He foreordains all His own
deeds, but not the deeds of men.

(5.) We object to the doctrine of universal foreordination, in the
_fifth_ place, because it makes the day of judgment a farce. The
books are opened, and men are about to receive acquittal or
condemnation. This is perfectly right if men were free when on
earth, but not so if all their deeds were foreordained by God. One
of the most interesting sights in Strasbourg is the clock of the
cathedral when it strikes twelve. Then the figures move. A man and a
boy strike the bell, the apostles come out, and Christ blesses them.
It is a wonderful piece of mechanism. But the figures are simply
automatic. They move as they are moved. To try them in a court of
justice (should anything go wrong), would be simply ridiculous--a
farce. And if every one of our deeds is fixed, what better are men
than mere automata? To try them, to judge them, and to award praise
and blame for what was done, would be to burlesque justice. The
judgment day, therefore, and foreordination of all things cannot
stand in the same category. If we hold by the one we must give up
the other. God foreknows all things, but foreordains only what He
himself brings to pass. Man will be judged, condemned, or rewarded,
according as he has acted in life; which judgment implies his
freedom or the non-foreordination of his acts.

The objections thus adduced are, in our judgment, quite sufficient
to condemn the dogma of universal foreordination. Yet others of a
grave character may be urged against it. It is a sacred duty as well
as a privilege of the Christian, to defend the Divine administration
when attacked by infidels. But if everything has been fixed how can
this be done? Look at the fall. God knew that it would occur, but,
according to Calvinism, He knew it because He had foreordained it.
But the actors in the whole transaction were severely blamed and
punished. To the serpent it was said, "Because thou hast done this,
thou art cursed above all cattle and above every beast of the
field." The woman was told that because she had done what she did,
her sorrow was to be multiplied; and the man was driven out of
Paradise, because he had hearkened unto the voice of his wife. Can
such declarations be justified if the transactions recorded were all
foreordained? Each of the parties condemned might have asked, and
done so pertinently--Why put this punishment upon me when I was
simply carrying out the Divine decrees?