[Diligent]

Good stuff. I wrote a very short study on "preservation and salvation" a while ago. The problem with "perseverance of the saints" is that it is works-salvation cloaked. It's ironic that Calvinists essentially teach that the elect will "persevere" rather than God "preserve."

[Luke]

Yep, it's works based salvation.

Pure arminianism, except with the clause that "God does all my works, so they are meritous". But if one does not do works, then that "proves" they aren't saved. So in essence, they do works to keep themselves saved.

[Luke]

That was supposed to say "aren't meritous". Sorry about that mistake.

[Forrest]

Excellent study, brother George. Thanks again for the investment of time. I hope you will consider putting this on your website...so I can link the study for others. It will be a great Bible centered resource. Love you in the Lord, brother!

[Gord]

Originally Posted by Forrest

Excellent study, brother George. Thanks again for the investment of time. I hope you will consider putting this on your website...so I can link the study for others. It will be a great Bible centered resource. Love you in the Lord, brother!

I'll 2nd that. Thank you brother George.

[George]

Aloha all,

Sorry for the delay, but this whole study has taken much longer than I had anticipated.

The following short condensed biography of John Calvin was gleaned from Philip Schaff’s “History of the Christian church” and various other sources on the net.

John Calvin

John Calvin was born on July 10, 1509 in Noyon, Picardy, France. Calvin was the son of a lawyer, and developed a love for scholarship and literature at a very young age. Jean (John) Calvin was raised in a staunch Roman Catholic family. The local bishop employed Calvin's father as an administrator in the town's cathedral. The father, in turn, wanted John to become a priest. Because of close ties with the bishop and his noble family, John's playmates and classmates in Noyon (and later in Paris) were aristocratic and culturally influential in his early life.

His father, Gérard Cauvin, had a prosperous career as the cathedral notary and registrar to the ecclesiastical court. Gérard intended his three sons—Charles, Jean (John), and Antoine—for the priesthood. Jean (John) was particularly precocious; by the age of twelve, he was employed by the bishop as a clerk and received the tonsure, cutting his hair to symbolize his dedication to the (Roman Catholic) Church.

Calvin won the patronage of an influential family, the Montmors. And through their assistance, in 1523 he was able to attend the Collège de la Marche in Paris, where he studied theology, grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music; and where he also learned Latin from one of its greatest teachers, Mathurin Cordier. Once he completed the course, he entered the Collège de Montaigu as a philosophy student. {14 years old!}

In 1525 or 1526, Calvin’s father withdrew his son {16 -17 years old}from Montaigu and enrolled him in the University of Orléans to study law. According to contemporary biographers Theodore Beza and Nicolas Colladon, Gérard believed his son would earn more money as a lawyer than as a priest. After a few years of quiet study, Calvin entered the University of Bourges in 1529. He was intrigued by the presence of Andreas Alciati, a humanist lawyer. Humanism was a European intellectual movement which stressed classical studies. During his eighteen month stay in Bourges Calvin learned Greek, a necessity for studying the New Testament. {19 years old}

Calvin was pressured by his father to study Law, but in 1531 his father died giving Calvin the freedom to resume his religious studies. {22 years old}

By 1532 Calvin finished his law studies and also published his first book, a commentary on De Clementia by the Roman philosopher, Seneca. {At 23 years old – Calvin had spent all of his youth and formative years (9 years a student) in Roman Catholic Schools and Colleges!}

At some point between 1528 and 1533 he experienced a "sudden conversion" and grasped Protestantism. "God subdued my soul to docility by a sudden conversion" was how Calvin described this experience. {Somewhere between19 - 24 years old}

Another account of Calvin’s “conversion” states:

Sometime during this period Calvin experienced a sudden religious conversion. Not much is known of the surrounding circumstances, but he made one reference to it in the preface to his Commentary on the Book of Psalms: "God by a sudden conversion subdued and brought my mind to a teachable frame, which was more hardened in such matters than might have been expected from one at my early period of life." Scholars have argued about the precise interpretation of this statement, but it is agreed that his conversion corresponded with his break from the Roman Catholic Church. {For someone who was such a prolific writer – this is the ONLY account that Calvin left of his “conversion” - his only written “profession” of faith.}

