"Very simply, 'Calvinism' is Biblical Christianity in both its purity and fullness. Those who dissent from this do not hold to the Christianity of the Bible."
-Conclusion from What Is Calvinism?
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6 comments:
Now Matt, you know better than to even give a web page with no professional affiliation or even name to go with it, a second thought. Even those with professional affiliations are still whack! As with almost anything in life where there is a choice, there will be a group or person who either takes it to the absolute extreme and blows the original idea out of proportion.
what I find sad about denominations is their tendency to elevate their specific creed as the best and truest (or only true) form of Christianity. Mennonites do it too, quite a bit.
Yeah, that sure seems like a harsh statement, doesn't it? But I guess when you think about it everyone has an opinion of what ~essential~ "Christianity" is, and so really all of us believe that if others don't hold to that then they don't really believe the Christianity of the Bible. At least that's how I see it, though I probably wouldn't have put it the same way that this article does.
Did you disagree with anything else in the article? I know that you've been curious about what Calivism is. I haven't read that article and imagine it wasn't the easiest thing out there explaining the points. I personally like a little easy-read called "Tulip" by Duane Spencer.
#1) I don't think that this is a very good article to read if you want to know what Calvinism is. It does go through TULIP but it also branches off into other areas that aren't nessasarily related to the whole Calvinist/Arminian debate. The language can be confusing in some places, and it can come off sounding like Calvinist = Christian.
I would recommend either a short booklet like Spencer's "Tulip" or else an article like this one if you want to get a clearer view of Calvinism.
http://reformed.org/calvinism/index.html
#2) Most people think that the way that they believe is right, otherwise they wouldn't believe it. However, I think that what you just quoted was a pretty harsh way to say it.
I would have rephrased it something like, "Calvinists believe that calvinism is a true representation of Biblical Christianity." I would state it in the positive, not the negative.
#3) Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. Even though there some Calvinists and Reformed Christians who come off sounding arrogant or harsh or whatever, not everyone is like that. There is a lot of merit to what is being said, even though it may not be said in the best way.
Hi Matt -- As a Presbyterian myself, I couldn't let the hyperbolic comments of one proponent stand like that. Summarizing the theological tradition of Calvinism with the T-U-L-I-P approach is like taking good beef and making a McDonald's cheeseburger. If you want a better summary of Calvinism and have the time, take a look at the Wesminster Confession. It's one of the best and most influential summaries of Calvinism in its full breadth. Don't let these crazy proponents, who are well-meaning but too harsh, distract you too much.
I agree with CJ -- TULIP is just one little drop in the pond. The Westminster Confession of Faith is an amazing and comprehensive statement of faith and is considered by many to be one of the crowning achievements of the Reformation.
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