Leaving Calvinism: Comments from Ex-Calvinists #3
Here is the next batch of ex-Calvinist testimonies (and those who never were Calvinists but who came face to face with it) from this post: X-Calvinist Corner. (It's an Arminian website, but I am not Arminian.) I am going to highlight some of the comments that stood out to me the most. If I add any comments of my own, it will be [blue and in brackets]. I made minor corrections for better grammar and punctuation. If you want to read everything that everyone said, click on the link above:
... [As a Calvinist] I saw myself as extremely lucky to have been hand-picked for salvation...
... When I expressed my newfound theology with my dad, regarding those who are predestined to Hell, he threw 2nd Peter 3:9 at me, and I felt, “Well, there goes that theory!,” and that was the end of my stint in Calvinism. I heard the “secret will” explanation of the Pastor, and I read where Calvin taught that too. It didn’t make any sense that God would have a contradictory will (that is, a secret will) pitted against a revealed will....
That’s when I realized just how opposed to John 3:16 Calvinism really was. And then the flood of verses rushed in, such as 1st Timothy 2:4. But what really amazed me was this: When you look at how obsessed Calvinists are about Calvinism, and how meticulous they are in laying out the 5-Points of TULIP, what really struck me is how the apostles (also supposed to be Calvinists, according to Calvinists) were NOT so meticulous in laying out a TULIP system, at least, certainly not as aggressively as every Calvinist that I knew. That’s when I noticed that something was seriously wrong. These apostles are supposed to be the founders of Calvinism [according to Calvinists], and they didn’t even talk like Calvinists! So how are they supposed to be Calvinists? Something wasn’t adding up....
... In my assessment, I am no longer a Calvinist because I was sincerely seeking the truth. I just wanted to believe what the Bible said, and I didn’t want to get swept along in the argument of, “How could all of those historical [Calvinist theologians] have been wrong?” I refused to place my truth in men. I just wanted to believe what the Bible said, without having to assume Calvinism at every step.
It then became apparent to me that Calvinists had to put Calvinism *in* the Bible, in order to get Calvinism *out* of the Bible. [BULLSEYE!]
Lionel Woods says:
In answer to the question: What did you find most compelling about Calvinism?
The very simple answers and responses, and the fact that those who preached and taught it were very knowledgeable of the Scriptures and very good exegetes. I was impressed by the eloquence and the historocity of the system also. It felt good being in the know, you know being different and smart, and it easily began to puff me up ... But mostly it was the nice packaged, systematic approach to Salvation that really hooked me. After that, it was just the exercise of proof texting when something contradicted that soteriological system.
Why did you begin to question your Calvinistic convictions?
To take Calvinism to its necessary end FAITHFULLY, you really have to believe like a Hyper-Calvinist. Though many would say they are not. [Most Calvinists simply don't let themselves think that deeply about the problems, contradictions, and bad, inevitable "end results" of their theology. They just ignore the dark parts, shrug, and go, "It's a mystery," and go on their merry way. Regular Calvinists want you to think hyper-Calvinism is an aberration of their theology. But it's not. The hyper-Calvinist is just the most honest Calvinist, the one who admits to the darker parts of Calvinism and lives them out.]
At the end of the day, we have to ask, does it really matter if we evangelize or not from a proclamation perspective. In Calvinism, if all Christians failed to evangelize one more day, those who are saved will [still] be saved and those who are lost will [still] be lost, thus investing in the gathered church is what is important and not so much the proclamation of the Gospel (in deed and word). Many Calvinists would say “no way,” but to be 100% truthful [as a Calvinist], it really doesn’t matter because the elect does not change!
What primarily led to you abandoning Calvinism?
The Gospel being a real opportunity. The fact that my zeal began to be zapped to proclaim this Gospel, and the fact that there are way too many unanswered questions to speak in such definite terms [as Calvinists do].
Len Gane:
[On the journey out of Calvinism:] I was challenged by a pastor if John 3:16 was a legitimate offer by God or a sham. Studying the passage, I had to conclude that it was a legitimate offer. There simply is no other conclusion if one reads the Bible in its plain, normal sense. Calvinists cannot do this; they hold to a philosophy, not the plain, normal understanding of all Scripture.
Bob Brewer:
Why did you begin to question your Calvinistic convictions?
It was not a doctrinal argument that had me first questioning my Calvinism, but a subjective argument based on my personal experience.... I found myself saying that I cared for the lost but in reality I spent no energy on reaching the lost. I poured most of my energy into converting my Christian brothers to the reformed and Calvinistic Christianity I had embraced. [I've heard it said by an anti-Calvinist - Kevin Thompson from Beyond the Fundamentals, I think - that Calvinists' main concern is not about converting sinners to Christ but about converting Christians/churches to Calvinism.]
I began to ask myself, “How important is it that these brothers convert to Calvinism?” The answer that kept coming back to me was “Not very.” Then I asked myself, “How important is it to reach the lost with the gospel?” The answer, “Eternally important.” Then I began to ask myself, “If I do convert Christians to Calvinism, will they, like me, focus more of their efforts on converting Christians to Calvinism then reaching the lost?” The answer in my opinion was “Yes most of them would.” Then I was humbled as I remembered Jesus words that he, “Came to seek and to save the lost.” I know the Calvinist answer is that Jesus was not seeking just any lost but only the lost elect, but scripture gave me a picture of Jesus inviting any who would come.
I began thinking, “What if John 3:16 is true and that Jesus did die for the whole world that whosoever believes in Him would have eternal life ... and what if the doctrine of limited atonement was incorrect ... and what if Jesus, by his grace, gives all men everywhere the power to receive, coupled with the power they already have to reject Him ... would my passion and heart for the lost, whether the lost were unborn or almost expired, be greater?” And immediately I knew the answer a resounding, “YES!”
Then I asked myself, “does theology or being like Christ matter most?” I argued with myself that theology matters (and it does) but I could not extricate myself from the conclusion that “Being like Christ matters more.” Needless to say I hated what I had become; A bigoted elitist who looked down on my brothers in Christ, and at best I was unsympathetic to the plight of the lost. This may not be where Calvinism leads a better man but it is where it led me.... I can only say that in my experience [as a Calvinist], I became calloused to the lost. After all, if they died without Christ, it was exactly what God wanted, and even more He had ordained it to happen. So who was I to argue with God or doubt His decree?"
What primarily led you to abandon Calvinism?
The driving impetus was the realization that as a Calvinist the good news of the gospel wasn’t good news - it was only potentially good news and it wasn’t for everybody. This led me to examine the TULIP in general, and Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, and Irresistible Grace in particular. As I searched the proof texts ... that had been the bedrock of my Calvinism, I time and time again found that the larger context surrounding the proof text did not support the doctrine in question. [If only all people put this much thought and effort into researching what they're being taught, to see if it's what the Bible really says! If they did, Calvinism would fall!]