In 1536 the first edition of "Institutes of the Christian Religion" was published in Basle. It was revised on a number of occasions and the final edition was published in 1559. This book was a clear explanation of his religious beliefs. The later versions expanded on how his church should be organized. {“First Edition” – 27 years old!}

For the second edition, published in 1539, Calvin dropped his former format in favour of systematically presenting the main doctrines from scripture. In the process, the book was enlarged from six chapters to seventeen. He concurrently worked on another book, the Commentary on Romans, which was published in March 1540. The book was a model for his later commentaries: it included his own Latin translation from the Greek rather than the Latin Vulgate, an exegesis, and an exposition. In the dedicatory letter, Calvin praised the work of his predecessors Philipp Melanchthon, Heinrich Bullinger, and Martin Bucer, but he also took care to state that his own work was distinct and courteously criticised some of the shortcomings of these three major reformers. {“Courteous criticism” = the hallmark of persons raised in scholastic surroundings; isolated from the real world - living in a “theoretical world”.}

In July 1536, Calvin went to Geneva (a French-speaking Swiss city - which actually became a part of Switzerland in 1815), which at the time of Calvin’s arrival, the city was struggling to achieve independence against two authorities who were trying to exercise control over it. But within Geneva itself a struggle took place between those who wanted mild reform (such as no compulsory church attendance) and those who demanded radical reform such as Calvin. The split was deeper than this however. The mild reformers were called the Libertines and they wanted magistrates firmly in control of the clergy. Calvin wanted a city controlled by the clergy - a theocracy. In 1538, the Libertines won the day and Calvin fled the city and went to Strasbourg. {29 years old!}

In 1540 a new crop of city officials in Geneva invited Calvin back to the city. As soon as he arrived he set about revolutionizing Genevan society. His most important innovation was the incorporation of the church into city government; he immediately helped to restructure municipal government so that clergy would be involved in municipal decisions, particularly in disciplining the populace. He imposed a hierarchy on the Genevan church and began a series of statute reforms to impose a strict and uncompromising moral code on the city.
{A Theocracy}

By the mid-1550's, Geneva was thoroughly Calvinist in thought and structure. It became the most important Protestant center of Europe in the sixteenth century, for Protestants driven out of their native countries of France, England, Scotland, and the Netherlands all came to Geneva to take refuge. By the middle of the sixteenth century, between one-third and one-half of the city was made up of these foreign Protestants. In Geneva, these foreign reformers adopted the more radical Calvinist doctrines; most of them had arrived as moderate Reformers and left as thorough-going Calvinists. It is probably for this reason that Calvin's brand of reform eventually became the dominant branch of Protestantism from the seventeenth century onwards. John Calvin died on 27 May 1564. {54 years old}

Philip Schaff’s History states: “John Calvin was, first of all, a theologian. He easily takes the lead among the systematic expounders of the Reformed system of Christian doctrine. He is scarcely inferior to Augustine among the fathers, or Thomas Aquinas among the schoolmen, and more methodical and symmetrical than either. Melanchthon, himself the prince of Lutheran divines and “the Preceptor of Germany,” called him emphatically “the Theologian.”

“Calvin's theology is based upon a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He was the ablest exegete among the Reformers, and his commentaries rank among the very best of ancient and modern times. His theology, therefore, is biblical rather than scholastic, and has all the freshness of enthusiastic devotion to the truths of God’s Word. At the same time he was a consummate logician and dialectician. He had a rare power of clear, strong, convincing statement. He built up a body of doctrines which is called after him, and which obtained symbolical authority through some of the leading Reformed Confessions of Faith.” [From "History of the Christian Church" by Philip Schaff, D.D. LL. D.]

