The Calvinist position when taken to the same extreme that this author takes the Wesleyan position could argue that God very well may have damned every Child that dies before the age of 5 because like Esau, perhaps God hated them all. There is nothing in Calvinistic theology that suggests that God favors children that die young more than he favors the children who live. And if God does not need a reason to save one adult over another (as they are all natural born sinners) then God could just as surely choose one dying infant over another and send one to hell and one to be with him forever in Heaven.
So rather than accomplish the goal of turning this believer into a Calvinist, the author and poster have given me a reason to take another step back.
FWIW Sometimes Calvinists can be really insightful and sometimes they can be real jerks.
In my experience, the only people to ever preach that (any) infants are damned to hell have been calvinists on this board. No one else I have met/interacted with has ever suggested anything remotely similar.
Once they lost that debate, they came up with the arguments found in this thread. Interesting how they continue to move the goalposts.
I agree that it’s this kind of stupidity that makes me wonder what they’re putting in the drinks at calvin conventions, ‘cause some of them come out crazy.
It’s this kind of crappola that makes me realize there’s a school of calvinists who preach calvin instead of Christ.
They could care less about Christ so long as they get to stick out their chests and bellow at non-calvinists. Disgusting stuff. It certainly raises a question about predestination: God needed idiots for some reason, and sure enough, they show up here every now and then.
It's John Wesley's own position, fer-cryin-out-loud. I don't need to "take it to extremes", when I can just quote the man himself and his own church standards!
"they cannot be saved, unless this be washed away by baptism."