I have a love/hate relationship with Calvinism. On the one hand, I appreciate a love for “good” theology (as opposed to a casual / careless approach), the intellectual rigor of its adherents, and many of the doctrines it articulates. On the other hand, I am leery of “systems” (especially theological ones), adherents who become devotees of a “system,” and certain doctrines Calvinism espouses (namely those concerning God’s love for the lost, free will, fatalism, and the “destiny” of the unsaved).
But those things aren’t enough for me to completely disavow Calvinism or Calvinists.
Michal Patton at Credo House recently posted Twelve Myths About Calvinism. Whatever you believe about those “myths” and whether or not the article debunks them, articles like this are written because Calvinism gets a bad rap. In his book The Joy of Calvinism, Gregory Forster suggests
…Calvinism’s bad rap is largely due to the poor communication of its subscribers. …Calvinists are more known for what they’re against than what they’re for. Many outside the Calvinistic tradition only hear formulas and technicalities that are less than helpful projections of the actual theological frame-work.
Is this why Calvinism gets a bad rap? Is it “the poor communication of its subscribers?”
Many Christians appear to loathe Calvinism. I’ve never quite understood this reaction. I mean, Calvinism touches upon a broad range of theology. There are nuances and differences even among Calvinists. And it IS possible we are reacting to a caricature, rather than the actual core beliefs of the group. All that to say, the blanket condemnation of Calvinists / Calvinism doesn’t seem justified.
Anyway, if you’re one of those who believes the “myths” about Calvinism and/or thinks it deserves the “bad rap” it gets, I’d love to hear your reasons why. If you think Calvinists / Calvinism is stereotyped and wrongly portrayed, I’d also like to hear your thoughts. You can select multiple answers in the poll below.
I think there are several parts to it. Calvinism does uphold some truths we’d rather not think about such as that man isn’t inherently good. Try telling people that by nature they’re wretched. We’d really not like to think about it.
The problem with Calvinism may be ideas that many hold. One is post-millennialism which leads many Calvinists calling for the establishment of God’s kingdom on Earth through government which is very different from what most Christians believe about political involved.
Because of their view of predestination, there are many liberal Calvinists who turn towards universalism. One of my wife’s college professors was one of that number.
If you read Chesterton, he was no fan of Calvinism, believing that they created a faith that was almost unChristian in its austerity and lack of compassion, and lack of joy. You see one of his typical views of the Calvinist in “The Hammer of God” and the character of the blacksmith.
Perhaps, the biggest problem may be that hyper-Callvinists can make the distinctive the big issue. There are countless radio shows centered around Calvinist doctrine. You simply won’t find the same number of programs boasting of Arminian focus as you will of the Calvinists.
The image of Calvinists is bad probably due to the behavior of its most boisterous advocates who are seen as trying to turn the question of God’s sovereignty and free will into an either/or when its really a yes/and situation.
What’s the difference b/w it being wrongly portrayed and its reps portraying it inaccurately?
I should have been clearer. I was thinking about the difference between a perspective framed by non-Calvinists, those things described as “myths” in the article, and Calvinists being ignorant, inarticulate, or just rude.
My church is reformed. Recently a business acquaintance, who is also a believer, became alarmed when he found out what church we attended. He said, “Um…you may want to check their doctrine. They believe God chooses only 144,000 to get into heaven.” We struggled not to laugh out loud. For several minutes my husband tried to explain that we were not a cult (for those who don’t understand – Jehovah Witnesses believe 144,000 will enter heaven – not reformed Christians!). The sad thing is this man had heard that through Christian circles. He had no idea what Calvinism teaches. My husband ended the conversation by telling him, “Yes, I’m saved by grace; grace that I had the responsibility of responding to. The question is if I was dead in my sin – how did I become alive in order by able to respond to God’s calling?”
Like Abraham, I slept while God made the covenant and pledged to fulfill its terms. Believing this puts all the focus on Him and releases me to experience joy in all circumstances. It never was about me – it never will be – it’s all God.
