When I was growing up I was taught, by my father, a very important life lesson that has stuck with me to this day. We were in a quandary before leaving for school one morning because my oldest brother’s shinny new belt buckle could not be found. You see we were wrestling advocates and we would get new belt buckles and wrestle for them. My brother had purchased one and we wrestled for it but I could not win it from him. However, when he was not looking I was able to seize upon the opportunity of seeing that it was mis-placed from him. We just finished placing plastic on the windows to keep the cold wind out for the winter and I punctured a hole in the plastic and dropped the buckle between the plastic and screen with the thought I would get it later after everyone stopped searching. Well, it was getting late and the school bus was coming and daddy informed us no one was going anyplace until the buckle was found. I was never accused of stealing the buckle, but I protested loudly and with great passion that I did not take it. After some time of being interrogated by my daddy I broke and confessed I had taken it and where I placed it. After the punishment period was over (Daddy placed me in time-out. He said; “you sit there until I can get the leather strap”.) I spoke to daddy about the incident. I asked how he knew I was the one who took the buckle? He responded that I insisted too passionately that I was not the one who took it and my protesting told him that I did not want him investigating me. While I announced I was not the one, I was announcing loudly that I did it.
It is much the same whenever one sees a statement like; “When this is done with respect for each other and devotion to God’s Word, such engagements can be tremendously profitable”. Whenever I see a statement concerning a desire to interact with something with which one disagrees I immediately become suspicious that a negative ad hominen argument in on the horizon. My suspicions are brought to reality in the review of Whosoever Will found in the latest Founders Journal. The entire journal is dedicated to covering the scholarly critique of Calvinism and I want to cover briefly three reasons for my suspicions becoming reality.
