Calvinism Examined

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Not of works, lest any man should boast. - Eph 2:8-9

This does not claim that faith is the gift of God. William Lane Craig explains this.

He says that in Greek every noun has a gender: either masculine, feminine, or neuter. The gender of the Greek word faith, which is pistis in the Greek, is feminine. The pronoun this in RSV (Revised Standard Version), or that in KJV (King James Version), which is touto in Greek, in verse 8 has a gender neuter. Obviously the pronouns it and this/that refer to the same antecedent. Also, the words "it is" in verse 8 are italicized in the KJV, meaning they were added by translators, but not present in the manuscripts.

The antecedent of touto is not the word faith. The genders don't match - one is neuter, one is feminine. Therefore, this verse does not say that faith is the gift of God. See William Lane Craig explain this in the video below, which starts at minute 6:00, and see also https://scottthong.wordpress.com/2020/08/19/william-lane-craig-on-romans-9-10-ephesian-2-faith-is-a-gift-of-god/ See also https://redeeminggod.com/faith-gift-of-god-ephesians_2_8-9/

Calvinism does this

• The word all is loosely interpreted to mean not all, when such meaning would support Calvinism.
• When such looseness does not support Calvinism, it is rejected, as in the case of God's not repenting in the book of 1 Samuel, in which the extremely literal meaning is applied, ignoring all context.

Below is part of John 17.

The issue is those whom the Father gave to Christ. Verse 2 says Jesus should give eternal life to those the Father gave him.

We will call these the given.

But, who are they?

17 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. John 17:1-3

...

6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

Here, in John 17:6, Jesus speaks of the given in the past tense, not the future tense; "they have kept thy word." Also Jesus says, "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me ..." referring to actions in the past involving these given men. This means the given had been born before Jesus was speaking in John 17. The given were alive when Jesus was on earth in the flesh, so the given would not include any of millions of believers born after the time when Jesus spoke in John 17.

So, we have point 1 about the given: the given could not be anyone born in the last 2000 years or so (born after Jesus ascended).

7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.

8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

Here we have more in the past tense about the given. They knew, past tense, that Jesus came out from the Father. They knew this, past tense ("have known"), at the time when Jesus spoke - about 2000 years ago. So we see more evidence that the given were alive long ago. 

9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

This tells us the given are not the world. Were they the saved believers, even the saved believers of today? How could they be saved believers of today, if they were born back when Jesus was speaking?

12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

More past tense - Jesus was - past tense - with the given. Also he kept the given, again past tense. He is not talking about people born in the 20th century, for they were not around back when Jesus prayed this prayer. So the given are not anyone born in the past century - or the past 1000 years, and even longer into the past.

Also we might see that Judas, one of the 12 disciples, was one of the given: "the son of perdition."

14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

More past tense  - "I have given" and the world "hath hated them." These given were hated before Jesus said this, so they had to be born and alive when Jesus spoke this (that's the meaning of past tense); they were not born anytime later. This pretty much rules out the given being saved believers of today, and as well as saved believers from lots of past centuries.

18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

Again, more past tense - Jesus sent the given.

20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

This verse teaches that the given will present their word, through which others ("them also which shall believe") shall believe. These who will believe through the word of the given obviously are not the given. Thus the given cannot refer to future believers.

Like the 12 disciples, the given were close to Jesus. In fact, one of the given was a disciple - Judas (John 17:12). Perhaps the given were the 12 disciples. 

This fits the verse saying that Jesus "sent them into the world," which he did do (Mat 10:5-8).

5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, ...
...

7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Calvinism might claim sola scriptura, that Calvinism is based on the truth of God's word. However, presumptions seem to predominate in interpretation, turning supposedly exegesis into eisegesis. 

All of the other issues - free will, sovereignty, fairness, etc. can be analyzed from what the Bible, sola scriptura, says. The problem is that Calvinism brings these ideas in as starting points, and then tries to find interpretations of the scripture to fit those ideas.

Instead, the correct hermeneutical and exegetical approach is to try to find ideas that match the scriptures, rather than trying to find scripture interpretations that fit the ideas.

Per Calvinism, election cannot be changed by people; God elected people before they were born, and they themselves can not affect such election. 

However, Peter suggests differently, contradicting Calvinism's portrayal of election as being to salvation.

Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: ... - 2 Pet 1:10

This verse refutes election as being to salvation. For it tells people to try to make their own election sure.

How can anyone, per Calvinism, give diligence to make their calling and election sure? Aren't they already elect - or not elect - by God, with no ability in themselves to do anything that would affect or change that election? Isn't there nothing that anyone can do to make their own election sure?

One possible Calvinist response might be, "That does not mean for the individual to actually try to make their election sure. What it really means is for them, if they already are elect, to try to do what God ordained for them to do. Because God ordained for them to be told to try to do it." This is similar to the Calvinistic response to the question, Why evangelize if the elect will definitely be saved?, the response being, Because God ordained the method.

We then might ask Calvinism the following:

Why does God tell people to do something that He does not mean for them to do?

Why does God not tell people to do something that He does want them to do?

Why does God ordain for people to be told to do something they are going to do anyway - since it's ordained they would? Why does God tell people to try to do what they cannot do - make anything sure that God already ordained?

In short, this verse with Calvinism's concept of unconditional election leads to either apparent contradiction, or questions  and problems. The problems can be solved by rejecting the Calvinistic concept of unconditional election.

In 2 Thess 2:13, "from the beginning" could refer to the beginning of Paul's ministry. The scripture does not say "from the beginning of creation" so to claim such is to claim something not in scripture -  not "sola scriptura."