Reddit mentions of Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport: Making Connections in Today's World

I almost never do this, but I think in this case it is what is needed.

I am almost certainly smarter than you. It's not arrogance or pride at all, it's just a fact. I have a Ph.D. I teach at a Christian University that's higher ranked than yours is. I've been thinking about these sort of issues since before you were born. Now, none of that really means anything. It certainly doesn't mean that I am right. But I do think it's worth listening to what I have to say in this area.

From what I can gather from your post, I don't think you understand the Reformed teachings on predestination. I think you think you do, but I don't think you do. I think either whoever explained it to you did a bad job, or you misunderstood them, or some combination of the two. It's also clear that you have just starting thinking about these issues. It is not at all uncommon for it to take some time for them to make sense for people.

Since you are an intelligent person, you should rely on primary source material. My recommendation is for you to go read the Canons of Dort. This was where the Reformed Churches first formalized their teachings on the doctrines of grace, what has come to be known as TULIP. Read them slowly. Read them again, and look up the scripture passages cited. Read them a third time. Once you understand what is actually taught, then you can start to wrestle with whether it is actually just or not.

To that end, I would recommend the book Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport: Making Connections in Today's World by Richard Mouw which tries to show how TULIP makes sense in a modern world. There are other good books about TULIP out there, but they are aimed at a different goal. This one, I think best fits you.

An internet discussion board isn't the best place to try to answer all of your questions an objections. If you believe that Reformed theology is what the Bible teaches (and I think it is), go find a Reformed church and talk to the pastor and elders about your questions. Or, if you decide the whole Reformed project is balderdash, go find a church in a Lutheran or Methodist or Baptist pastor to talk to.

But to start, I will say that this is completely contrary to Reformed theology:

>You mean to tell me that there are a lot of people who don't even have the OPTION of being saved?

The offer of the gospel is available to all: Repent and be saved. The Reformed Churches confess this, and we've kicked people out who deny it. Everyone has the option of being saved, it is because of our sin that we reject God, and only by his grace that he drags some of us to him.

Which James White? I hear good things about Dr. James Emery White, though I have never read any of his works.

This James White is a different story. He's not really a "doctor", all his doctoral degrees come from an unaccredited institution. I haven't interacted with his work too much, mostly because he comes across as a bit arrogant and confrontational in the works I have read. His apologetic work often strikes me as disingenuous, uncharitable, and often pseudo-historical towards those he is arguing against, especially Roman Catholics.

I do have quite a few books I would recommend:

First, I would read the following:

The Heidelberg Catechism, The Belgic Confession, and the Canons of Dort

These are collectively referred to as the "Three Forms of Unity", and are the baseline documents for continental Reformed (Calvinist) churches. In addition, I recommend the following:

Good Introductions

Letters to a Young Calvinist by James K.A. Smith

Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport by Richard J. Mouw

What is Reformed Theology? by R.C. Sproul

A Little Book on the Christian Life by John Calvin

Digging Deeper

Pilgrim Theology by Michael Horton

The Christian Faith by Michael Horton

The Institutes of the Christian Religion in the 1536, 1541, or 1559 editions by John Calvin. Also available online here

Reformed Dogmatics by Herman Bavinck

Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof

As well anything by the following authors:

Modern: R.C. Sproul, Michael Horton, James K.A. Smith, Cornelius Plantinga, Alvin Plantinga, John Piper, and Tim Keller.

1800s & 1900s: J. Gresham Machen, Herman Bavinck, Abraham Kuyper, G.C. Berkouwer, and B.B. Warfield

Pre-1800s: Jonathan Edwards, John Calvin, Theodore Beza, and John Knox