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Taken from Cork Free Presbyterian Church, 10 Briarscourt (Annex) Shanakiel, Cork, Ireland at this link on April 12, 2007
1) Calvinism and Hyper Calvinism are poles apart. The terms are not to be used
synonymously. A Hyper Calvinist is not just a zealous Calvinist. We both
consider each other to be "mongrel" Calvinists. No man will call himself a Hyper
Calvinist.
2) Yes Calvinists are split into several factions. But then so are many such
doctrinal schools e.g. Dispensationalism, Church Government, Worship…do we sing
only the Psalms or use hymns? Which hymns? Do we use music? Which music? Which
set of texts do we base our Bible translation on? Is it the Textus Receptus that
is important or the (KJV) AV? or both? etc.,
3) The term free will needs to be defined to avoid confusion. Calvinists will
either affirm it or deny it, depending on what they think you mean…This
sometimes leads to charges of contradictions. Consult the standard Calvinist
Confessions e.g. the Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 9 for a defining of
terms.
4) The term free agency is not automatically the same as free will when used by
a Calvinist. It is the Calvinist's preferred term to free will. Preferred so as
to avoid the confusion spoken of in the above point.
5) Calvinists do believe in man's responsibility, but deny his ability to repent
and believe the gospel. The two terms are not synonymous. Calvinists believe
that man's inability to repent and believe are caused by his own sin ... not any
positive imposition on God's part.
6) Calvinists do not believe that men are puppets or blocks of wood or robots,
but responsible beings and are treated as such by God, even when fallen.
7) Calvinists are not fatalists. Calvinists believe that God has ordained the
end and also the means to that end. Therefore they do believe in evangelism as
the means God uses to fulfil His intention of saving the elect. It is not true
to say that Calvinists believe that God saves men without the gospel. Calvinists
do believe in prayer.
8) Calvinists do believe that it is the duty of men to repent and believe the
gospel. This is one of our quarrels with the Hyper Calvinists.
9) Calvinists do believe that the gospel is (to quote Calvin) to be preached
indiscriminately to the elect and to the reprobate (Commentary on Isaiah 54:13)
This is another one of our quarrels with the Hyper Calvinists.
10) Calvinists do not limit the value or merit or worth of the blood of Christ.
They do limit the intention of the blood to save any other than the elect. We
are happy enough (as was John Calvin) with the statement that the blood of
Christ is sufficient for the whole world but efficient only for the elect.
11) Calvinists do not believe that men are damned without any reference to their
sin. God passing by and leaving certain men in their sin is not the same as God
damning men by the sheer force of His decree.
12) Calvinists do not just preach on the Five Points and nothing else. At least
no more so than Dispensationalists who just preach on prophecy or Pentecostals
who just preach on the gifts of the Spirit etc.,
13) Calvinists do not read the Five Points into every text of scripture. Many of
the major Bible commentaries, beloved and valued by all Christians e.g. Matthew
Henry were written by Calvinists.
14) Calvinists do believe that men can resist the Holy Spirit. They believe that
even the elect can resist the Holy Spirit, and do…but only up to the time when
the Spirit regenerates their heart so that resist Him no more. The non elect
effectively resist Him all their lives.
15) Calvinists do not believe that men are brought kicking and screaming
irresistibly to Christ. We believe in irresistible grace. The will is not passed
by in salvation. No man ever came to Christ unwillingly, or regretted that he
had been brought.
16) Calvinist's do not believe that there are souls out there who want to be
saved, but can't be saved because they are not of the elect.
17) Calvinists, being without access to the Lamb's Book of Life, see every man
as potentially elect and preach the gospel to him.
18) Calvinists do believe in unconditional election but they do not believe in
unconditional salvation. Except a man be born again, he will not enter the
kingdom of Heaven (John 3:3) Except he repent, he will perish (Luke 13:3) Except
he be converted etc., …all these are conditions of salvation.
19) Calvinists do believe that regeneration either precedes or automatically and
immediately produces faith in Christ. We do not confuse the term regeneration
with that of justification or salvation. The Spirit of God regenerates the elect
sinner enabling him to forsake the deadness of his sin and willingly embrace
Christ and so be justified by faith and saved for eternity. Regeneration
therefore is not synonymous with justification or salvation any more than
conviction of sin is synonymous with conversion to Christ.
20) Perseverance of the saints does not mean that Calvinists believe that they
must hang on for dear life without any reference to the keeping power of God. It
simply means that we believe that the Christian will prove to be an overcomer in
accordance with 1 John 5:4-5 etc.,
21) Some Calvinists use the phrase Particular Redemption as opposed to Limited
Atonement because they can see how the General Redemptionist position may also
be said to limit the atonement, although in a different way i.e. it does not set
out to do all what was intended.
22) Calvinists do not believe that John Calvin is infallible…no more than
Methodists believe that John Wesley is infallible or Dispensationalists allowing
Schofield or John Darby the final word.
23) While Calvinists believe that saving grace and repentance are the gifts of
God, given only to His elect, they do not believe that God exercises faith for
them or repents for them. The elect sinner, enabled by the power of God,
actually repents and believes for himself.
24) While there can be no real middle ground between the Calvinist position and
that of the non Calvinist…yet most Calvinists believe that both sides really do
preach the gospel. Despite our differences as to many of the details, a man who
preaches that Christ died for the ungodly and that the work was sufficient to
save the whosoever who will repent and believe is really preaching the gospel.
We rejoice in the gospel preaching of John Wesley just as much as that of George
Whitefield, although (naturally) we would hold Whitefield to be the better
theologian.
25) There is a difference between a paradox and a contradiction. We know that
God is sovereign, yet man is free to follow the dictates of his own will. Where
the two lines meet is not for us to say. Calvinist ignorance on the matter is to
be excused on the basis of Deuteronomy 29:29
26) Although Calvinists believe that even sinful acts are ordained by God
(Ephesians 1:11/Proverbs 16:4) yet such makes the event certain…but not
necessary. This clears God from being the author of sin. This view best explains
the Cross (Acts 2:23/4:27-28/Luke 22:22) This is explained further elsewhere on
this site.
-oOo-
So there you have it. I don't expect this list to really convince any body of
the correctness of the Calvinist position. It is not meant to be a doctrinal
defence of Calvinism. I give few references because I want to keep it short and
easy accessible. The standard Calvinistic Confessions e.g. the Westminster
Confession of Faith etc., should be consulted for definitive statements. The
Dictionary of Theological Terms (Rev. Alan Cairns - Ambassador-Emerald) is an
invaluable tool. Hopefully it will clear up more than a few misunderstandings.
It is wearisome in the extreme to see a caricature of your faith pilloried.
Perhaps someone on the other side of the fence (non Calvinist) might engage in a
similar exercise and so clear up any misunderstandings Calvinists might have.
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