Originally Posted by Newman
Well, this guy (a friend and super guy) doesn't have an ounce of Arminian in him. He's a 5 point Dutch Reformed, and completely agrees with total depravity. I think he used that illustration because for that conversation, as for this one, the topic wasn't depravity. It was beside the point.
1. Sorry, but I'm going to have to be hard-nosed about this... the illustration is antithetical to Calvinism.
2. Total Depravity is inextricably connected to predestination. The ONLY way anyone could possibly be saved is if God has predestinated and elected them in Christ because they are born totally depraved and are by nature guilty before God. To put it in reverse, because every human being since the Fall is under the just judgment of God and desires to do nothing but sin due to their inherited depravity, if there is no unconditional election by God, no one could possibly be saved.

Originally Posted by Newman
Originally Posted by Pilgrim
However, the fact remains that the reprobation of the non-elect is no less decreed; a specific determination of God that certain individuals should not be saved but rather they should receive the just judgment they deserve.
Right. This seems like another way of saying what the op said, and what the poster was struggling with: "If God chooses certain people to save, he chooses certain people to burn in Hell forever"
Yes, I admit it probably seems to be the same but I have little doubt that what the OP understands by God choosing certain people to burn in Hell forever, is not what historic Calvinism teaches. That is why I linked to the article: Double Predestination because the author deals with the common misconception of the doctrine and sets forth the historic, confessional doctrine of the Reformed Faith/Calvinism.

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simul iustus et peccator

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