CALVANISM
By B.A. Robinson
Quotation:
"God preordained...a part of the human race, without any merit of their own, to
eternal salvation, and another part, in just punishment of their sin, to eternal
damnation. " John Calvin
What is Calvinism:
It is a series of theological beliefs first promoted by John Calvin (1509-1564),
one of the leaders of the Protestant reformation. They were affirmed by the
Synod of Dordt (1618-1619 CE) as being the doctrine of salvation which is
contained in the Bible. It laid the foundation for Reformed Theology.
Calvinism is often summarized by The Five Points of Calvinism, which are easy to
recall by using the acrostic "TULIP:"
T: This usually stands
for "Total depravity:" This is often mistaken to mean that humans are all
hopelessly, intensely sinful. Actually, it means something quite different: as a
result of Adam and Eve's disobedience to God -- the Fall of Man -- sin has
extended to all parts of every person's being: "his thinking, his emotions and
his will." 1
Sometimes, this has been called "Total inability." This is the concept that it
is impossible for the ordinary "natural" human to understand the Gospel's
message. They are spiritually helpless. First, God must first decide to
intervene in the form of the third personality within the Trinity, the Holy
Spirit. Otherwise, the person is lost forever.
See: Romans 5:12: "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and
death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." (KJV)
Mark 4:11: "And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of
the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in
parables."
U: This stands for
"Unconditional Election." This is the concept of predestination: that God has
divided humanity into two groups. One group is "the elected." It includes all
those whom God has chosen to make knowledgeable about himself. The rest will
remain ignorant of God, and the Gospel. They are damned and will spend eternity
in Hell without any hope of mercy or cessation of the extreme tortures. God made
this selection before the universe was created, and thus before any humans
existed. The ground or grounds that God uses to select the lucky few is unknown.
What is known is that it is not through any good works on the part of the
individual. It is not that he extends knowledge to some in order to find out who
will accept salvation and who will not.
There is a degree of tension within the Bible concerning precise division of
responsibility between God and humans on this matter. The Bible does not resolve
this issue. Hyper-Calvinists believe that a person has zero responsibility for
their own salvation; it is all up to God.
Arminians teach that humans have free will and thus can accept or resist the
call of God.
See: Romans 9:15: "For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have
mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."
Romans 9:21: "Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make
one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?"
L: This stands for
"Limited atonement" or "Particular Redemption." This is the belief that Jesus
did not die to save all humans. He only died for the sake of specific sins of
those sinners who are saved.
See: Matthew 26:28: "For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed
for many for the remission of sins."
Ephesians 5:25: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the
church, and gave himself for it."
I: This stands for
"Irresistible Grace:" This is the belief that every human whom God has elected
will inevitably come to a knowledge of God. The elect cannot resist the call.
See: John 6:44: "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me
draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day."
Romans 8:14: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God."
1 Peter 5:10: "But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal
glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect,
stablish, strengthen, settle you."
P: This stands for
"Perseverance of the saints:" This is the "Once saved, always saved" belief --
that everyone who has been saved will remain in that state. God will begin and
continue a process of sanctification which will continue until they reach
heaven. None are lost; it is impossible for them to lose their salvation.
See: Philippians 1:6: "That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye
may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ."
Romans 8:28-39: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he
did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also
justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified....Who shall separate
us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or
famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?...For I am persuaded, that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able
to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
John 6:39: "And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which
he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last
day."
Objections to Calvinism:
There are many conflicting belief systems within Christianity which are opposed
to Calvinism:
Universalism: This term has many meanings. Today's
most common meaning is that all individuals will eventually attain Heaven. None
will be lost forever in Hell. Whether or not they have been saved during their
lifetime is unimportant; the number and degree of sins that they have committed
is also of no consequence.
Arminiansm: This is comprised of a series of beliefs
which were first advocated by a break-away group of Dutch Calvinists. They teach
beliefs that deviate significantly from each of The Five Points of Calvinism:
That each person is not spiritually helpless. She/he has free will and can
choose to be saved
God selected the Elect on the basis of his foreknowledge of who would respond
and be saved.
Jesus died so that everyone had a chance to be saved. But first, the person must
choose to accept salvation.
Man has free will and thus can resist the call of God.
Arminians differ on whether a person can lose their salvation or not. 2
Some religious liberals: There is little unanimity
of belief among this group, Many conservative Christians would call them
non-Christians or pseudo-Christians. Liberals place little emphasis on the
doctrines of salvation and Hell. Some believe: It would be irrational for God to
create the universe, the Earth and humans, and have predestined almost all of
people to spend eternity being tortured in Hell.
The concept that, because of a single act performed by Adam and Eve, some 240
generations (6,000 years) ago, every human is now intrinsically sinful, is
irrational.
