Why I Started This Blog
I have been studying about and speaking against Calvinism for awhile now, over at My Crazy Faith. But I figured it would be good to put all the Anti-Calvinism posts together in one place, for anyone who also wants to do a serious study of it or to read about someone else's experience with it. Anything on Calvinism that I posted or will post on the other blog will also be posted here.
For those who don't know, in a nutshell, Calvinism is a theological view that was basically started by John Calvin in the 1500s (who got a lot of his views from Augustine). He published his views in his enormous book, Institutes of the Christian Religion, when he was 27.
For those who don't know, in a nutshell, Calvinism is a theological view that was basically started by John Calvin in the 1500s (who got a lot of his views from Augustine). He published his views in his enormous book, Institutes of the Christian Religion, when he was 27.
Calvinism includes the beliefs that God has already predetermined everything that will happen, that He chooses who to predestine to heaven (leaving the rest to go to hell), that men are so dead and wicked inside that we do not have the ability to want, seek, or believe in God and so God has to be the one to make the elected ones want Him, seek Him and believe in Him, that the Holy Spirit regenerates the elected ones before they believe, in order to make them believe, and that God ultimately preplans/causes/controls (they call it "ordains") everything that happens for His glory, including all sin and evil and unbelief.
But they would say that even though God causes those things (but they won't use the word "causes," even though that's what it is), He is not responsible for them. We are. We are responsible for our sin and evilness and unbelief, even though we are simply following the prewritten script God wrote for us and we had no ability or option to do anything differently. And so they still consider it God's "justice" when He sends unbelievers to hell, as if they "deserve" it, even though He caused them to be unbelievers and even though, as they say, Jesus didn't even die for them, but only for the prechosen "elected" ones. They say God is glorified by sending people to hell.
It's hogwashy nonsense!
Believe me, I never thought I'd end up taking such a strong stance against Calvinism, or even really caring about this issue all that much. In fact, when I was a teen, we studied the whole "Calvinism vs. Arminianism" debate in our youth group. And back then, I sided with Calvinism. Because I believed that Calvinism was about honoring God's sovereignty.
And what good Christian wouldn't want to uphold the sovereignty of God? (I just didn't know at the time that Calvinism has a very wrong view of God's sovereignty! And that makes all the difference.)
But after that, I didn't give it much thought. For years and years. Not until we got a new pastor at our church who brought his dogmatic, Calvinist views with him. (And things were going so well until then!)
One of the first "off" things I noticed was when he once talked from the pulpit about those who believe in free-will ... and he snickered. It was the tiniest scoffing sound, as if he meant to say "Can you believe those people!?!" But it was enough to make me go, "What was that about?"
And then started coming the sermons about how no one can seek God unless God makes them and how we are so dead inside - like a dead body that can't do anything but lay there, all dead - that we can't even think about God unless the Holy Spirit causes us to.
And then came the church blog posts (from him and his adult son) about how God basically planned and ordained (read: caused) the fall of Adam and Eve, how God shows off His love to the elect by saving them but to the non-elect by caring for them while they are on earth (before sending them to hell for all of eternity for being the unbelievers He predestined them to be!), how God predestines people to hell to show off his justice, and how the Bible absolutely clearly teaches predestination and so you just have to accept it.
And then - what really got to me - was the manipulation. During the sermons, when talking about predestination, he would say things like "Humble Christians have no trouble accepting predestination as truth. It's only proud, unhumble people who have trouble with it.... This is what the Bible says. You have to accept it. Disagreeing with this is disagreeing with God's Word.... There are only three possible responses you can have to the truth of predestination: ignore it, get angry about it, or accept it." (Notice that disagreeing with it is not even an option!)
This really angered me! Not only was he pushing a view of God that sounded less and less like what the Bible says, but he was making it so that no one would disagree with him, not without identifying themselves as proud, unhumble, God-fighting Christians who couldn't accept or understand Truth.
All I could think was that there would be people in the audience who disagreed with him, but they would be too afraid to say anything. Because he was painting a very unflattering picture of those who disagreed, ensuring that no one would speak up against him. At least not out loud. It's actually a brilliant manipulation tactic!
