying his taxes.
That’s the kind of thing you say about the WCF’s statement and it’s a clear misrepresentation.
The main difference between your example and what God does according to the WCF is that God decrees only that choices be made by individuals at certain points in time within the parameters God Himself has chosen to provide and involve Himself in in His almost innumerable ways. He has not decreed (as in authored or assigned) the particular choices individuals make. They have been given free will.
I know you subscribe to that idea and I know that the WCF does as well. They say so regardless of your cherry picked portions of their statement.
God does not decree, author, or assign the particular choices men will make. As the WCF clearly puts it - the liberty to choose is not taken away from them by the decree that they make a choice of their own choosing at a certain point in time within the Parameters God provides for them.
Again for the last time - the WCF is crystal clear about that.
Of course - judging by the question from you that I addressed in a post a bit earlier – you are basing your entire attack on the statement in the WCF on just one half of the statement. When people won’t play into your out of context game because they see right through it – you just keep throwing out your straw men and hope there will be some new and gullible wanna be theologians here who will buy into what you are representing about the beliefs and teachings of the WCF and end up sharing your disdain for the Reformed position.
By the way - just where do you think God is and what do you think He’s doing while men make their choices - out getting popcorn with what's his name?
I've often said that those who would argue against these statements by the WCF must almost have to worship a different God than the one I see described in the scriptures.
I'll add to that now what seems appropriate – a God more like Caesar.