Oh, plueeeese, FK, that is such a banal answer. It is also an oxymoron, with all due respect. If God ordained some people with the specific purpose for them to go to hell eternally, it is difficult to argue that He made them in imago dei (image of God)! God did not make them in His image so they can be evil! For it is precisely imago dei that sets humans apart from other living beings, i.e. being higher—"above the rest."
[Going by the Reformed logic] If the reprobate are creatures rejected by God before they even existed, the ones He predestined to be evil, they could not possibly be anything even remotely similar to those God considers His children! For they are even lower than animals, for animals are not evil.
Ah, but you will say "we don't know who is saved and who isn't." Even though it is not up to us to judge, is there any doubt in your mind that Hitler was bound for hell? But what if he wasn't? What if he repented before he died? You will say something like "it's God's decision, and I don't question that."
The horrible conclusion we come to, based on Reformed theology, is that God predestined Hitler for salvation before the foundations of the world knowing the evil he would commit (because God predestined it!!!) , and He did that for some "greater good." (what "greater good" came out of Hitler? Did it stop wars and suffering and hunger; did it give us "faith?").
And this brings us to Abraham. Love doesn't use Russian roulette as a teaching tool for appreciation of love. Abraham was predestined according to Reformed theology to believe and to appreciate his faith. Why does it matter if we know or don't know. Our knowledge, as our prayers, as our good works, matter not to God according toy this theology...they are made to look like they do, but in reality all this is pre-choregraphed and cannot change, and it's not done for us but for God's glory alone.
Reformed theology implies that we are actually deceived by God into believing that our prayers are real, when in fact they cannot change anything. So, one must conclude that the Reformed God is a deceiver. Please show me that his is not so.
Good point ,Dear Kosta, and since we KNOW that God made man in His image and likeness(higher than animals),this would mean that the reformed version of God is also in the likeness of evil as well as good.
Once again, God does not create the reprobate FOR THE PURPOSE of sending them to hell. He creates them for the purpose of bringing glory to Himself. He graces them with all things that are unique and common to all humans. The reprobate, whoever they are, ARE above the animals. While it is difficult for a presumably saved person to imagine, IF you somehow found out that you were not among the elect, would you trade your humanity in favor of the existence of a wild animal? Of course not.
[Going by the Reformed logic] If the reprobate are creatures rejected by God before they even existed, the ones He predestined to be evil, they could not possibly be anything even remotely similar to those God considers His children! For they are even lower than animals, for animals are not evil.
The reprobate are different from God's children in where they're going. That's just definitional. But they are not lower than the animals. The Bible does NOT say that God created the elect in His image. It says that God created MAN (all men) in His image. Does Jesus teach us to love only fellow believers? NO, He teaches that we should love and have compassion for ALL PEOPLE, even the reprobate. There is no such teaching for animals.
The horrible conclusion we come to, based on Reformed theology, is that God predestined Hitler for salvation before the foundations of the world knowing the evil he would commit (because God predestined it!!!) , and He did that for some "greater good." (what "greater good" came out of Hitler? Did it stop wars and suffering and hunger; did it give us "faith?").
Your conclusion is pure speculation based on something EXTREMELY unlikely. Possible, yes, but likely, no way. I don't see how this helps your point. I have some memory of attempting to answer your Hitler question before, and I was very uncomfortable because I didn't want it to appear that I was defending Hitler. :) So, I don't want to go there again. The answer is I don't know what purpose of God the Holocaust served, I only know there WAS some purpose. It did not happen outside of God's control.
And this brings us to Abraham. Love doesn't use Russian roulette as a teaching tool for appreciation of love. Abraham was predestined according to Reformed theology to believe and to appreciate his faith. Why does it matter if we know or don't know. Our knowledge, as our prayers, as our good works, matter not to God according to this theology...they are made to look like they do, but in reality all this is pre-choregraphed and cannot change, and it's not done for us but for God's glory alone.
I'm afraid you're wrong on almost every count. :) Of course all of those things matter. They absolutely matter to us, therefore they matter to God who loves us. We KNOW that God gives good gifts and works for the good of those who love Him:
Matt 7:7-11 : 7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Rom 8:28 : And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
All those things you listed, a [personal] relationship with God as a believer, our prayers, and our good works, are all gifts from God. We benefit from them.
Reformed theology implies that we are actually deceived by God into believing that our prayers are real, when in fact they cannot change anything. So, one must conclude that the Reformed God is a deceiver. Please show me that this is not so.
Prayers do not change GOD, but they certainly DO change things for us. When we pray in accordance with God's will we ALWAYS get the thing we are praying for (see above passage). Change for us definitely happens as a result of prayer. But God doesn't change. Therefore, God is not a deceiver, prayer works exactly as it is explained in the Bible.