With the above in view of "devoted" or "addicted" or "set", this makes Acts 13:48 read as,
And they believed, as many as they were ADDICTED into life eternal
And they believed, as many as they were DEVOTED into life eternal
And they believed, as many as they were SET into life eternal
Or, we could look at Acts 15:2 for the verb TASSÓ.
they DETERMINED that Paul and Barnabas
KJV, NKJV (EMPHASIS mine)
they ARRANGED for Paul and Barnabas
YLT (EMPHASIS mine)
Or, Luke 7:8,
I also am a man SET under authority
KJV (EMPHASIS mine)
...PLACED...
NKJV, YLT (EMPHASIS mine)
"set" is a common rendering for TASSÓ in the LXX.
In Galatians Paul tells us,
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
Galatians 6:7-8
If you sow to the Spirit - (that is) do not consciously sow to the flesh: carnal desires - then, you *set* yourself up to receive what you hear of the gospel and thereby believe.
For more on this passage, see the online article Acts 13:48
or, the related video entitled Quick Answers to Calvinists Acts 13:48
His purpose
In Romans 8 we read in most bible versions,
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28
This is followed by what Calvinists have called "the golden chain" (of verbs and actions by God):
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined . . . whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
Romans 8:29-30
God they say, foreknew from "eternity past" every one in the group of individuals they call "the elect" and it was "His" purpose as per Romans 8:28 to make every one of these "the called" and thus also exclude all those not foreknown as elect.
There is no "His" in any Greek text here.
This is why the translator places that word in italics. But this is a Calvinist addition.
Here is the literal YLT reading of Romans 8:28,
And we have known that to those loving God all things do work together for good, to those who are called according to purpose;
Romans 8:28 YLT
This "purpose" is the Greek PROTHESIN. It is the word used for the "showbread" which was on the presentation table (Exodus 40:4, 22-23; Luke 6:4) with or without the word "table" or "bread" in the Septuagint, thus is understood as the "showbread" in those contexts and its core meaning of "showing" is thus seen (see Appendix 6 on PROTHESIS in
Serious Mistranslations of the Bible
). It is about something "showing".
The deal is, there was something God had seen and was "showing" to God, the very "purpose" (Romans 8:28) in the heart searched by God, as Paul mentioned in the (very) preceding verse:
Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Romans 8:27
The heart searched revealed the intent, the purpose of that man's spirit, as that (would be) saint.
In Romans Paul mentioned his own spirit,
. . . God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit . . .
Romans 1:9
Paul spoke of his own spirit having purpose. So that Paul's mention of "what the mind of the Spirit" (Romans 8:27) and, knowing that all early manuscripts of Greek in uncial (in capitals) are like that throughout, then the translator's use of the capital "S" for the word "Spirit", making the reader think this is the Holy Spirit in view, is misleading. The man's spirit, having been searched is in view here. It is the purpose in that heart in view; not God's heart. It is not God's heart being searched here.
But God also has a purpose, but not of the kind mentioned in Calvinism (the "golden chain" limited to the elect chosen by God), but instead, as is mentioned in the missing portion within the quote above of Romans 8:29-30. Here is God's explicitly mentioned purpose in view in the passage:
. . . to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Romans 8:29b
God wants sons like Jesus from among men, out of all those who He finds by searching their hearts: the man that has that longing for what is right (Romans 2:15 "in their hearts"). So that we see this predestination in Romans 8 is conditional on what God found in the heart.
For more on this passage I recommend PAUL'S TEACHING OF CONDITIONAL PREDESTINATION
Those who, by God's Grace, had believed - NLT
In the NLT we read about "those who, by God's grace, had believed". This verse involves the teaching and encouragement of Apollos to believers in Achaia.
Apollos had been thinking about going to Achaia, and the brothers and sisters in Ephesus encouraged him to go. They wrote to the believers in Achaia, asking them to welcome him. When he arrived there, he proved to be of great benefit to those who, by God's grace, had believed.
Acts 18:27 NLT
In the NKJV this reads,
. . . he greatly helped those who had believed through grace;
Acts 18:27
Not really changing much in the meaning (and idea in Calvinism) that the belief of these believers was due to God's "grace".
The literal YLT gives us,
. . . did help them much who have believed through the grace,
Acts 18:27 YLT
The ongoing text informs us what is "the grace" in view:
for powerfully the Jews he was refuting publicly, shewing through the Writings Jesus to be the Christ.
