Edited
Actually, I wasn't objecting to the idea of God, just the strict Calvinist description of Him. I'm sorry that wasn't as obvious as I tried to make it.
I was wondering if you objected to god himself rather than the idea (Calvinist description of him, for example) but not god himself.
None of us can adequately describe God; not theists OR atheists. How can we? We ARE talking about an entity that, supposedly, created the universe. How can any of us define what, or who, could do that?
God has been described in the bible. It's like saying we don't know who Aladdin (character in the Disney movie Alladin) is because we can't prove he exist to describe him. He (and Aladdin) both have descriptions that define his existence and relation to people on earth.
Unless, noting above, you are talking about a real entity, the description of the Calvinist god has been defined in the bible.
It's just that as far as Calvinism is concerned...that is, the strict predestination and that a deity deliberately created beings who have no choice but to be eternally tortured, having no choice in the matter...that one seems to describe a deity that is far TOO understandable, in human terms. I can imagine a human doing that. I'm having problems imagining the deity who created the entire universe doing that.
The Bible doesn't say non-believers have a predestination to be tortured. Calvinist idea is on god choosing the believer rather than the believer chooses god. So, if you do not believe, god has not chosen you. If you accept his gift of salvation, he has.
By default, if you do not accept god's gift, you do not receive its benefits. The default consequence of not accepting the gift of salvation (or choosing it for non Calvinist believers) is you will not receive the benefits of salvation, of the gift. That consequence is eternal separation from god: death.
If I believed you were drowning in the ocean and I come to offer my hand, if you accept, you are saved. If you do not accept, you drown. You are predestined to be saved
if you grab my hand. If not, you will drown. That is Calvinist thought.
If I believed you were drowning and I say I will offer you my hand if you grab for it, and you don't, the consequence is the same, you drown. That is non-Calvinist thought.
The default is not from the person who tried to save you (me/god), it's from your not accepting the gift of salvation whether given or reached for.
As for being tortured, god says "I have not known you" meaning eternal separation from god. This is what I got from what Calvinists believe:
We Calvinists see the reality and the severity of sin upon us. We recognize and we admit that sin is so powerful that it has incapacitated our ability to be holy. It has removed our ability to please God in any way (
Rom. 3:10-12) even by our sincerity of choice.
We believe that even our so called sincerity is touched by sin and is, therefore, unacceptable to God. We believe that our sinfulness kills us, insulates us, and makes us unable to freely choose God of our own free will (
John 1:13).
We believe this because we believe the Scriptures teach us that the sinner, the unregenerate, is a slave of sin (
Rom. 6:14-20), dead in his sins (
Eph. 2:1), cannot understand spiritual things (
1 Cor. 2:14), and does not seek for God (
Rom. 3:10-12).
We believe that such a person described in scripture is necessarily unable to believe by his own free will because his own free will can only follow its sinful tendencies.
Remember, the unbeliever is full of evil (
Mark 7:21-23), possess a sinful and deceitful heart (
Jer. 17:9), and
cannot understand spiritual things (
1 Cor. 2:14). Therefore, we believe that the unregenerate sinner will act in a manner consistent with his sinfulness and that he does have the freedom to choose whatever he desires - and he desires to choose sin. We believe God's word.
If you are a murderer and god offer you a chance to be free from the consequence of your crime, and you reject that chance because you didn't see the honesty and genuine nature of the free offer, why should you still be free of consequence when you didn't accept the offer of freedom?
We Calvinists believe that all people rightly deserve eternal damnation and that it is God's sovereign right to elect some into salvation and let the rest go their natural way, to hell. We believe that God has made all things, even the wicked for the day of destruction (
Prov. 16:4). We believe that God has mercy on whom He desires and hardens whom He desires (
Rom. 9:14). We believe that God endures with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction (
Rom. 9:22). We believe God's word.
Calvinist say you are a sinner. You are
already predestined to hell (you are already drowning). If you do not accept god's gift, you will go to hell. It is not something god sends you to. It is something you choose on your own. It's an ultimatum that rests on the choice of the person to open their hands to the gift or reject it.
The Bible says "to those who believe", so if you don't believe,
logically, you won't be with god. The "elect" are those who opened their hands to the gift god gave them.
One Calvinist put it another way, he said why would god
let everyone go to heaven when humans sinned against god and it is their consequence of their sin that "sends" them to hell not god?
As for how it was told to you or read it can influence why you see it the way you do.