The Fallacy of Freewill Thinking / by Bryan Lewis

False starting presuppositions and false preconceived notions seem to be more of a problem these days than ever before. Frequently, when I am talking with someone who disagrees with a Calvinistic position; the conversation often starts with presuppositions they tend to have about what we believe. In fact, it seems to be more normative these days for many to have basic false starting assumptions and natural bias right from the start. Allow me to explain as I believe it will better illustrate my point.

Most Freewillers have presuppositions about who they think God is. This is why there is so much false teaching. If a Christian does not have the proper view of God and his sovereignty, his attributes, and salvation; then what they teach will be false doctrine. For example, most Freewillers presuppose that God loves everyone. When the Bible is clear he doesn’t Psalms 5:5; Romans 9:13. They presuppose that when the Bible is speaking of all men, whosoever, or the world; that it is speaking of every individual. When actually it is almost always speaking of how the truth was once only made available mainly to the Jew but now in these last days God has poured his spirit out on all flesh, thus not just Jew but now also Gentile (or all kinds of flesh). Now it is not my intent to debate Calvinism in this article that is for another time but, I believe this clearly illustrates the problem of having false starting assumptions or presuppositions.

In this example you can see that when you start with a false presupposition about God and his holy attributes then you will fail to construct your building with a good foundation. You must have a correct strong foundation based of the scriptures not based off your own presuppositions.
I like the idea presented in my apologetics class textbook that says, “By using a set of accepted or established presuppositions the apologist can show why the opposing school of thought is in error”; thus the reason for my illustration in the previous paragraph. We must not only have a secure foundation ourselves, but also always be ready to show the cracks in the foundations of those who believe false doctrine. This also guards from those who would portray themselves as Christians but are not. Exposing false starting assumptions is a must if they exist. It always shows their lack of research and bias toward a sound doctrinal foundation.

Could it be said that for those who call themselves Christian; that presuppositions happen because of ones refusal to let go of tradition as well as their own false assumptions. This proves that scripture and any given subject must be examined without our presuppositions and traditions in place. Only by establishing a solid foundation of accepted sound doctrine (or accepted school of thought) can we have the right presuppositions and only then will we be prepared to expose fallacy in the thinking of others.

So let us work toward constructing a secure foundation built with stablesound doctrine and a secure system of thought. Let us use this to examine our own presuppositions and traditions to see if they line up with scripture. Whatever the situation, uncovering false presuppositions even if their our own, is key in the battle for truth.

Bryan