And that, in my mind, was just plain wrong! Especially so since he was trying to push a version of God that doesn't match the Bible, and because his theology didn't take into account the whole Bible, just the verses that seemed to say what he wanted. And even then, they were twisted to fit his views.
I! WAS! LIVID!
It's hogwashy nonsense!
Believe me, I never thought I'd end up taking such a strong stance against Calvinism, or even really caring about this issue all that much. In fact, when I was a teen, we studied the whole "Calvinism vs. Arminianism" debate in our youth group. And back then, I sided with Calvinism. Because I believed that Calvinism was about honoring God's sovereignty.
And what good Christian wouldn't want to uphold the sovereignty of God? (I just didn't know at the time that Calvinism has a very wrong view of God's sovereignty! And that makes all the difference.)
But after that, I didn't give it much thought. For years and years. Not until we got a new pastor at our church who brought his dogmatic, Calvinist views with him. (And things were going so well until then!)
One of the first "off" things I noticed was when he once talked from the pulpit about those who believe in free-will ... and he snickered. It was the tiniest scoffing sound, as if he meant to say "Can you believe those people!?!" But it was enough to make me go, "What was that about?"
And then started coming the sermons about how no one can seek God unless God makes them and how we are so dead inside - like a dead body that can't do anything but lay there, all dead - that we can't even think about God unless the Holy Spirit causes us to.
And then came the church blog posts (from him and his adult son) about how God basically planned and ordained (read: caused) the fall of Adam and Eve, how God shows off His love to the elect by saving them but to the non-elect by caring for them while they are on earth (before sending them to hell for all of eternity for being the unbelievers He predestined them to be!), how God predestines people to hell to show off his justice, and how the Bible absolutely clearly teaches predestination and so you just have to accept it.
And then - what really got to me - was the manipulation. During the sermons, when talking about predestination, he would say things like "Humble Christians have no trouble accepting predestination as truth. It's only proud, unhumble people who have trouble with it.... This is what the Bible says. You have to accept it. Disagreeing with this is disagreeing with God's Word.... There are only three possible responses you can have to the truth of predestination: ignore it, get angry about it, or accept it." (Notice that disagreeing with it is not even an option!)
This really angered me! Not only was he pushing a view of God that sounded less and less like what the Bible says, but he was making it so that no one would disagree with him, not without identifying themselves as proud, unhumble, God-fighting Christians who couldn't accept or understand Truth.
All I could think was that there would be people in the audience who disagreed with him, but they would be too afraid to say anything. Because he was painting a very unflattering picture of those who disagreed, ensuring that no one would speak up against him. At least not out loud. It's actually a brilliant manipulation tactic!
And that, in my mind, was just plain wrong! Especially so since he was trying to push a version of God that doesn't match the Bible, and because his theology didn't take into account the whole Bible, just the verses that seemed to say what he wanted. And even then, they were twisted to fit his views.
[Apparently, this pastor also requires the new elders and other leaders to sit down with him and go through Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology, a rather hard-core "Calvinist indoctrination" book, as I call it. From what I've read of other's people's Calvinist experiences, this seems to be a rather common practice for when a Calvinist pastor is trying to take over a church. They make all their leaders study it (or other Calvinist books like it), or start small groups to study it, or do a "by-invitation-only" kind of class. They put a lot of effort into spreading their Calvinism from person to person. And if you make people feel incredibly educated and smart and humble for studying Calvinism, then it's easy to get more and more people to accept it. If they feel they are being included in an elite group of Christians, they'll suck it up willingly. And even if they still find it distasteful, questionable, or confusing, they will simply nod their heads along with it, instead of exposing themselves as someone who disagrees, who is "unhumble" or too stupid to get it.]
But then ... came the sermon that did me in, that made me decide I was done listening to that man preach. One Sunday, he gave a sermon about how everything in your life, even every bad or evil thing, was ordained by God for His purposes and glory and for your good and to keep you humble ... including "childhood abuse." And so you just have to trust Him.
I! WAS! LIVID!
LIVID!