Acts 18:28 YLT
Apollos' gift of teaching, is the grace in view. The Greek is clear in the three words present "through the grace". Luke who wrote Acts was a companion of Paul in his journeys and Paul uses this phrase like this too:
For I say, through the grace given to me . . .
Romans 12:3
And,
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us . . .
Romans 12:6
The gift of teaching of Apollos is in view, as was Paul's gift in view (in his mention); nothing more.
For more on this I recommend my chapter on Acts 18:27 in the book Serious Mistranslations of the bible
All the day's ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be - NIV
This passage comes from Psalm 139.
Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Psalm 139:16 NIV
This gives the idea that all the days of one's life are known by God, let alone under His control and fully purposed by God before one is born: A very Calvinist perspective. The NLT is like the NIV too.
The NKJV is not much clearer:
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written,
the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.
Psalm 139:16
The KJV and YLT help us see what is in view. They follow the flow of the context about God making man in the womb.
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
Psalm 139:16 KJV
But days are not mentioned here. They are in the YLT,
Mine unformed substance Thine eyes saw, and on Thy book all of them are written, the days they were formed -- And not one among them.
Psalm 139:16 YLT
This reading was first brought to my attention in a KJV margin note which read, "Or, what days they should be fashioned". So what is in view is the days of when all the members of one's body are formed in the womb of one's mother; nothing more. This fits fully within the context and the internal explicit words "in continuance were fashioned" about the elements of the substance within the womb in view "when I was made in secret" (Psalm 139:15).
For more on this I recommend the chapter Psalm 139:16 In my book Serious Mistranslations of the Bible.
To Conclude
I am not aware of any passage of scripture correctly translated that supports Calvinism or any of the tenets of that system under the TULIP acronym: (T) Total depravity or Total Inability, against God's view that man is able as in Genesis 4:7; Ezekiel 18; et al - (U) Unconditional election, against God's express mention it is man's choice and not His as in John 3:19; Exodus 32:33; et al - (L) Limited atonement against the total inclusion in the atonement provision mentioned in Colossians 1:19-20; et al - (I) Irresistible grace, against Jesus' express mention which emphasises God's own Self control in Matthew 23:37 - (P) Preservation of the saints, against the reality of departure in Romans 11:22; 1 Timothy 4:1; et al.
I have found no passage correctly translated and read fully in context that can be used as support for Calvinism.
As Satan quoted Scripture at Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4; Luke 4), but was countered with more scripture, so all Calvinism is based on texts, some mistranslated as shown, and these (mis-)used out of context and added to others of the same kind also out of context. So is the norm of all the teaching by demons (1 Timothy 4:1). These deceiving spirits have been involved here from the outset and they continue regularly to reinforce all their dogma. Their influence is that the dogma *must* be worshipped and placed forward as a holy cow frequently [see my article Making an idol?] and it is a divider of believer from believer in Christendom. The early church, instead, universally taught free will, until Augustine that is, who began the teaching of man being so disabled that his will is bound to an alleged inherited fallen nature and unable to contribute to salvation, without God first enabling that man to repent and to have faith. Up till Augustine all taught that man had ability and the individual is the one who chose whether to be a sinner and to remain one, as attested by scripture in context (Genesis 4:7; Ezekiel 18; et al). This means that for 3-400 years there is no record of any such teaching in the Church (again in context). During the 16th century reformation this Augustine dogma was identified as a banner to rally to, and then was so supported by the writing of John Calvin that the name Calvinism has been attributed to it.
Calvinism makes God into a contradictory Person and blasphemes His character giving Him the blame for all evil actions in the world: every single one of them. Calvin wrote "What we must prove is that single events are ordered by God and that every event comes from his intended will. Nothing happens by chance." (John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, Book I, Ch. 16, Section 4). Whilst Scripture is clear that only good gifts come directly from God "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." (James 1:17) so that no darkness is directly attributable to God whatsoever, since "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5). God is clear in His own words that "I am the LORD, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images." (Isaiah 42:8): In Calvinism God decreed every act of false worship to false gods.
Shouldn't that make all saints angry too?
It is because deceiving spirits are involved that good and sincere believers have been caught in the snare of this dogma and most do not realise that this is something that will be burned up when they face their Lord, as Paul said:
If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
1 Corinthians 3:15
For the disparity between Augustine of Hippo and the early church on free will, See the online article
The Early Church and Predestination With ongoing links to quotes of 17 early church writers.
See also a summary of their difference by a Professor of Church History here:
The Early Church: Original Sin - Fallen nature - Man's part in salvation
This is in contrast to Augustine's new dogma
Augustine's letter to Jerome on souls of babies
|