IF John Calvin truly was: “the ablest exegete among the Reformers, and his commentaries rank among the very best of ancient and modern times”, then many doctrines that Bible believers believe today are “false”. IF, on the other hand, John Calvin was a product of his Catholic upbringing, training, education, and studies - then he isn’t everything that the scholars make him out to be; and he certainly isn’t someone, who modern day Christians should be following.

According to the scholars: “Calvin was a tireless polemic and apologetic writer who generated much controversy. In addition to the Institutes, he wrote commentaries on most books of the Bible as well as theological treatises and confessional documents, and he regularly gave sermons throughout the week in Geneva. Calvin was influenced by the Augustinian tradition, which led him to expound the doctrine of predestination and the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation.”

Calvin stated: “Augustine is so wholly with me, that if I wished to write a confession of my faith, I could do so with all fullness and satisfaction to myself and to his writings.”

“The second part of Calvin’s “Institutes” includes several essays on the original sin and the fall of man, which directly refer to Augustine, who developed these doctrines. He often cited the Church Fathers in order to defend the reformed cause against the charge that the reformers were creating new theology.”
I believe a comparison between Augustine and Calvin is in order:

COMPARISON --------------------------------------------- AUGUSTIINE ----------------------------------------------- CALVIN

SOCIAL --------------------------------------------------- Middle Class ---------------------------------------------- Middle Class

FAMILY ------------------------------------------------- Ambitious Mother ---------------------------------------- Ambitious Father
---------------------------------------------------------- {Social Climber} --------------------------------------- {Financially Driven}
-------------------------------------------------------- {A “Momma’s Boy”} -------------------------------------- {A “Daddy’s Boy”}

EDUCATION ----------------------------------------- Philosophy Major/Teacher -------------------------------- Philosophy Major/Teacher ---------------------------------------------------- {Paid for by “Benefactor”} -------------------------------- {Paid for by “Benefactor”}

CHARACTER ---------------------------------------- Intellectual/Academician ---------------------------------- Intellectual/Academician
---------------------------------------------------- {Aristocratic Disposition} --------------------------------- {Aristocratic Disposition}

STATUS -------------------------------------------- Philosopher/Theologian --------------------------------- Philosopher/Theologian
----------------------------------------------------- {Extremely Influential} ------------------------------------ {Extremely Influential}

CONVERSION -------------------------------------- TO: “Catholic Christianity” ----------------------------------- TO: “Protestantism”
------------------------------------------------ {Personal Crisis – “Unseen Voice"} ---------------------------- {God - “Subdued” his MIND!}

CHURCH -------------------------------------- Roman Catholic (“Mother”) Church ----------------------------------- Reformed Church
------------------------------------------------- {Confirmed & Strengthened} -------------------------------- {Confirmed & Strengthened }

CHURCH (Polity) --------------------------------------- THEOCRATIC ------------------------------------------------ THEOCRATIC
-------------------------------------------------------- {Authoritarian} ----------------------------------------------- {Authoritarian}

WRITINGS ------------------------------------------- Very Prolific Author -------------------------------------------- Very Prolific Author

PERSECUTION ------------------------------------ Approved of Persecution ------------------------------------- Approved of Persecution
----------------------------------------------- {Dissenters: Example - Donatists} ----------------------------- {Dissenters: Example - Ana-Baptists}

BELIEFS ----------------------------------------- Absolute Sovereignty of God ---------------------------------- Absolute Sovereignty of God
------------------------------------------------ Predestination of Saved & Lost ---------------------------------- Predestination of Saved & Lost
------------------------------------------------- Israel = the “church” = Israel ----------------------------------- Israel = the “church” = Israel
-------------------------------------------------------- Amillennialism ------------------------------------------------ Amillennialism
------------------ ------------------------------------- Infant Baptism ----------------------------------------------- Infant Baptism

How about a further look at what Augustine, the “great church father” who was so venerated by Calvin, believed:

AUGUSTINE:

ACCEPTED Non-Canonical Books of the Old Testament as Scripture, or on the par with Scripture -(Tobias, Judith, I&II Maccabees, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, Bel and the Dragon, Susanna, and the Song of the Three Children.) He also believed that the “Septuagint was divinely “Inspired”!