Telling people in the audience that God caused your abuse for His glory and your good and to humble you!?! It's bullcrap! (Oh yes, some things deserve a "bullcrap"! I'd use harsher words, but you get the picture.) I couldn't believe the view of God he was teaching people. In fact, I went back home, found the sermon online, and listened to that part of it a couple more times just to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding him. [Recently, my son has tried to find it but can't. I wonder if the church hid it.]
That's when I decided that I was done with that man and that I needed to speak out against what he was preaching, against Calvinism. The damage they do to God's Truth and God's character and people's faith and people's hearts is horrifying! Can you imagine what it would do to someone's heart and faith to be told that their childhood abuse was planned by and caused by God, but that they just have to trust Him because He's a good God who did it for their own good?
Bullcrap! Hogwash and bullcrap!
Telling people in the audience that God caused your abuse for His glory and your good and to humble you!?! It's bullcrap! (Oh yes, some things deserve a "bullcrap"! I'd use harsher words, but you get the picture.) I couldn't believe the view of God he was teaching people. In fact, I went back home, found the sermon online, and listened to that part of it a couple more times just to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding him. [Recently, my son has tried to find it but can't. I wonder if the church hid it.]
That's when I decided that I was done with that man and that I needed to speak out against what he was preaching, against Calvinism. The damage they do to God's Truth and God's character and people's faith and people's hearts is horrifying! Can you imagine what it would do to someone's heart and faith to be told that their childhood abuse was planned by and caused by God, but that they just have to trust Him because He's a good God who did it for their own good?
Bullcrap! Hogwash and bullcrap!
(not sorry)
But instead of just seething in anger - which I did plenty of, every week, for days after every sermon - I began to study Calvinism seriously, comparing it to Scripture. Don't just get mad; get educated! I read about Calvinism and about John Calvin. I looked up their "Calvinist Bible verses" and read each one in context. I looked up the words in the concordance to see what the original and proper meaning was. I read the whole Bible chapter, and sometimes the whole book, that their "Calvinist verses" came from to see what else the author said. I cross-referenced verses. I read different translations. I dug and dug and dug, all along praying that God would help me understand His Truth yet giving Him permission to correct me if I'm wrong, to show me that Calvinism is true if it really is true even if I didn't want it to be.
But instead of just seething in anger - which I did plenty of, every week, for days after every sermon - I began to study Calvinism seriously, comparing it to Scripture. Don't just get mad; get educated! I read about Calvinism and about John Calvin. I looked up their "Calvinist Bible verses" and read each one in context. I looked up the words in the concordance to see what the original and proper meaning was. I read the whole Bible chapter, and sometimes the whole book, that their "Calvinist verses" came from to see what else the author said. I cross-referenced verses. I read different translations. I dug and dug and dug, all along praying that God would help me understand His Truth yet giving Him permission to correct me if I'm wrong, to show me that Calvinism is true if it really is true even if I didn't want it to be.
And as I did so, I began to see that Calvinism is so, so wrong! I saw that once you got rid of the Calvinism and kept Scripture in context, God's Word rings true, makes sense, doesn't contradict itself, and upholds His revealed character.
And guess what?
It's not really that hard to do. The Bible actually does make sense and it presents a consistent view of God ... if you don't read it with Calvinist glasses on. You see, Calvinists will tell you that Scripture has all sorts of deeper, hidden meanings. And so to properly understand it, you have to listen to them and let them tell you what to think.
But that's not true. God's Word is rather easy to understand and it doesn't contradict itself and it doesn't turn God into an irrational monster, like Calvinism does. If you read it the way God wrote it! If you stay away from Calvinist teachers and preachers and their messed-up views of Scripture!
And guess what?
It's not really that hard to do. The Bible actually does make sense and it presents a consistent view of God ... if you don't read it with Calvinist glasses on. You see, Calvinists will tell you that Scripture has all sorts of deeper, hidden meanings. And so to properly understand it, you have to listen to them and let them tell you what to think.
But that's not true. God's Word is rather easy to understand and it doesn't contradict itself and it doesn't turn God into an irrational monster, like Calvinism does. If you read it the way God wrote it! If you stay away from Calvinist teachers and preachers and their messed-up views of Scripture!
