This article is part II of a blog series (you can read part I here) in which I am confronting the egregious arguments and slander made online by some of my IFB brothers against Calvinism and Calvinists (Arminianism as well). I want to reiterate that the thrust of this blog series isn’t a defense of Calvinism or Arminianism, but to expose the terrible arguments, false caricatures, and subsequent slander against our brothers in Christ from IFB pastors. Although I am responding to a specific Facebook post, this post accurately represents the army of strawmen that I have heard in my circles for years. I speak much more about Calvinism than Arminianism simply because that’s 99% of what the post was attacking (it always is), but everything I say about Calvin and Calvinism can also be applied to Arminius and Arminianism. As promised, I will try to write multiple blogs in an effort to keep them short. With that in mind, it’s time to deal with strawman #2.
Strawman #2: John Calvin invented the Doctrines of Grace, Better Known as Calvinism.
I bring up this point because, without a doubt, the most frequently used argument against Calvinism among my IFB brothers is that the doctrines of grace originated with John Calvin, who they claim was an evil person. In the Facebook post I am responding to (mostly in the comments), it was frequently echoed that John Calvin was a murderer (Servetus!), a Jew hater, a baby dunker, and that he had no clear testimony of salvation. I was also publicly challenged in the comment section to defend a statement that Calvin made in which he said the non-elect are “doomed from the womb.” I promised to address this in my blog, so here is my response: it’s completely irrelevant to whether or not the doctrines of grace can be found in the Bible.
This is the classic Genetic Fallacy (also known as the Origin Fallacy). The weakness of the Genetic fallacy is that it focuses on the supposed source of a truth claim, instead of the merits of a truth claim. The deductive form of this argument against the doctrines of grace goes like this:
Premise 1: John Calvin taught that the doctrines of grace are Biblically true.
Premise 2: John Calvin was a bad person.
Conclusion: Therefore, the doctrines of grace cannot be Biblically true.
Let’s give another example of the Genetic Fallacy to show how weak this argument is.
Premise 1: Adolf Hitler said that the sky is blue.
Premise 2: Adolf Hitler was evil.
Conclusion: Therefore, the sky can’t be blue.
Can you see the faulty logic here? I hope that we can all agree that, regardless of the doctrine or position we are trying to defend, we ought to have no room for bad arguments (perhaps I am asking too much). Good positions don’t need to be defended by bad arguments. Using weak arguments to defend what might otherwise be a strong position is a poor strategy.
Although I think the accusations against Calvin are often overblown, there are plenty of things that John Calvin said or did that I would never try to defend. However, that has nothing to do with whether or not the doctrines of grace are found in the Bible. I want to repeat, John Calvin could have been a murdering, anti-Semitic, baby-dunking, tofu-eating, croc-wearing, Taylor Swift-loving, Auburn fan, and it still has no bearing at all on whether or not the doctrines of grace can be found within the pages of Holy Scripture (ok, I can’t lie, I love to wear my Wal-Mart crocs when I’m working outside, but that has no bearing on whether or not the claims in this blog are true).
(As an aside, neither Calvin nor Arminius systematized their systems. "Calvinism" was systematized over 50 years after Calvin's death at the Synod of Dort. You can read the Canons of Dort here. Likewise, Arminianism was also systematized after the death of Arminius. You can read the Articles of Remonstrants here. I think both men would be horrified to know that these systems of Biblical interpretation were named after them.)
IFB Pastors Ought to Have Zero Tolerance for Intellectual Dishonesty, Even Against Those with Whom You Disagree.
The reason this argument is so intellectually dishonest is that there isn’t a Calvinist alive who would try to prove the truthfulness of the doctrines of grace by taking people to Calvin’s Institutes, as if they were theopneustos. A Calvinist is going to take you to texts like Romans 3 and John 6 to try to prove Total Depravity, Romans 8 and Ephesians 1 for Unconditional Election, Matthew 1:21 and John 10 for Definite Atonement, John 6 and Ephesians 2 for Irresistible Grace, Philippians 1:21 and Romans 8 for Perseverance of the Saints, etc.