In addition to the “Absolute Sovereignty of God” (read - “Irresistible Grace”); “Predestination” (read – “Unconditional Election” & “Limited Atonement”); the church is the same as Israel or visa versa; “Amillinnialism” (no physical return of Christ to rule & reign); and “Infant Baptism” - Augustine Believed and Taught the following:

He taught that the “proof” of regeneration could be seen by the “pious life” (works) of the “elect”; and that “perseverance” in “godly living” (works) ultimately “proves” who is predestined to eternal life, and who is not.

He believed in, and taught Baptismal Regeneration.

He believed that the ONLY TRUE CHURCH was the CATHOLIC CHURCH! {“The Catholic Church alone is the body of Christ, of which He is the Head and Saviour of His body.”}

He believed in an “apostolic succession” of Bishops from Peter as “one of the marks of the true church.”

He believed in the Catholic “Priesthood” and “Celibacy” for priests.

He acknowledged the authority of “Tradition”, and that of the Catholic Church in the interpretation of the Bible.

He synthesized Scriptural doctrines and teachings with “Philosophy” (Neo-Platonism).

He used Philosophical terms (Platonic) to set forth Christian concepts and precepts.

He believed that The Millennium was - “The Age between the First & Second Advents”.

He also taught Post-Millennialism. {???}

He believed Satan was “Bound”.

He believed that the “saints” were reigning with Christ NOW - during his life time (i.e. during the church age).

He taught the Mary was sinless and promoted her worship.

He allowed for the “intersession” of the saints.

He allowed for the adoration of relics and together with the “miracles” attributed to them.

He defined the “Sacraments” as “a visible sign of invisible grace”.

He added “confirmation”, “marriage” and “ordination” as “ordinances” to the Scriptural ordinances of the Lord’s Supper and Baptism.

He believed that the “Memorial” of the Lord’s Supper became the spiritual presence of Christ’s body and blood.

He is credited with giving the doctrine of “purgatory” its “first definite form”.

He was a VEGETARIAN!

If I were to dig further I’m sure that I would find more HERESY – but why proceed any further? WHY dig through a DUMP looking for a Diamond – when we’ve got the DIAMOND MINE? WHY go searching through a CESSPOOL trying to find Gold - when we’ve got the GOLD MINE?

WHAT was it that Calvin testified to? “Augustine is so wholly with me, that if I wished to write a confession of my faith, I could do so with all fullness and satisfaction to myself and to his writings.”

“Reformation theologians such as Martin Luther and John Calvin would look back to him (Augustine) as the inspiration for their avowed capturing of the Biblical Gospel.”

“Augustine's formulation of the doctrine of original sin has substantially influenced both Catholic and Reformed (that is, Calvinist) theology.”

Remember: ALL OF THE EARLY “REFORMERS” CAME OUT OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH! They had all been trained and educated within the Catholic Church (and nearly all of them had been Priests, or had held official positions within the Catholic Church). Having received a “Classical Catholic Education, they all were heavily influenced by PHILOSOPHY; “Scholasticism” (Thomas Aquinas); and the early church “fathers” (especially Augustine). And before coming out of the Roman Catholic Church, they all tried to “reform” it from within - before finally leaving it. And after leaving the Catholic Church they all still carried a lot of Garbage & Baggage from their Catholic training and schooling; and from their Classical education and studies (i.e. PHILOSOPHY); and from their practice within the roman Catholic Church.

While we can admire the courage of some of these men; and possibly appreciate the fact that they had some of their doctrines correct (for example - justification) – WHY would any Christian today want to FOLLOW them, when we now have the pure, unadulterated, perfect, Holy, and inspired word of God? As a matter of fact – WHY would any modern day Christian want to FOLLOW any man; or any man’s writings, when we have God’s Holy words preserved for us in a single Book, i.e. the King James Bible?

