The Anti-Calvinist Rant

I just found and watched this video against Calvinism yesterday (I have no idea who this pastor is or what else he teaches, but this video was good and on-track, very simplified):  Trojan Horses in the Church Today, part 1: Calvinism I particularly like something he says near the beginning which neatly sums up the fundamental problem of Calvinism: "Calvinism is a man-made philosophy that is contradictory to Scripture.  It is built on the classic error - now listen carefully to this - of interpreting clear passages of Scripture by unclear passages of Scripture.  That is a violation of the ABC's of Bible interpretation.  One of the most basic rules of [Bible] interpretation is you interpret unclear passages by clear ones.  Not the other way around.  But Calvinism is built on the idea of interpreting clear, simple passages by unclear ones.  Therefore, if you start with the unclear and you start with a false idea, then you start looking at the clear verse...

A friend who's struggling with the Calvinism in our previous church recently asked me how it feels to now attend a non-Calvinist church.   My answer? It feels like this:  

Warning: You must understand Romans 9 correctly, or else you'll be a prime target for being lured into Calvinism! Calvinists believe  Romans 9 teaches that God predestines the destinies of individual people, who goes to heaven and who goes to hell, and that we can't do anything to change the destiny we were assigned.   After all, it has the word "hardens" in it, so it has to mean "predestination," right?   But when you understand what Romans 9 i s really  about, you see how wrong they are, how much sense Romans 9 actually makes, and how God's love and justice remains intact instead of being destroyed like it is by Calvinism's incorrect theology. Simply put:  Romans 9  is about Israel as a nation, about God punishing them for rejecting Jesus and the gospel (handing them over to their own hard-heartedness) and about Him giving the gospel to the Gentiles instead (and the job of spreading it) because they were willing to receive it.   Matt. ...

Made it to #100 finally!  Yahoo! #94-100:  (Thanks to Brian Wagner for sharing #94-96 in the comment section of Soteriology 101's post  Calvinism Obscures the Simple Gospel , near the end.) 94:   John 1:9  in the KJV:  "That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."   But in the ESV, it's  "The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world." Who's "coming into the world": people or the Light (Jesus)? While I think both could be argued for and that this is a subtle and maybe insignificant distinction, it seems to me that the KJV is more specific that every individual person born has been "lit" and so, therefore, we all can and should see the truth of Jesus.   However, the ESV makes it sound more like Jesus just came into the world as a general light in the midst of all people but not every individual person can see it because not every individual person has been "lit".   ...

[This series is  "The 9 Marks of a Calvinist Cult"  split up into smaller, individual posts.]   (Happy New Year, Everyone.  FYI, I'm not sure if I'll keep adding new posts to this blog, but if I do, it'll be few and far between.  Or I may just update and repost old posts, instead of writing new stuff.  I'm sure they could use some refreshing and correction.  Either way, God bless, and have a great 2024!  And "Amen, Come, Lord Jesus!") Conclusion: Sadly, the  Psychology Today  article lists some of the lasting effects of cults, the devastation it has on people's hearts and minds, such as (among others): extreme identity confusion, panic/anxiety attacks, depression, anger and guilt and shame, inability to make their own decisions (to trust their own judgment), fear of intimacy and commitment, distrust of others, grieving the loss of family and friends, loss of meaning or purpose, PTSD, etc. I think Calvinism does this to people too.  ...