- Calvin’s hero was Augustine, and he followed his teachings.
- Calvin wrote, “Augustine is so wholly with me, that if I wished to write a confession of my faith, I could do so with all fulness and satisfaction to myself out of his writings.”
- Augustine is referred to as “the first real Roman Catholic.”
- “There is scarcely a single Roman Catholic dogma which is historically intelligible without reference to his teaching.”1 This includes worship and prayer to Mary, to saints, and the whole nine yards.
- Augustine was the “first true Predestinarian.”2
- Augustine believed in the allegorical method of interpreting the Bible from Origen and the Alexandrian school. This means he did not really believe the Bible but took it all figuratively.
- John Calvin was a Nicolaitan. Jesus said he hates their deeds and doctrine (Revelation 2:6, 15).
- Nicolaitans are those who conquer and rule over the laity.
- Calvin is referred to as “the Protestant pope of a pope hating people.”
- He ruled Geneva in some attempt to have the church reign over the literal kingdom of heaven just like the Roman Catholic Church and the Muslims.
- So naturally, since he was reigning on earth himself, he denied the literal millennial weight of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was referred to as “the Genevese dictator.”3
- He banished Anabaptists from Geneva for their theological views.
- He would burn you at the stake if you did not agree with him doctrinally.
- He jailed and punished people for all kinds of reasons, like not naming their children approved names, etc.
- He believed in Baptismal regeneration.
- He believed in sprinkling babies.
- Calvin believed non-elect babies go to hell.
- He believed that Jesus died only for some men and not others.
- He taught God purposefully damned sinners before they were born, and “elected” them to hell by making sure not one drop of Christ’s blood was shed for them.
- He denied that all sinners have the capacity to repent and believe in Jesus Christ.
- He taught that conversion begins with the new birth without the convert believing the gospel, but that believing came after the sinner was saved against his will.
Foundations of Calvinism
Two Philosophers
See Colossians 2:8 for the Biblical view of man’s philosophies.
- John Calvin
- Augustine
Two Councils
The Scriptures present a very negative view of councils.
- The Canon of Dort
- The Westminster Confession of Faith
The Philosophy Called Calvinism
- T – Total Depravity
- U – Unconditional Election
- L – Limited Atonement
- I – Irresistible Grace
- P – Perseverance of the Saints
Total Depravity – Has To Do With THE WILL & ABILITY
Unconditional Election – Has To Do With God CHOOSING Heaven Or Hell Before They Were Born
Limited Atonement – Has To Do With Jesus ONLY DYING FOR THE ELECT
What is said: Jesus died only for the elect.
Irresistible Grace – Has To Do With God’s Grace Overpowering The Chosen
Perseverance of the Saints – Has To Do With
Key Verses To Defeat the Follies of Calvinism
Results of Calvinism
- It kills soul winning.
- It kills personal responsibility.
- It kills missions.
- It kills reconciliation (if you are not as they are, you are not elect and not saved)
- It kills honesty.
- It kills the gospel.
- It kills sound doctrine.
How To Recognize a Calvinist.
- “Reformed Theology”
- “Calvinist,” “Calvinist”
- “Sovereign Grace”
- “Common Grace”
- “Doctrines of Grace”
- Although sometimes they just hijack the word “grace.”
- “Providence” is used to mask a Calvinist indoctrination.
- “Total depravity”
- “Total inability”
- Use of the terms predestinated, election, and chosen contrary to Scripture.
- The Westminster Confession
- Frequent reference to prominent Calvinists: John MacArthur, J.I. Packer, Author W. Pink, John Gerstner, John Piper, Albert Mohler, James Montgomery Boice
King James wrote regarding the Synod of Dort (Unconditional Election):
The doctrine is so horrible, that I am persuaded, if there were a council of unclean spirits assembled in hell, and their prince the devil were to put the question either to all them in general, or to each in particular, to learn their opinion about the most likely means of stirring up the hatred of man against God their Maker; nothing could be invented by them that could be more efficacious for this their purpose, or that could put a greater affront upon God’s love for mankind, than this infamous decree by the late Synod, and the decision of that detestable formulary, by which the greater part of the human race are condemned to hell for no other reason, than the mere will of God, without any regard to sin; the necessity of sinning, as well as that of being damned, being fastened on them by a great nail of the decree before-mentioned.
Footnotes
- The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1949-1950)., s.v. “Augustine,” vol. 1, p. 368.
- Paul K. Jewett, Election and Predestination (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1985), p. 5.
- Stefan Zweig, The Right to Heresy (London: Cassell and Company, 1936), p. 107.
- Vance, Laurence M. The Other Side of Calvinism. Revised Ed. Orlando, FL: Vance Publications, 2014. Page 596.
- Ibid. 583.
- G. Osborn, The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Vol. III (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1869), p. 34.