Calvin & Servetus

“On his way to Italy, Michael Servetus (a Spanish “heretic”) stopped in Geneva for unknown reasons and attended one of Calvin's sermons in St Pierre. Calvin had him arrested and composed a list of accusations that was submitted before the court.”

Calvin wrote: “After he [Servetus] had been recognized, I thought he should be detained. My friend Nicolas summoned him on a capital charge, offering himself as a security according to the lex talionis. On the following day he adduced against him forty written charges. He at first sought to evade them. Accordingly we were summoned. He impudently reviled me, just as if he regarded me as obnoxious to him. I answered him as he deserved… of the man’s effrontery I will say nothing; but such was his madness that he did not hesitate to say that devils possessed divinity; yea, that many gods were in individual devils, inasmuch as a deity had been substantially communicated to those equally with wood and stone. I hope that sentence of death will at least be passed on him; but I desired that the severity of the punishment be mitigated.” {By “mitigated”, Calvin meant that instead of Servitus dying a slow death by BURNING – that they should BEHEAD HIM INSTEAD! John Calvin had a “peculiar” sense of the meaning of the word “mitigated”! But then again, as previously stated, Calvin held several “peculiar” doctrines that his followers no longer follow.}

“Calvin and other ministers asked that he be beheaded instead of burnt. This plea was refused and on 27 October, Servetus was burnt alive at the Plateau of Champel at the edge of Geneva.”

“On 27 October 1553 Servetus was burned at the stake just outside Geneva with what was believed to be the last copy of his book chained to his leg. Historians record his last words as: "Jesus, Son of the Eternal God, have mercy on me."

In addition to the false doctrines and heresies that John Calvin believed in and taught, the issue of his intolerance towards dissenters (Christian or otherwise) is an extremely troubling problem that is lightly dismissed by many of his followers today as being “the tenure of the times”; or “you have to take into account the times and the culture that he lived in”; etc.

This “spirit of persecution” was INEXCUSABLE – no matter what the time; the culture; or the circumstances were! The Lord Jesus Christ warned his disciples against forbidding those who were not following them from doing a work for God [Luke 9:49-50]. And when James and John wanted to call down fire from heaven to consume some Samaritans for refusing to receive Him He strongly rebuked them with:

Luke 9:55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.

How is it, that someone who was supposedly such a “great man of God”; who was supposedly at home in the Scriptures; and who, next to the Apostle Paul, was considered the “greatest expositor of the Holy Scriptures the church has ever seen” (“the ablest exegete among the Reformers”); how is it that Calvin didn’t understand this very plain and simple precept from God’s word? [“the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.”]

What was this “great man” doing KILLING someone with whom he disagreed? What was he doing trying to build the Kingdom of God on earth by physically joining the church with the government and forming an “autocratic” THEOCRACY (run by him and his cohorts) – when NOT ONE disciple; NOT ONE Apostle; NOT ONE elder or pastor during the Apostles time ever got involved in such a venture? {When was the last time you wanted to "kill" someone (even a heretic) because they had a different opinion or belief than you?}

The “spirit of persecution” is a damnable practice, and if the truth be told, there is many a pastor amongst the so-called “Fundamentalist” circles today, who (if they were given the opportunity and the power) would do the same exact thing that John Calvin did 450 years ago! I have personally dealt with some of these men, who personally believe that Christ has appointed them (in His stead) to “head” His church, and to control the saints lives as they see fit. And if they had had the “power” that Calvin had, I would certainly be a dead man!

WHEN did James; or John; or Peter; or Barnabas; or Paul; ever set up an authoritarian government? WHEN did these men ever PERSECUTE those who opposed them; or TORTURE them; or KILL them? They NEVER DID – NO NOT ONCE! Paul, the greatest Apostle that ever lived, once said:
2 Corinthians 1:23 Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth.
24 Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.

