Many Calvinists and Reformed writers assert that there is an “antinomy,” paradox, or so-called apparent contradiction between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. They are wrong – there is no such apparent contradiction. As Luther observes in The Bondage of the Will, people make up contradictions where there is none. Calling it an “apparent” contradiction does not make it better if they should not be seeing any kind of contradiction in the first place. Calvinists and Reformed writers should stop this.
It is possible that two propositions can appear contradictory to a person when there is in fact no contradiction. When this happens, the problem is in the person and not the propositions. Perhaps he has made a mistake in reasoning, or perhaps he lacks some information that he needs to correctly understand the propositions. Often, it is because he is biased against the truth and refuses to acknowledge what stands plainly before him.
Whether or not there is an actual contradiction, as long as a person perceives an apparent contradiction between two propositions, he cannot affirm both propositions. This is because when there is a contradiction between two propositions, whether it is an apparent or actual contradiction, it always means that to affirm one is to deny the other at the same time. Therefore, to affirm two propositions that contradict each other is in fact to deny both propositions in reverse order.
If X and Y contradict each other, then X = not-Y and Y = not-X. Then, to affirm both X and Y is the same as affirming not-Y and not-X, which is to deny both X and Y, only in reverse order. Of course, since not-Y = X and not-X = Y, then this means to deny both X and Y is really to affirm both in reverse order. But again, to affirm both is to deny both in reverse order, and this continues without end. To affirm both is to deny both, and to deny both is to affirm both. Therefore, to affirm two contradictory propositions is to say nothing, or worse than nothing, because it shows that the person is stupid.
When a person thinks that he sees a contradiction between two propositions in Scripture, he should indeed assume that the contradiction is only apparent, and that the propositions appear to contradict only because of his lack of intelligence or information, and not because there is an actual contradiction. Moreover, unlike those theologians who pretend to speak for all of humanity when they claim that man’s “finite mind” cannot resolve the apparent contradictions in theology, one should not assume that everyone else must perceive the apparent contradiction. Perhaps the matter is not so difficult that everyone must be puzzled by it; rather, maybe the one who perceives the apparent contradiction is more stupid than everyone else. In any case, as long as the two propositions appear contradictory to him, he cannot affirm both at the same time.
Since Scripture in fact does not contradict itself, this is just another way of saying that a person cannot truly affirm a biblical proposition until he understands what it means. He cannot truly affirm a part of Scripture that he does not understand. If he does not understand what a proposition means, then what he affirms is not in fact that proposition, but some other proposition in his mind.
In other words, when a person reads propositions X and Y, but misunderstands at least one of the propositions so that his mind perceives X and A, and if X and A contradict each other even though X and Y do not contradict, then it would appear to the person that X and Y contradict each other even though it is really X and A that contradict each other, since the person thinks that he is thinking about X and Y, when he is really thinking about X and A.
A biblical proposition misunderstood becomes a non-biblical proposition in a person’s mind, and a biblical proposition can certainly contradict a non-biblical one, or two non-biblical propositions can certainly contradict each other. This is one of the things that could happen when a person sees an “apparent” contradiction in Scripture. One or both sides of the alleged contradiction is in fact not the biblical proposition, because it has been distorted.
Or, a person might correctly understand propositions X and Y, but he also affirms a false premise Q, which appears to make X and Y contradict each other when by themselves they do not contradict.
One example is the relationship between divine sovereignty (X) and human responsibility (Y). By themselves, there is no contradiction between the two, whether actual or apparent. However, the two will appear to contradict if a person forcibly imposes upon them the premise “responsibility presupposes freedom” (Q). Now it appears that X contradicts Y. In fact, if Q is true, then this would be an actual contradiction, and not only an apparent one. But once we realize that Q is false, even the appearance of a contradiction disappears. The key is to correctly understand what Scripture says, and to stop adding foolish ideas that do not come from Scripture.
If a person understands what the Bible says, and if he does not impose his own stupid assumptions upon it, then the Bible will never appear contradictory to him. He will never see even one apparent contradiction in the Bible. This is because the Bible never contradicts itself. However, if he does not understand the Bible, then he might perceive some apparent contradictions. Since the Bible does not contradict itself, he must assume that these are only apparent contradictions, and that the Bible is in fact contradicting his false beliefs and foolish assumptions. Nevertheless, as long as he perceives these apparent contradictions, he cannot affirm what the Bible teaches. He must study to grasp the true meaning, and to purge himself of false ideas, including many religious traditions that have been invented by the theologians. Then he will see that the contradictions never really existed in the first place.
Christians often scream “Mystery!” and “Paradox!” when they encounter biblical propositions that are obviously non-contradictory unless made contradictory by some spectacular distortion or strange and stupid assumption. This is not a sign of reverence or humility, but a denial of the clarity and the unity of Scripture, and a tremendous insult to the wisdom and integrity of God, who inspired the Scripture for us to understand, believe, and obey. This illegitimate appeal to mystery and paradox also grants ammunition to the enemies of the faith. Rather, we must affirm that the Bible is clear and consistent, and that it contains no apparent or actual contradictions.