I’m finding myself relating to Calvinists on issues of discernment lately, but then, one line down in the article, the author will say something that makes me recoil. I’m having trouble with this, a slight identity crisis because now I’m not sure where I belong. And further, I’m not sure if it even matters which Christian camp I fall under so long as I continue to follow Christ to the best of my ability.
Your husband said “Yes, I’m saved by grace; grace that I had the responsibility of responding to. The question is if I was dead in my sin – how did I become alive in order by able to respond to God’s calling?” <<< I just recently discovered this is monergism versus synergism.
I've always believed God provided the gift of Jesus Christ and it was my decision to follow him or not. Recently, I've come to the understanding, that the Holy Spirit prompts us, via our hearing of the (very simple) gospel…after which, I still say, we have a free will choice to follow Jesus or not.
Perhaps you can explain to me how Calvinists define free will, and how do Calvinists respond to those who are scared sh*tl*ss by the notion that they might be one of the unlucky non-elect? Because it's the obvious intellectual pitfall of the Calvinist belief…"Well shoot, I guess God didn't elect me, so I may as well live up to his expectations of me and raise hell while I'm alive on earth…" I don't think I could ever fully embrace Calvinism because of the downsides of the elect versus non-elect POV. I see how it so easily strikes fear and doubt in people who might otherwise come to Christ, and also tempts the "elect" to think they got it all in the bag, no matter what they do in this life.
See, now my brain is in knots, and I have to shake all these definitions and nuances aside and remember what Paul said "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" Corinthians 15:3-4 NIV <<< So simple even a child could understand and AMEN to that. Arminian versus Calvinism/Monergism versus Synergism, on the other hand… Quite frankly these debates give me heartburn…and dare I say, they risk placing me in bondage to human intellect.
On that note, I'm going to go draw rainbows and butterflies.
Because of finding out some of these aspects of Calvinism – especially the one where God created some people specifically to go to hell, etc – I balked at joining the Presbyterian church I was attending. I had been going to Presbyterian churches since high school, but I never got into the whole theology of it until I took a class at our current church. I had such a serious spiritual crisis after finding out the tenants of Calvinism that I have only been back to that church on Easter and Christmas.
It tied my brain in knots, too. Still does.
Read Calvin’s Institutes. It’s surprisingly easy. If you want to understand Reformed Theology, read the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Westminster Confession of Faith. If you want a wonderful discussion of “free will,” then read Luther’s masterpiece, The Bondage of the Will. It’s the nature of our worldly and anti-intellectual church to avoid using the mind and rest comfortably in caricatures and stereotypes. But, God is not fooled or pleased.
YES! I totally relate!
• I’ve really enjoyed getting to know about Calvinism from the Reformed Baptist community.
• I’m still wary of systems, but we all make systems, and I do like it when they try really hard to base theirs on the Bible.
• I’m not a Calvinist, but I respect them and know what they believe.
• My family does not like my attendance of Reformed churches, and has at least in the past referred to them as cults. They don’t know anything about the 5 basic points of Calvinism, let alone the Institutes—and they don’t want to know about them.
• From my experiences, these fellow Christians are not cult members but thinking believers. They put regular church attenders at mainline denominations to shame in their a) study of the Bible, b) study of church tradition, c) mentoring the next generation, d) seeking to make their faith evident in their lives, and e) their ability to listen to long sermons. And remember them.
• When I think of what Calvinists would call “Arminian,” most have vestiges of Calvinism mixed with various primal fears of Calvinism. They believe “once saved always saved” (yeah, I know it’s not the same as the Perseverance of the Saints, but it’s derivative). However, they fear the doctrine of reprobation—they get predestination mixed up with secular determinism. They don’t understand how the OT “law” works with the NT “grace.” On top of that, they have had or heard of negative experiences with Calvinistic churches. That’s as close as I can get to describing anti-Calvinistic theology right now.
• I know there are thinking anti-Calvinists out there, but the Reformed communities do better at discipling the regular Christians. That’s really why I like Reformed churches.