[See "12 tips on how to think critically about Calvinism"]
The thing that makes me sad is that almost no one at our church, except for one other couple, seems to have noticed what he's doing or has problems with what he's teaching. (Other people have left for various reasons, so we are not the only ones having a problem with his leadership.) And if anyone does have problems with his theology, no one's speaking up about it. Which is no wonder, considering he's shamed everyone into silence, making them feel like bad, unhumble Christians if they disagree.
But my husband and I couldn't take it anymore. Although we've been there nearly 20 years, we are now trying to leave the church over this issue. It just makes us both too sick to stay. (But leaving is proving rather hard to do because my husband volunteers there in a couple different roles and my kids grew up here and don't want to leave. And we can't find a better church in the area. That's sad! And it's even more sad because the people and programs in this church are so wonderful. What a shame to have to leave all that good stuff because of one man's dogmatic beliefs!)
But since we can't yet leave, we decided that we couldn't just sit there anymore without saying something. It was time to blow the whistle on what's going on. There's got to be others in the congregation who disagree with him, but who are too afraid to say anything because no one else seems to be disagreeing with him. And if no one speaks up against him, he will be able to push his theology on people that much easier. People who disagree with him will think that if everyone else accepts it, then maybe there's just something wrong with them.
And so we wrote a huge letter to the elders (click here to read it), pointing out what's going on, the manipulation tactics he employs, errors in Calvinism and what the Bible really says, and our request that it at least not be taught in the kids' groups anymore. We might not be able to change anyone's mind (because I think all the elders are Calvinists anyway), but we at least wanted this issue out in the open. We wanted it talked about so that others can express their views. We wanted to plant a seed of doubt in people's minds about if his theology is in line with the Bible or not, instead of just trusting whatever he says because he's the pastor. We wanted to inspire others to study this issue for themselves. And we wanted to make it public that someone disagrees with him, giving others permission to also disagree and to speak up, if they want to.
I don't care so much that they get rid of this pastor (he seems like a genuinely good guy with lots of spunk and knowledge), I just care that people are allowed to talk about it openly, to disagree with it and discuss it and not feel ashamed for it. (And if his view is so accurate, he should have nothing to worry about by letting people openly disagree.)
I don't know what will end up happening. But I, for one, am done there. I might go there once in a while for my kids, but I stay home now on Sundays with some of my kids and watch good sermons online. Refreshing sermons that are full of truth and encouragement and hope. Something you won't get from Calvinism! [Click here for what ended up happening.]
Anyway, this is why I will be "ranting" against Calvinism. I believe it's an incredibly destructive theology, that it hurts people's hope and faith and view of God. And I believe they basically use cult-like tactics to ensnare people. And that's not right! It needs to be exposed.
And they do big damage to God's Word. They are wolves in sheep's clothing, appearing like (and believing that they are) humble Christians who are just trying to honor God. But they teach a theology that's full of poison. (And many of them don't even know it's full of poison because they haven't looked at it closely enough for themselves, maybe never even realizing that they had to look at it more closely. Or maybe they never knew they had the option of questioning it or disagreeing with it.) But the more people speak up against it, the less easy it will be for Calvinism to sneak into the church and for Calvinists to manipulate others into agreeing with them.
As of yet, I haven't heard back about how the elder meeting went when they reviewed our letter. It's been months since they all got to read it. But as I predicted, the pastor has only gotten more forceful about teaching his Calvinism. The other couple that disagrees with him still attends the services, and they say that he talks about it every week now, in all sorts of different ways.
I called it! I predicted he wouldn't back off after reading our letter, but that he would double-down on it! For me, it just confirms our decision to leave this church and to speak out against it in any way we can.
Such a shame, though. It's so not what church is supposed to be. But the good thing is that it's been a catalyst for me to really study this issue and to figure out what the Bible really says. Before this, I would have hoped Calvinism wasn't true but wouldn't have had much to back me up (or much desire to investigate it). But now I do! And now, through these blogs, I can help others who find themselves in a similar situation.
God bless!
(And I am sorry, but I'm not allowing comments on this blog, as much as I love some good, lively debate. I simply do not have the time or energy to do that right now. Not while raising four growing boys.)
