Mudslinging

While I disagree with John Calvin on the issue of predestination I have never said or wrote anything disparaging about him nor have I tried to misrepresent anything he said or wrote.

Just as one must consider the scripture as a whole in coming to a conclusion on free will or predestination a person must consider a persons whole background and complete body of writings before condemning them.

In reading various Reformed Theology websites I have noticed that many of them attack various people who believe in free will. I've seen sites that claimed Billy Graham was out of the Christian mainstream and was a heretic. Others try to discredit John Wesley.

It is true one can pull certain actions and statements and play pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. If I wanted to play by the same rule I could use the following two examples to trash John Calvin and Martin Luther:

John Calvin wrote to King Henry VIII recommending that the Anabaptists be burned as an example to other Englishmen: 'It is far better that two or three be burned than thousands perish in Hell.'"
Source:Estep, William R., Renaissance & Reformation (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1986), 241

Of Martin Luther we are told, "His attitude to Anabaptism was molded by a succession of unfortunate events, and he turned from toleration through banishment to the death penalty for sedition and for 'blasphemy' (a term which in practice was largely equated with what hitherto had been called heresy.")
Source: Littell, Franklin H., The Origins of Sectarian Protestantism (New York: The Macmillan Company)

Apparently John Calvin did believe in free will since he recommended to King Henry VIII that burning a few people at the stake would keep other Englishmen on the straight and narrow. Was John Calvin being guided by the Holy Spirit when he had people burned at the stake?

The fact that such a large body of people, much less any individual, argues so intensely for the case of predestination shows that they really do not believe in it. They do believe given the facts people do have a choice to make.

What is an Anabaptist? From Merriam-Webster Dictionary: A member of a radical movement of the 16th-century Reformation that viewed baptism solely as an external witness to a believer's conscious profession of faith, rejected infant baptism...

Conclusion: Calvin's theology is not 100% trustworthy. However, I am honest enough to recognize that despite these positions they don't represent everything or nullify everything Calvin and Luther stood for.

Again many in Reformed Theology attempt to destroy those who believe in free will by misrepresenting them, sometimes in other areas. For example. Lorraine Boettner tries to discredit John Wesley by claiming Wesley "was a believer in witchcraft."

Loraine Boettner, author of The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination on page 426 had this to say of John Wesley, "It should be said at this point that Wesley was a believer in witchcraft. Failure to believe in witches was looked upon by him as a concession to infidels and rationalists… In his Journal we read this report of a girl who was subject to fits: 'When old Doctor Alexander was asked what her disorder was, he answered, 'It is what formerly they would have called being bewitched.' And why should they not call it so now? Because the infidels have hooted it out of the world; and the complaisant Christians, in large number, have joined them in their cry.'"

Other Calvinists have jumped on the "John Wesley believed in witchcraft" bandwagon. Many Calvinist websites state, "In his Journal, Wesley bemoaned the decline of superstition, the advance of human thought and the more peaceable reign of Christ on the earth, in the following words: "It is true likewise, that the English in general, and, indeed, most of the men of learning in Europe, have given up all accounts of witches and apparitions as mere wives' fables. I am sorry for it… The giving up of witchcraft is in effect giving up the Bible!""

OK, so John Wesley believed in witchcraft. Believing and condoning are not the same. I'm pretty certain both John Calvin and Martin Luther believed in witchcraft as well. Like Wesley, they believed it existed and was dangerous.

As I said, John Wesley was neither condoning nor encouraging witchcraft. However, Wesley did believe that witchcraft was in the world and to deny it would deny the existence of evil and of Satan. I have seen surveys by Barna that show a significant number of Christians today, including many preachers, do not believe in a literal Satan or hell. That is what concerned Wesley.

In Wesley's Commentary on the Bible every reference to witchcraft, while emphasizing that it is real and exists, condemned its practice. The Calvinists link of John Wesley to witchcraft is nothing more than an effort to discredit John Wesley for his belief in free will.