Calvinism is man’s flawed attempt at “cookie cutter”theology. Not a big fan to be honest. It has major holes in it’s beliefs and creates more questions than it does answers. In my opinion it is a dangerous belief and deserves any bad reputation that may be attributed to it.
This is too complicated a subject to answer in a poll. I’m tempted to check the one with the statement “Calvinism gets a bad rap because it’s bad theology.” That isn’t precisely true, though. Do they get the gospel wrong? No. I’ve had bad experiences w/ Calvinists, which makes me a little shy of them, but my experiences are meaningless when it comes down to their actual doctrine, unless the bad behavior of a few people I’ve known (and a few historical figures I’ve studied) is based off their doctrine. That would be too big a leap to make–not that I haven’t made this claim in the past, but it really isn’t right.
I’m with you. The poll is too simplistic a response.
I can’t vote in the poll because there are two many right answers! I would select the middle three responses, and hope that the first one isn’t true 🙂
Certain things we believe are unpleasant to hear and confusing (“why would God choose some and not others?”)
Certain things have been badly explained. When we’ve had conversations with non-reformed folks and really articulated what we believed, they usually don’t end up disagreeing as much as they think they will. Their response is usually—“You believe in grace? So do I! I believe God changes hearts too!”
And sadly, Calvinists can be a little bit too adherent to “statements of faith” as opposed to what Scripture says. I’ve gotten frustrated in Bible Studies when others in the group keep saying “the Catechisms explain it this way . . .” “What does TULIP say?” I don’t care how the Westminster Confession of Faith puts it, I just want to know what the Bible says!
One thing I haven’t seen in my years in a Calvinist/Presbyterian/Reformed church—though it’s often been lobbed as a criticism—is lack of compassion. The people in my church are some of the most generous, kind, hospitable people I’ve ever met. They’re also highly evangelistic, which is another criticism that’s often levied. Sadly, these are stereotypes that all too often have a basis in truth; I’m just saying it hasn’t been my experience.
Calvinist theology, when rightly preached, should lead first to humility (because I didn’t do anything to earn my salvation), and second to grace toward others (because I don’t know who God has chosen to save and how he is choosing to do it).
I chose “bad theology.” I always find the Arminian side more sensible in the debate, but I really don’t like deterministic systems to begin with.
As a southerner living in the south who has attended several Reformed Churches I would have to say the problem I have with Calvinism is its tendency to lead to legalism. I have yet to attend a Reformed Church that wasn’t ripe with systemic institutional legalism. Of course all deterministic systems have this problem but I think Calvinism is even more prone to it because of its fundamental structure.
So I guess I would vote that I think the problem is not Calvinism but Calvinists, or more accurately, groups of Calvinists that form Reformed Churches that do not allow for individualism in its members or permit them to adapt the doctrines of grace to their personal faith and belief experience.
I’m guessing that’s because a lot of Reformed pastors in the south used to be Independent Fundamental Baptists. I assume that by legalism you don’t just mean a Biblically submitted-to-Christ life, but rather do’s and don’t’s about smoking, drinking, media use, the King James Bible, etc…..
Matthew, regardless of the origin of Reformed Pastors in the South, I grew up in the South and saw the same thing. I see less legalism in the North (where I live now), but the tendency of Calvinists towards legalism is still there. And by legalism, I do mean, “Don’t drink. Don’t chew. Don’t go out with girls that do.” and all that other nonsense that comes from the “great minds” that populate our pulpits (like don’t dance, play Rook but not poker, et cetera).
I agree with DM Dutcher’s comment above. I tend not to like theological systems, but Arminianism makes more sense than Calvinism in many respects. I also agree with Jill and with Katherine Coble that this subject is too complicated for a simple poll. The poll, however, has generated some interesting comments.
Well, I should actually rephrase my statement: a lot of Reformed Baptist pastors used to be Independent Fundamental Baptists or really conservative Southern Baptists. The Presbyterians seem a little more lenient on alcohol consumption, etc. Lutherans… I’m not sure they fit in this discussion.