If the greatest apostle who ever lived did NOT HAVE DOMINION over the Christians in his time; please tell me what was Calvin thinking? What is any man thinking when he desires to exercise authority over God’s children, or heretics, or unbelievers, (especially PUNITIVE AUTHORITY) to the degree where they will KILL a man if he disagrees with them? WHAT MANNER OF “SPIRIT” IS THIS? It certainly is NOT the Spirit of Christ! It certainly is NOT following the example that the Lord Jesus Christ, or any of His Disciples and Apostles, left for us to follow!

Not all of the “great” men of God before this time; during this time; and after this time had this “spirit of persecution”. Did Patrick? Did Wycliffe? Did Tyndale? Did Roger Williams? Did David Brainard? Did the thousands of ordinary Christians? There is NO EXCUSE for the “spirit of persecution”, no matter what time a man lived in! This “spirit of persecution” was some of the garbage and baggage that many of the Reformers brought with them from the Catholic Church, which had approved of persecuting “dissenters” for well over 1,000 years!

The following are just a few of comments about the man John Calvin:

“Calvin wrote commentaries to ostensibly explain scriptural writings, but in reality he, like theologians before him, used the commentaries to argue for his own theology as he believed was present in scriptural writings. They are less an explanation of the Bible than a piece by piece construction of his theological, social, and political philosophy.”

“Calvin's writing and preaching provided the seeds for the branch of theology that bears his name. The Presbyterian and other Reformed churches, which look to Calvin as a chief expositor of their beliefs, have spread throughout the world. Calvin's thought exerted considerable influence over major religious figures and entire religious movements, such as Puritanism, and his ideas have been cited as contributing to the rise of capitalism, individualism, and representative democracy in the West.”

“In each case those appealing to Calvin have treated his ideas anachronistically (Each of these is discussed in Paul Helm, John Calvin’s Ideas, (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2004)). In writing that book I discovered that if one uses Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae as a kind of template, then there are remarkable coincidences between Thomas’ thought and Calvin’s, even though there are obvious stylistic differences, and very little internal evidence in Calvin of a direct influence.”

“What does this coincidence show? At least, that Calvin was thoroughly at home in the thought world of the theology of late medievalism, taking on many of its ideas uncritically in areas where the issues of the Reformation were not at stake. Even though he had, from time to time, critical things to say of that theology, or rather of its speculative tendencies.”

I have not had the time (nor the inclination) to search out the “remarkable coincidences” between John Calvin’s doctrines and “philosophy” and that of Thomas Aquinas (called the greatest Roman Catholic theologian – 1225-1274), but after comparing some of Calvin’s doctrine with that of Augustine’s, I would venture to say that an examination of Thomas Aquinas’ “thought” and Calvin’s "philosophy" would produce many “similarities” – and why not? Calvin surely studied Thomas Aquinas’ works during the 9 years he attended Roman Catholic Schools & Universities!

John Calvin, along with most (if not all) of the so-called church “fathers” (Origen, Ambrose, Augustine, etc.) employed the “allegorical” method of interpreting Scripture, and relied heavily on the “academic divines” (church “fathers’&“scholars”-the “traditions of men”) in determining the “Truth” (that is - Calvin’s “concept” of “truth”).

According to the testimony of church historians: John Calvin was a philosopher, scholar, & academic theoretician; - like Thomas Aquinas,like Augustine, like Ambrose, and like Origen, (before him); in addition, he was a kingdom builder - like Thomas Aquinas, and like Augustine, (before him); and like Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Carl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, etc. (after him)

And speaking of Vladimir Lenin, Paul Johnson of Modern times states: * “No man [than Lenin] personifies better the replacement of the religious impulse by the will to power. In an earlier age he would surely have been a religious leader. With his extraordinary passion for force, he might have figured in Mohammed's legions. He was even closer perhaps to Jean (John) Calvin, with his belief in organizational structure, his ability to create one and then dominate it utterly, his puritanism, his passionate self-righteousness, and above all his intolerance.” * [Paul Johnson, Modern Times]

I’m not saying (or even intimating) that John Calvin was a communist (which he certainly was not!); but it is interesting that when writing about Vladimir Lenin, the man and impetus behind the Communist Revolution in Russia, that a secular writer compares Lenin’s “passion for force”; his “organizational structure”; his “ability to create one and then dominate it utterly” and his puritanism, self-righteousness, and intolerance - that he is compared to John Calvin!

