Happy birthday John Calvin - from a non-calvinist

July 10, 3:19 PMMethodist ExaminerJames-Michael Smith

Previous Next

11 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Methodist Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Ain't no party like a pedobaptist double-predestination party! What what!

Today is John Calvin's 500th birthday. 

Most people have little idea who Calvin was or what his contributions to theology were.  For many in my own denomination, Calvin conjures images of burning people at the stake and declaring the floors of hell to be littered with the footprints of infants who died reprobate.  For others in Calvinist branches of Christianity, Calvin conjures images of the brilliant savior of the Reformation from theological decay and the greatest thinker since Augustine...almost the 4th member of the Trinity!  (Okay, that last one may be a bit over the top...)

However, like almost everything, the truth is in the middle. 

Calvin was a product of his time...and his time was the heated era of Reformation Europe.  The concept of a separation of Church and State was absolutely foreign, thus his role as a public magistrate was intertwined with his role as a theologian.  This perspective is needed before completely branding him a rabid heresy-hunter who delighted in roasting Michael Servetus. 

Regardless of Calvin's guilt in Servetus' execution (which is real!), his legacy as a theologian is one that no Christian can deny.  Even those of who reject his peculiar doctrinal contributions have benefited greatly from his writings, particularly his commentaries on the Bible.  While Calvin's magnum opus "Institutes of the Christian Religion" is what he's most famous for, that work of systematic theology pales in comparison to his commentaries.

More than anything, though, Calvin is remembered for his form of theology that has come to be virtually equated with Reformed Theology (though classical Arminianism is, in fact, a thoroughly Reformed system of theology).  This theological construct is usually remembered via the acronym "TULIP."  Below is a very brief, and non-technical summary of TULIP for those not familiar with it.  For those wanting a full-blown treatment of Reformed Calvinism, see the recommended resources at the end of this article.

"TULIP" for non-calvinists:

T = "Total Depravity" - As a result of the Fall, humans are incapable of doing, or even of willing to do, good.  This doesn't mean that people are "totally depraved" (as is often mistakenly assumed by opponents of the doctrine), but rather that the Fall affected the human in totality--physically as well as spiritually and mentally.  Thus, no one can even desire God or respond to His Grace without first being regenerated by the Holy Spirit.

Man, when he withdrew his allegiance to God, was deprived of the spiritual gifts by which he had been raised to the hope of eternal salvation. Hence it follows, that he is now an exile from the kingdom of God, so that all things which pertain to the blessed life of the soul are extinguished in him until he recover them by the grace of regeneration. (Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion Book II, ii, 12)

U = "Unconditional Election" - God, in order to demonstrate his Mercy and to Glorify Himself, has chosen to save a portion of fallen humanity termed "the elect."  Election is based solely on God's choice, not on human effort or willingness to receive it (see "T"!), therefore it is not conditional.  God elects whomever He will, unconditionally.  The decision is His alone and we cannot know His reason for doing as, as it is hidden and beyond our comprehension.

We say, then, that Scripture clearly proves this much, that God by his eternal and immutable counsel determined once for all those whom it was his pleasure one day to admit to salvation, and those whom, on the other hand, it was his pleasure to doom to destruction. We maintain that this counsel, as regards the elect, is founded on his free mercy, without any respect to human worth, while those whom he dooms to destruction are excluded from access to life by a just and blameless, but at the same time incomprehensible judgment. (Calvin, Institutes, Book III, xxi, 7)

L = "Limited Atonement" - The elect are the ones whom Christ died for.  Thus, those whom God did not choose to save before the foundation of the world, known as "the reprobate", are not the recipients of Christ's Atoning sacrifice.  Christ died for the Elect.  If Christ's death was also for the reprobate, then His atoning blood would've been "wasted" and His work would not have fully succeeded because some whom He died for would not be saved due to their rejection of the faith.  This was not an option, given the validity of "T" and "U".

Those, therefore, whom God passes by he reprobates, and that for no other cause but because he is pleased to exclude them from the inheritance which he predestines to his children.  (Calvin, Institutes, Book III, xxiii, 1.)

I = "Irresistible Grace" - If someone is one of the elect, they have been chosen by God.  If they have been chosen by God for salvation, they will not--indeed cannot!--resist this salvation because they are regenerated by God's Spirit based on His unconditional choice.  What God chooses to do will be done.  Therefore, Grace is Irresistible.

Therefore, as we have said that salvation is perfected in the person of Christ, so, in order to make us partakers of it, he baptizes us “with the Holy Spirit and with fire,” (Luke 3:16), enlightening us into the faith of his Gospel, and so regenerating us to be new creatures. Thus cleansed from all pollution, he dedicates us as holy temples to the Lord. (Calvin, Institutes, Book III, i, 4)

P = "Perseverance of the Saints" - Given the previous points, this one follows logically.  If God has chosen someone as elect, has regenerated them through His Spirit, and has Atoned for their sin through Christ's death, they will ultimately be saved.  A true member of the elect will not depart from the Christian faith.  If they depart it shows that they were never really part of the elect, but rather were deceived. 

(Note: This is very similar to the doctrine known as "once-saved-always-saved" and is frequently confused with it; but there is a key difference between the two:  Perseverance of the Saints does not teach that one can have assurance of salvation in the present because it recognizes that only when there is no possibility of one turning away from Christ in the future--i.e. when they die--can one then be assured that they are among the elect.  So long as the possibility exists for one to turn away, they can never truly have assurance of their status as elect or reprobate.)

...so if we would stand in Christ, we must aim at repentance, cultivate it during our whole lives, and continue it to the last. (Calvin, Institutes, Book III, iii, 20)

The appeal of TULIP is widespread among Christians.  The recent resurgence of Calvinism among the so-called "New Calvinists" (as noted by TIME Magazine recently) led by Pastors such as Mark Driscoll, John Piper and Joshua Harris is proof-positive that the logical air-tightness of Calvin's theology has wide appeal among many Evangelicals looking to continue in the footsteps of this 16th century Swiss (though by birth he was actually French) Theologian.

Of course, it must be noted that the coherence of Calvin's theology rests upon a few key extrabiblical assumptions, which the majority of Christians in the world (Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant) reject--such as the notion that acceptance of God's Grace equals a "human work."  But that's an issue best left to future articles.  For now, let it be noted that Calvin's legacy looms large, and has done so for nearly half a millennium.

Little-known fact: