FAQ’S ABOUT CALVINISM
Do Calvinist follow the Bible or John Calvin?
What makes Calvinism different from much of modern Christianity?
Calvinism
is a branch of Reformed Protestant theology which emerged in the early 16th
century against the Roman Catholic Church.
The system is named after the
French Reformer, John Calvin, not by
him.
Yes,
Calvinists are Christians. Calvinism is
no “cult”. Most are simply unfamiliar
with Calvinism and their teaching that when they hear of them, apart from their
historical context, they tend to mislabel Calvinism among the cults. Such is not the case. It should be well noted that all mainline
Protestant Churches, except the Lutherans (though to some extent) have
Calvinistic roots. The theology of Calvinism
was once the ruling theology and is in accord with the theology that restored
the Gospel back to the Church and gave light to the darkness brought about by
the medieval theology of the Roman Catholic Church. Baptist have their
1689 Baptist Confession with Calvinist theology embedded in it. Anglicans, Episcopalians and even Methodist
have Calvinistic roots in the 39 articles of the Church of England. The Puritans were mainly Calvinist. The Westminster Confession of the
Presbyterian Church is thoroughly Calvinist.
So, yes, Calvinist are Christians, just not
recognized by much of Christendom today as Christianity because of the many
changes in evangelical thought.
Do Calvinist follow the Bible or John Calvin?
Calvinists
hold to the Reformed Principle of Sola
Scriptura, which translates to Scripture alone. The assertion behind the words essentially
says that Scripture alone is the sole infallible authority for doctrine and
Christian living and that it alone sufficiently contains all that one needs to
know in order to be saved. John Calvin
taught this in accord with Scripture (cf II Tim.
3:16, II Peter 1:19-21). While the
system is called “Calvinism”, Calvin did not name his own system. His followers did and it was only in honor of
the things that Calvin taught from the
Bible. Calvinist, because they hold
to this principle of Sola Scriptura
and also Tota Scriptura (total scripture) are
certainly in a principled place to follow the Scriptures and not introduce
foreign thoughts into their hermeneutical methods of interpretation for sound
doctrine.
What makes Calvinist different from much of modern
Christianity?
Obviously
volumes could be written to answer this question and have been. However, the notable differences include the
doctrine of the Sovereignty of God as expressed in salvation. The idea of sovereignty carries with it
undeniable authority, or control. This
is to say that God absolutely rules, or controls, His creation. In regards to salvation, this means that God
has even control over whom He desires to grace with salvation. Thus, the Scriptures speak of God electing
some from all of fallen humanity to salvation from before the foundation of the
world (cf. Eph. 1:3-6, Rev. 13:8). Thus,
a distinct doctrine of Reformed theology, or Calvinism, is the doctrine of
Unconditional Election – that God elected some to salvation not on the basis of
anything foreseen in those elected, but solely according to the mercy, grace
and love of God in Christ Jesus. But
Calvinism is more than this. For if God
is sovereign, then that has more implications about how we think of the world
and our worldview. Thus, Calvinism
provides not merely a “theology” but a system of thought for all of life and,
ultimately, obedience to God.