I have examined John Calvin; his life; his work; and his doctrine. I believe that I have demonstrated (with Scripture) that much of his doctrine is in error or is plainly false. When we look at John Calvin’s life, we see a man that was extremely bright, highly educated, and scholarly. We also see a man that was industrious, determined, zealous, and ambitious.

But, on the other hand, we also see a man, who was doctrinaire, rigid, despotic and tyrannical. John Calvin was an authoritarian disciplinarian, who set up a Theocratic Dictatorship (with himself at its head), and who would not tolerate any disagreement with his interpretation of the Scriptures. {Does that sound like any "pastor" you have met?}

There is not a single example in the whole of the New Testament where a Christian elder or pastor is supposed to do anything other than SERVE GOD; PREACH and TEACH God’s Holy word; and MINISTER to the saints of God. There is not one instance in the whole of the New Testament, where God calls a man of God to RULE over people (lost or saved) through a Theocratic Religious Dictatorship.

It is a mystery to me – why any modern day Bible believer would recommend John Calvin’s written works with the words: “Read what Jean Calvin wrote himself. Look at his commentaries on various Bible books. Read his sermons. Enjoy! Feast!”

“FEAST”!-On what? Are we to “FEAST” on the speculations of the “allegorical” interpretation of Scripture; or of Pagan Philosophy (Aristotle) mixed in with Bible doctrine; or of Roman Catholic doctrine and practices; or Reformation doctrine and practices? Who needs it, when we have God’s perfect, inspired, Holy, and unadulterated word? WHY would anybody want to return to such a leavened mess?

2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

God’s preserved His words for us, so that we might feast on them -WHY “FEAST” on the “UNINSPIRED” words of a mere man, when we already have every thing that we need to “be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” WHY “FEAST” on the “UNINSPIRED” words of a mere man, when the Lord Jesus Christ said: “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” [Matthew 4:4]

WHY any genuine Bible believer would want to FOLLOW this man is beyond my comprehension. If he were here today – I WOULDN’T FOLLOW HIM ACROSS THE STREET!

[Debau]

Here's a summary by Jack Moorman.

http://www.a-voice.org/tidbits/calvinp.htm


Matthew 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

I think Calvin mixed these words up!

[George]

Originally Posted by Debau

Here's a summary by Jack Moorman.

http://www.a-voice.org/tidbits/calvinp.htm


Matthew 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

I think Calvin mixed these words up!

Aloha brother Debau,

Thanks for the great "Link". I read all of it - I didn't have room to list all of the persecution that Calvin and his "henchmen" prosecuted against any and all who dared to step out of line.

Your link is an excellent addendum to my Post, and greatly reinforces what I said about the "spirit of persecution". No one could possibly defend such actions by Christians - at no time & under no circumstances (regardless of who was the perpetrator)!

[peopleoftheway]

Thank you Brother George for all your hard work and effort on the subject of calvinism. I have never held any of the points and find it a horrible teaching far removed from Biblical truth.
Please let us all know when your articles are available in document form so I may print off and share with my Grandfather (he has no computer).

God Bless you and yours

[CKG]

I was saved in 1983 and early on in my Christian walk I became aware of Calvinism, but it didn't seem to be that big of an issue back then. It seems like in the last 10 to 12 years (especially in the last 5 years) it has become quite a contentious issue and I'm wondering if this is due to a surge in Calvinistic theology during this time frame or has Calvinism always been prevalent, but now more people are starting to question it?

Along those same lines it seems there is more emphasis on rightly dividing Scripture. I rarely heard that term in my early days as a Christian, but now its become quite common. Maybe as people learn to rightly divide God's Word one of the results is it exposes long held teachings and doctrines such as Calvinism. I'm sure the advent of the internet is also responsible as people are now able to share the truth of God's Word in a way that was not possible before.