The thing that makes me sad is that almost no one at our church, except for one other couple, seems to have noticed what he's doing or has problems with what he's teaching. (Other people have left for various reasons, so we are not the only ones having a problem with his leadership.) And if anyone does have problems with his theology, no one's speaking up about it. Which is no wonder, considering he's shamed everyone into silence, making them feel like bad, unhumble Christians if they disagree.
But my husband and I couldn't take it anymore. Although we've been there nearly 20 years, we are now trying to leave the church over this issue. It just makes us both too sick to stay. (But leaving is proving rather hard to do because my husband volunteers there in a couple different roles and my kids grew up here and don't want to leave. And we can't find a better church in the area. That's sad! And it's even more sad because the people and programs in this church are so wonderful. What a shame to have to leave all that good stuff because of one man's dogmatic beliefs!)
But since we can't yet leave, we decided that we couldn't just sit there anymore without saying something. It was time to blow the whistle on what's going on. There's got to be others in the congregation who disagree with him, but who are too afraid to say anything because no one else seems to be disagreeing with him. And if no one speaks up against him, he will be able to push his theology on people that much easier. People who disagree with him will think that if everyone else accepts it, then maybe there's just something wrong with them.
And so we wrote a huge letter to the elders (click here to read it), pointing out what's going on, the manipulation tactics he employs, errors in Calvinism and what the Bible really says, and our request that it at least not be taught in the kids' groups anymore. We might not be able to change anyone's mind (because I think all the elders are Calvinists anyway), but we at least wanted this issue out in the open. We wanted it talked about so that others can express their views. We wanted to plant a seed of doubt in people's minds about if his theology is in line with the Bible or not, instead of just trusting whatever he says because he's the pastor. We wanted to inspire others to study this issue for themselves. And we wanted to make it public that someone disagrees with him, giving others permission to also disagree and to speak up, if they want to.
I don't care so much that they get rid of this pastor (he seems like a genuinely good guy with lots of spunk and knowledge), I just care that people are allowed to talk about it openly, to disagree with it and discuss it and not feel ashamed for it. (And if his view is so accurate, he should have nothing to worry about by letting people openly disagree.)
I don't know what will end up happening. But I, for one, am done there. I might go there once in a while for my kids, but I stay home now on Sundays with some of my kids and watch good sermons online. Refreshing sermons that are full of truth and encouragement and hope. Something you won't get from Calvinism! [Click here for what ended up happening.]
Anyway, this is why I will be "ranting" against Calvinism. I believe it's an incredibly destructive theology, that it hurts people's hope and faith and view of God. And I believe they basically use cult-like tactics to ensnare people. And that's not right! It needs to be exposed.
And they do big damage to God's Word. They are wolves in sheep's clothing, appearing like (and believing that they are) humble Christians who are just trying to honor God. But they teach a theology that's full of poison. (And many of them don't even know it's full of poison because they haven't looked at it closely enough for themselves, maybe never even realizing that they had to look at it more closely. Or maybe they never knew they had the option of questioning it or disagreeing with it.) But the more people speak up against it, the less easy it will be for Calvinism to sneak into the church and for Calvinists to manipulate others into agreeing with them.
As of yet, I haven't heard back about how the elder meeting went when they reviewed our letter. It's been months since they all got to read it. But as I predicted, the pastor has only gotten more forceful about teaching his Calvinism. The other couple that disagrees with him still attends the services, and they say that he talks about it every week now, in all sorts of different ways.
I called it! I predicted he wouldn't back off after reading our letter, but that he would double-down on it! For me, it just confirms our decision to leave this church and to speak out against it in any way we can.
Such a shame, though. It's so not what church is supposed to be. But the good thing is that it's been a catalyst for me to really study this issue and to figure out what the Bible really says. Before this, I would have hoped Calvinism wasn't true but wouldn't have had much to back me up (or much desire to investigate it). But now I do! And now, through these blogs, I can help others who find themselves in a similar situation.
God bless!
(And I am sorry, but I'm not allowing comments on this blog, as much as I love some good, lively debate. I simply do not have the time or energy to do that right now. Not while raising four growing boys.)
