But what IF Calvinism is true?

This comment (that I left on the Soteriology 101 post Calvinism Obscures the Simple Gospel) is in reply to someone named Jeff who ended his comment with "[According to an article I read] we live in a Calvinist World, so does that Make Calvinism True, is there any way to Prove Calvinism True or Not?"

My Reply:

Jeff, I can see why you struggle so much with the fear that Calvinism might be true.  Because it is everywhere and spreading, and because many of the Big Name Theologians teach it.  Kind of a “might makes right” thing, that if most Christians (seem to) believe it then it must be right, right?

Personally, I think the Bible warns about such a thing:

2 Timothy 4:3-4: “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”

Just because a “great number” all says the same thing doesn’t make them right.  Sometimes it just means that the great number tricks and traps people into their views, and that people are easily swayed by popular, powerful speakers, letting others tell them what to think instead of researching it for themselves.

I think Calvinism can indeed be proven untrue for a very simple reason: It doesn’t take God’s Word at face-value.  It denies/contradicts the simple, plain, easily-understood, commonsense, in-context message of the Bible.  It looks at what a verse says and goes “Nope, it doesn’t really mean what it seems to be saying.  There is a deeper, hidden meaning underneath it that changes what it seems to be saying.  And we need to go to Calvinists to learn what this deeper ‘truth’ is, what God really meant to say.”

Calvinism is really just another version of “Did God really say…?”

If we non-Calvinists are wrong, at least we can stand before God in the end and say “But I just took what You said the way You said it, at face-value.”  But if Calvinists are wrong, then when they stand before God, they’ll have to say “Yeah, I saw what You wrote in the Bible, but I was sure there must be some sort of hidden, deeper layer that altered what You said on the surface.  I let other people convince me that You didn’t really mean what You said the way You said it.”

I’d rather be the first one, erring on the side of taking God at His Word instead of looking for and buying into hidden teachings that aren’t there.

I have spent several years deeply researching why and how Calvinism is wrong.  I began researching it after our church was stealthily taken over by Calvinism, under our noses, through much misuse of Scripture, manipulation, and deception.

As a licensed counselor, I noticed the manipulation and deception immediately, how the pastor was trying to strong-arm people into seeing things his way, into not disagreeing with him.  And it alerted me to the fact that something was going to be wrong with his teaching.  Anyone who needs to rely on manipulation to get you to side with them and to shut up any opposition is going to be trying to sell you something bad.  (Also, you might like Beyond the Fundamentals. Kevin looks at the psychology behind Calvinism and how it spreads.)

Calvinists do not take the Bible at face-value.  They do not believe that the Bible can be understood by all, that it teaches simple, basic truths that anyone can understand.  Calvinists needs to be special, to think they have some sort of deeper knowledge, higher intelligence, and greater ability to understand things the average person can’t understand, as if they discovered God’s secrets that are veiled to normal people.  Satan traps them through their desire to know more about God, to bring Him more glory, and to be more humble.  

(Calvinists are like “WE accept that a sovereign God can cause sin/evil/child abuse, and can predestine people to go to hell.  That’s how humble we are!  We accept things we don’t like and can’t understand, honoring God’s ‘sovereignty’, trusting Him anyway even if it seems wrong and unjust and unloving to us.”  Satan uses their humility against them.)

Personally, I think you are in a better position to understand the plain, simple truths of Scripture precisely because you keep it simple (The Very Basic Essential Christian Doctrine), like C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity.  You don’t need to get caught up in trying to learn “deeper, hidden” things.  Just keep reading the Bible as it was intended to be read, in the commonsense way it was intended to be understood.  Don’t let people (Calvinists) convince you that there are deeper, hidden truths you need to learn, and that you need to read THEIR books or listen to THEIR sermons to help you learn it.

God’s truths are for everyone, child to adult, the simple-hearted to the scholars.  But the more we let other people trick us into thinking there is some sort of mysterious “hidden, deeper layer,” the more we will be swayed into reading things into it that aren’t there, and the more we will miss out of the simple, beautiful truths of God’s Word.

I think having only “some Bible knowledge” (as you humbly said) puts you at a greater advantage than those who educated themselves into stupidity.  You can read the Bible with more pure eyes.  They have to unlearn everything they learned, taking off the Calvinist glasses they glued to their heads, before they can see/understand the simple truths of Scripture.

I’m going to recommend that you watch the pastor I trust most: Dr. Tony Evans.  When I first started researching Calvinism and realized that practically every theologian/pastor I ran across was Calvinist, it was freaking me out.  It made me feel like maybe I was the only one who had a problem with Calvinism.  Maybe I was the only one seeing it the way I did?  Maybe I was understanding it all wrong?

But then I decided that I had to look up ONE MORE pastor (one I had always enjoyed and respected), Tony Evans.  He was going to be the last one I would check out before I gave up and resigned myself to Calvinism.  But when I watched/read his stuff, I exhaled in relief.  He saw things the same way I did.  And his understanding of the Bible is so simple, so practical, and it rings of truth.  I could feel it in my soul.  I could feel my soul starting to come to life again, like I could breathe again, instead of suffocating and shriveling up under the Calvinist teaching I had been hearing.  

And since then (about 6 years ago or so), I have been watching and reading him regularly, and he is just so accurate, so practical, so biblical.  I highly recommend him to anyone who is recovering from Calvinism.  (Also, a friend who left her Calvinist church highly recommends Andy Woods.  He is good too, but dry.)

Anyway, my advice to you, Jeff, is to keep it simple.  You’re doing just fine the way you are.  God bless.

Here are some of Tony Evans' books I highly recommend, for the basics:

Theology You Can Count On (A must read for all the basics)

Our God is Awesome: Encountering the Greatness of our God

The Promise: Experiencing God’s Greatest Gift – The Holy Spirit

The Battle is the Lord’s: Waging Victorious Spiritual Warfare

Totally Saved: Understanding, Experiencing, and Enjoying the Greatness of Your Salvation (the book that made me realize he was not a Calvinist and that I was seeing things correctly, that made my soul start to breathe again)