Predestination Free Will http://www.freewill-predestination.com/

John Calvin's methods

How should a heretic or any false teacher be dealt with Biblically? We can get some insight by looking at John Calvin's actions from a Biblical perspective such as in Paul's letter to Titus about the qualifications for eldership in the church:

"He [the elder] must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach -- and that for the sake of dishonest gain" (Titus 1:9-11).

A false teacher should be "silenced," not by having him killed, but by refuting him with Scripture.

The following is intended to demonstrate that Calvin was not infallible and his words and deeds bear scrutiny. Jesus said you will recognize people by their fruit (Matt 7:20) and no good tree bears bad fruit (Luke 6:23).

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23

In 1547 an outspoken Libertine (atheist) Jacques Gruet, was beheaded thanks to John Calvin's efforts.

In 1551 fellow Reformer Jerome Bolsec was banished from Geneva (and eventually from many other cities influenced by Calvin) when he made the mistake of publicly challenging Calvin's teaching on predestination, a doctrine Bolsec and many other Reformers, found morally repugnant. He was not banished because he was wrong, in fact Bolsec was very convincing, but for the sake of peace in the city and to protect John Calvin's reputation.

Lest you think Bolsec got off easy consider what banishment meant. Not only did he have to avoid areas influenced by Calvin but he also had to avoid Catholic areas. Basically Bolsec was “a man without a country.”

In 1553 John Calvin was instrumental in having Michael Servetus sentenced to death, burned at the stake, for doctrinal heresies. Admittedly Servetus was on the run from the Catholic Church having been excommunicated and sentenced to death by them and he did have heretical ideas.

One of Servetus' heretical ideas that Calvin vehemently opposed was Servetus' rejection of infant baptism. So where does Reformed Theology Churches stand on that issue today?

In 13 February 1546, a few years before Servetus was burned at the stake, John Calvin wrote to his friend, Farel, "If he comes here, if my authority is worth anything, I will never permit him to depart alive".

Later, during Servetus' trial in 1553 Calvin wrote, "I hope that the verdict will call for the death penalty."

For a little over two months, from the time Servetus was arrested until his execution, Servetus was kept "... in an atrocious dungeon with no light or heat, little food, and no sanitary facilities."

Then there's the time John Calvin wrote to the King of England, Henry VIII, suggesting that by burning two or three people the King could save thousands from hell.

That looks similar to how Islam has been spread from its beginning. However, the early Christian church was spread by love and example.

Calvin's decisions to have people burned at the stake are understandably viewed by Reformed Theology as an attempt "to confirm his image as an intolerant authoritarian" and they rationalize his actions this way:

...Despite the fact that religious toleration did not become a popular conviction until at least two hundred years later, and that what was done in Geneva was done virtually everywhere else in Europe on a much grander scale...

Using that logic is like saying the Apostles should have converted people by crucifixion because that was the way things were done at the time. Pre-Paul protected his faith in the same manner as Calvin, but once He became a follower in Christ his methods changed drastically. The “everybody else is doing it” argument never worked on my parents when I was growing up. Neither does it work for Christ. The Bible tells is we're to be in the world, not of the world.

Never mind that this was not the way early Christianity was spread... I wonder what the scriptural justification was that Calvin used?

"We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, 'I know him,' but does not do what he commands is a liar and the truth is not in him" 1 John 2:3-4.

Predestination and Free will
http://www.freewill-predestination.com/

Predestined for Free Will

This site is the result of an on-going discussion I had with a friend on the Free Will vs. Predestination issue. I kept notes of our discussions and e-mails and refined my arguments, originally for my own use. The end result is my paper, Predestined for Free Will http://www.freewill-predestination.com . There was interest in making my notes available to others and the Internet was the best way.

“Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live! Ezekiel 18:30-32 NIV

Say to them, “'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways!” Ezekiel 33:11 NIV

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace... Ephesians 1:4-7

It is clear that what was predestined was God's plan for salvation through His son Jesus Christ.

http://www.freewill-predestination.com/