The Devil's Twisted Logic

I just heard a man (supposedly educated with a doctorate in theology) preaching on TV that, "... if God were in control of everything we do then we wouldn't be able to convict a rapist, or a child molester". This caught my attention even though the ignorance of a such a statement seems obvious to me. So, I turned back to the offending channel (I was flipping channels when I heard the statement and had flipped past the channel as soon as I saw a man preaching; what he was actually saying didn't register until a second later), and I listened for a moment more to what he was saying.

I'd heard this kind of half-reasoned logic before coming from Christians and other self-righteous zelots, but never applied directly to child molesters and rapists - a subject most preachers seem to have enough sense to steer clear of; but not this guy.

He continued his argument in the classic and extremely predictable way of using Christian scripture, taken completely out of context and interpreted to mean what it doesn't even begin to say in a context, to support his erroneous logic. Specifically, he asserted that the Bible says "if... if... if... only IF we obey God, are we saved.". But the Bible, in context, says that if we obey God, then we will know we are saved - obedience to God is an indicator of salvation, not a method of obtaining it (by context I mean the repeated message throughout the Bible, and especially emphasized in the new testament by Paul and John, that salvation is by grace alone; the Bible states clearly and plainly that no one can choose to be saved, God chooses us). I'm just saying what the Bible says directly (see Romans 11:6, Ephesians 2:8, Titus 2:11 and 3:7, just for starters), not necessarily that I agree with it (I do, and I don't, but that's a different matter).

It just amazes me that people accept such garbage without stopping or even trying to think for themselves. You'd think that in matters concerning their "eternal soul" they'd make some effort to think through the logic. If God is in control of everything we do, then he's the one "convicting" the rapists and child molesters too! It makes no sense to just go half way with the logic, and then use twisted Bible scripture to back it up. But that's exactly what I saw this "doctor" doing, and it only took me about 30 seconds to confirm it, and continue flipping channels.

I found nothing else worth watching either, so I wrote this instead.

PS: If you consider the Bible to be an authority on such matters then you might be interested in reading Romans Chapter 9, where St. Paul discusses and defends the absolute sovereignty of God over every choice we make. See especially verse 16-20, Paul couldn't have been any clearer, and yet amazingly so many people still buy into the Devil's Twisted logic, and believe we have the ability to defy God's will!