However, the call to holiness is something that our reformed ancestors emphasized. As did our Arminian ancestors. Only the true Arminians emphasized holiness because it was essential to salvation. Sin would bump the believer off the narrow way, and he would have to accept Christ all over again.
And the Arminians are not without their conservatives: Mennonites, Holiness Churches, Bretheren, etc., etc.
Really these conservative branches are from an era when people took what the Bible said more seriously. They lived hard lives and clung to Christ as their one and only hope. I’m not sure—in our day of Biblical illiteracy and selfish lifestyles—if we are better than they are. If we are more enlightened, better disciplined, more filled with faith, or closer to God.
The lynchpin of Calvinism is election, i.e., God chooses some people from birth to be bound for hell, and there’s not thing one they–or anyone–can do about it. To me, that’s horrid on a cosmic scale, and makes Him to be the ultimate sadist.
And all the “good works” Calvin’s adherents do so judiciously won’t help, any more than putting a delicious crumb topping on a turd pie.
Predestination is not the “lynchpin” [sic; it should be linchpin] of Calvinism. The Trinity is more important to Calvin’s thinking than predestination. Calvin called Justification “the main hinge on which religion turns.”
How about adding another poll to see who knows anything about Calvinism beyond straw-men or crude caricatures? If one’s knowledge of Calvinism only amounts to predestination, then one does not know Calvinism. Agree with it or not, Calvin’s Institutes should be one of the books on every Christian’s reading list including the works of people like Augustine, Luther, Wesley, etc.
One cannot say that Calvinism is all bad … in fact, it seems there is really only one distinctive problem that REALLY REALLY matters, when compared to other Evengelical (is that the right word?) debates.
ie: pre-trib, old earth/new earth, spiritual gifts, etc etc beliefs are not life threatening and do not take away from our own love and honor towards God or God’s love of mankind.
The Calvinistic websites always seems to put the emphasis on the fact that they follow Calvin. It seems we should follow our God and Jesus Christ.
I haven’t found that they refer to any scriptures that tell of a “different kind of love” that they claim God has for the predestined and the reprobate.
There are hundreds upon hundreds of verses about God’s love, and I can’t find any that indicate two different kinds of love. Any suggestions?
Do Calvinists pray for the salvation of others? If so, isn’t that a total waste of time since the decision has already been decided for them?
How do they instruct their children on the faith? Do they simply leave out the part that there is a good chance the child may already be destined for hell?
Do they worry that in times of doubt and difficulties, their beliefs could easily drive a person conflicted/wondering about his salvation, over the edge to severe depression, insanity and suicide? because there is no way they can help that person to salvation. They can only say, oh well, maybe God has chosen you and maybe He hasn’t?
it seems to me that there are a lot of people who are calvinists who suffer severe depression. I had abrief encounter with calvinism for a year and went into the most terrible experience of depression and because of that did a lot of research into other explanations in the bible and I must say that i am convinced that the bible teaches that God loves everyone He has created and that He longs for all people to turn to Him. Diligent searching of the scriptures will reveal this. selective use of scriptures favours predestination. But if you take the bible as a WHOLE with its WHOLE meaning and intention before you, it is impossible to miss the real meaning. Please read more widely. Also there is NO POINT in teaching calvinism as it leads to severe depression in many (because of the very obvious implications that the majority of mankind will suffer with no chance of escape and this is clearly not God’s heart… it is a terrible distortion of the real meaning of God sending His son to liberate us from our wrong-thinking and unkindness towards one another…) Please read a few webpages offering views of those who have 1.)escaped or come out of calvinism ( or reformed theology) and see how they felt/ understood things then and where they are at now- and the reasons for all of it, and
2.) read webpages of people who do not agree with predestination for scriptural reasons. It may surprise you to find out that reformed theology is a very tightly wound theory which necessarily excludes many scriptures because they contradict its own meaning. A broader view of scripture is not only more helpful but also more enlightening…..We need to take the whole bible and look at all of it, not just a few passages….. please, for your won sanity, take a look.