I quoted:
Acts 4:26-28 (ASV) "The kings of the earth set themselves in array, And the rulers were gathered together, Against the Lord, and against his Anointed: for of a truth in this city against thy holy Servant Jesus, whom thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, were gathered together, to do whatsoever thy hand and thy council foreordained to come to pass."
And you responded with:
Where do you see, in that passage, God commanding the soldiers to execute Christ?
You're kidding, right?
First of all, I never said that God
commanded the soldiers to execute Christ. What I said was, and consistent with the subject, is that God
ordained that the soldiers execute Christ. The inspired text says, "
to do whatsoever thy hand and thy council foreordained to come to pass." What we don't read is that God foreordained whatsoever was to come to pass
except all the details to accomplish the crucifixion of Christ. If God hadn't
foreordained all things, then the crucifixion would not nor could have happened for this event was determined by God from all eternity. And, it was prophetically announced for centuries prior by the mouth of His prophets. Unless you want to espouse Open Theism, God was the proximate cause of Christ's death down to every single detail.
However, contradicting yourself you affirm:
"It is by God's foreordination that ALL THINGS, right down to the movement of the smallest particle of matter, the very thoughts of men and creatures, come to be and are providentially guided to their appointed ends."
Yes, where did I dispute that?
Unless you also what to redefine what
ALL THINGS means, then there is nothing which has existence nor events that occur that God has not eternally decreed.
speratus again sputtered:
I did not change your definition of ordain. You now wish to change your definition so that God does evil.
My very first statement when I entered this discussion was, "God is not the Author of evil!" And I will affirm additionally that God does no evil. Your attempt to put words into my mouth doesn't help you here.
And you blurt out yet another total illogical contradiction:
No. It is your god that is powerless. He must issue evil commands inorder to accomplish his purposes. If God ordains something (and He ordains everything), it is good not evil by definition. But you have set up a god who is the author of good and evil. Now that's dualism.
Which is it? God ordains
everything? or He ordains only somethings? Unless you can establish that "evil" is nothing, then logically it must be that God ordains this as well.
Lastly, going off topic you wrote:
I see your view as illogical. Unregenerate men are in bondage to Satan so they have no free will to do good or evil. They will inevitably do evil because of their bound will. But, according to your view, they are in bondage to God and He is holding the strings commanding them to sin and yet they still have free-will to do evil.
Nothing but more nonsense. Unregenerate men have no ability (free-will) to do good or evil, but the do evil because of their bound will.
The Scriptures teach that men are in bondage to both their corrupt natures and are under the power of Satan to do that which is against the prescribed will of God. But ALL men are under the ultimate sovereign authority and power of God to do whatsoever He has decreed. I've supplied ample textual support for this truth and more could easily be added. You've already tried to defend this error several times before and were soundly shown to be in error. Stick with the subject at hand, please!
In His Grace,