Supporters of Calvinism believe that individuals are sent to Hell because of
their beliefs: i.e. they have not trusted Jesus as Lord and Savior who died for
their sins. There are countries of this world who incarcerate and even torture
people for their beliefs. But they are considered pariah nations. The best of
humanity considers it immoral to imprison or punish people because of thought
crimes.
They believe that people have free will. We are quite capable of resisting a
call by God.
Calvinism asserts that God does not select some people to be the elect on the
basis of any virtuous quality or positive act. Rather it is outside of one's
power to become a part of the elect.
If a person chose to reward individuals on the basis of race, then we would call
that person a racist. If they chose on the basis of gender, we would call
him/her sexist. If the choice was made on the basis of sexual orientation,
she/he would be called homophobic. Modern ethics condemn sexism and racism; many
liberals consider homophobia equally unethical. We don't know the criteria that
God chooses. But it would appear to be immoral by today's religious and secular
ethical standards.
Some religious conservatives who are not Calvinists also object to Calvinism.
Feelings run high on this topic. Reviewing a book by Dave Hunt: 3 Well known
Christian author Tim Lahaye said that "...Calvinism is perilously close to
blasphemy."
Joseph Chambers, a pastor, author and radio host wrote: "Calvinism makes our
Heavenly Father look like the worst of despots"
Elmer Towns, Dean of the School of Religious Liberty, said "Hunts' book exposes
traditional Calvinism for portraying God in a totally unscriptural manner."
Michael T calls, a book reviewer for Amazon.com refers to Calvinism as "A God-dishonouring
scheme." He quotes A. M. Hills: "...Such is Calvinism, the most unreasonable,
incongruous, self-contradictory, man-belittling and God-dishonoring scheme of
theology that ever appeared in Christian thought. No one can accept its
contradictory, mutually exclusive propositions without intellectual
self-debasement.... It holds up a self-centered selfish, heartless, remorseless
tyrant for God, and bids us worship Him."
Some of the other reviews of Dave Hunt's book are also quite vitriolic.
4
References:
1/ "Calvinism" Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics,"
at: https://www.reformed.org/calvinism/
2/ "Arminianism and Calvinism," a comparison at: https://home.earthlink.net/~andrepar/compare.htm
3/ Dave Hunt, "What love is this: Calvinism's
misrepresentation of God," Loyal, (2002). Read reviews or order this book safely
from Amazon.com online book store
4/ Dave Hunt, James White, "Debating
Calvinism: Five points; two views," Multnomah, (2004). Read reviews or order this book safely from
Amazon.com online book store
--------------------------------------------
CALVANISM (.....take 2)
By Timothy
Today I decided to drop by "Baptist
Board", an online Baptist bulletin board where there are discussions on Baptist
history, theology, evangelism, and other Christian denominations. I usually
spend a few minutes in each of those forums and read 2-3 articles that appeal to
me. Usually, the Other Christian Denominations forum is full of discussions on
Catholicism, atheism, and everything in between. I was a bit surprised to find
the forum full of discussions on Calvinism, considering that about 10% of
Baptists are Calvinists and about 25% of new Baptist seminary graduates are
Calvinists.
So, the questions "What is Calvinism" and "Is Calvinism a False Doctrine" in a
forum labelled "Other Christian Denominations" somewhat begs the question "Is
Calvinism Another Christian Denomination?" From my viewpoint outside of
Calvinism and the Baptist faith, I can easily answer "yes", based on the meaning
of "denomination". Denomination is of Latin origin and means "from the name". We
should ask if Calvinism de-nominated from another branch of Christianity and
from whom. John Calvin and his followers did in fact denominate and they
denominated from the Catholic Church. So Calvinism is a denomination.
Is Calvinism a false doctrine? No, Calvinism is not a doctrine, but a collection
of doctrines, some true and some false. As we know, all truth is from and of God
and leads us to know and love God more fully. In that light, the true doctrines
within Calvinism lead us to love and serve God; however,
the false doctrines present impediments to knowing God fully. False
doctrines are also known as heresies. So, the presence of heresies within
Calvinism makes Calvinism a heresy and a popular modern heresy at that. That is
what lies at the heart of the current conflict between Calvinists and
non-Calvinists within the many Baptist associations.
Fortunately, many folks are attracted to Truth and always seek the Truth. These
folks will eventually reject those doctrines that Calvinism got wrong, but will
retain those doctrines Calvinism has right and move into more mainline
Protestant denominations that contain an even greater proportion of the truth.
Some will even move into Catholicism, Judaism, and Orthodoxy in search of the
fullness of Truth. The recent Pew survey indicates that about a third of
Christians are actively engaged in this search for the fullness of Truth.
Where does one find the fullness of truth? In the church of the living God, the
pillar and ground of the truth, in the Bible.
But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest
to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God,
the pillar and ground of the truth.
1Timothy 3:15
*** "Calvinism Examined" here! ***
-------------------------------------------