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The Myth of Christian America  /  MCA (3 of 14): Geneva: The Seedbed of Christian America  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 3
Calvin’s “double predestination” is presented as God arbitrarily choosing a small elect for heaven and everyone else for hell, not based on foreseen faith or life; what does this imply about God’s character and “mercy,” and how does that compare with the way God is revealed in Jesus’s life and teaching?
Another way to ask: If God chooses a few people for heaven and the rest for hell for no reason we can see, what does that say about God’s character and mercy? How does that compare to what we see in Jesus’s life and teaching?

Direct Answer In Bercot’s presentation, double predestination implies a God who decides eternal destinies arbitrarily and then calls that “mercy,” even though most are appointed to torment with no possibility of change. Bercot contrasts this with Jesus and early Christians, whose kingdom ethic is consistent love, nonviolence, and unchanging moral character.

Support from Transcript:

  • God supposedly chose “a very small portion” as elect for heaven and “everyone else to be tormented forever in hell,” with “nobody” able to change it.
  • Bercot stresses God’s decision is “completely arbitrary,” not based on foreknown faith, life, or the kind of person someone would become.
  • He says God’s “mercy” should have “quotation marks around mercy,” implying the word is being used in a strained way.
  • The elect have faith only because God “gave them that faith”; humans “play no role in our salvation at all.”
  • Later Bercot defines the Kingdom of God by Jesus: “Jesus walking about in sandals,” and says kingdom people “love their very enemies” and “turn the other cheek”—a picture of God’s unchanging ethos in Christ.
Discussion Follow-ups If God’s character is seen most clearly in Jesus, what tensions arise when a theological system portrays God in ways that seem unlike Jesus’ way with people?

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