John Calvin didn’t write John 6, 10, 17, Ephesians 1-2, Romans 8-9, etc., etc. Charles Spurgeon said,
“I believe nothing because Calvin taught it, but because I have found his teaching in the Word of God … We hold and assert again and again that the truth which Calvin preached was the very truth which the apostle Paul had long before written in his inspired epistles, and which is most clearly revealed in the discourses of our blessed Lord Himself.”
Just this week, Calvinist preacher, Dustin Benge, tweeted (I know it’s X, but I’m old school),
“Erase John Calvin from church history and delete the word ‘Calvinism,’ and I still believe in the absolute helpless depravity of man, the unconditional election of God, the definition atonement of Christ, the efficacious grace of God, and the perseverance of all God’s children.”
To my IFB brothers, please hear this: even if you disagree with the “Calvinistic” interpretation of Scripture, the honest thing to do is to engage the Calvinists on the battlefield of Scripture. If the goal is to effect real change, if you really want to get the attention of the Tulip sniffers, I triple dog dare you to go on an online forum (YouTube, podcast, blog, etc.) and walk through these texts to give your “correct” Biblical interpretation. For example, walk through Romans 8-9 verse by verse to try and prove the “Nations” argument (oh please do it!). I know you won’t, but sometimes it’s fun to dream. Sadly, you will probably remain content with “amens” from your echo chamber on Facebook.
We Have Biblical Precedent to Intellectually Engage with People on Their Turf
When Jesus was dealing with the Sadducees (who did not believe in the resurrection from the dead), “Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.” (Matthew 22:29-33).
Not only did the Sadducees not believe in a bodily resurrection, but they also believed that only the five books of Moses were authoritative. They did not consider any other OT book or prophet as being inspired Scripture. Notice that Jesus cites from Exodus 3 to prove the point that there will be a resurrection. Jesus could have quoted from pretty much any OT prophet He wanted to, but He purposely chose to cite Moses because He knew that his writings were the Sadducees' authority. He used their standard to get to His point.
When the Apostle Paul was preaching to the Greeks at Mars Hill, he quoted from one of their own poets (Aratus), “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.” He then used this as a springboard to teach them Scriptural truth about God. Like Jesus, Paul used a standard they respected to get to His point.
I’m far from a Paul or a Jesus (not even close), but I recently had the opportunity to do something similar with a Jehovah’s Witness. JWs believe that Christ was a created being and that His Father, Jehovah, is the only true God. The JW’s have written their own corrupt version of the Bible (The New World Translation) for the purpose of cutting out the parts that point to Jesus being God. I happened upon a young man at the coffee shop who was reading the NWT. After a brief conversation, I asked him to turn to Isaiah 6 and begin reading aloud. Over and over, his NWT said that Isaiah saw the glory of Jehovah high and lifted up, with his train filling the temple. I then asked him to turn to John 12:41, where it says that Isaiah saw the glory of Jesus. I then said to the young man, “Even your own Bible says that Jesus is Jehovah God, what are you going to do about that?”
The point I’m making is that it’s just reasonable, honest, and Biblical to engage with people from where they are, not from where they aren’t. When I see someone get online and act as if they have somehow destroyed the teachings of “Calvinism” by “destroying” the character of John Calvin, I think to myself, “either they don’t know the difference between John Calvin and John Deere, or they are being deliberately dishonest.”
Since both Calvinists and Arminians derive their beliefs from their interpretation of Scripture, the honest thing to do is to engage their interpretation of Scripture. If you’re not willing to do that, you’re not even in the game; you’re just playing with caterpillars in deep right field. It's just poor form to dictate to a person what they believe and proceed to attack what they don't believe. We can do better. (Read part 3 here.)
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