have any reason for rejecting others, other than his will. For when it is said that God hardens or shows mercy to whom he wills, men are warned by this to seek no cause outside his will.”31 Calvin also expressed it this way: “… those whom God passes over (praeterit), he condemns (reprobat); and this he does for no other reason than that he wills to exclude them from the inheritance which he predestines (praedestinat) for his own children.”32 What is the cause of God’s decree of reprobation? Calvin’s