Reformed Theology

Calvinism as a Christian Worldview

CHRISTIANARCHYTODAY
Show 19 – Christian BS – Part IV
CALVINISM Part One
March 20th 2018

Okay, we are going to enter into a big topic – Reformed Theology also known as Calvinism. Now we are covering this subject under the title, Christian BS. And I personally suggest to you that Calvinism is one of the most heinous views of God that has ever been concocted by Man . . . out from scripture! Out from scripture? Yes, Reformed Theology is a Christian worldview that is taken from a scripture and applied to all things God and his ways among man.

So we are going to walk through Reformed theology over the next few weeks in chunks. Test it all – hold fast to what is good and chuck the rest of it. All right. Any and all “ism” (including any ist’s – as in Christian Anarchist) run the immediate danger of creating division in the Body of Christ. Where Catholicism says “this,” and Methodism says “that,” disputes erupt, followed by divisions, and before we know it the Body of Christ is violently avulsed – in no different manner than if a whole and healthy man has something come along and lop off one of his legs and then expects both the severed leg and the rest of his body to thrive independent of each other.

The Impact of Denominations

Denominations make divisions, simple as that. But in my mind there are few “isms” more sinister (and less about the love of a good God and His good Son) than Calvinism, again, also known as Reformed Theology or five point Calvinism. Understand, Calvinist Christians have as much right in the body as the rest of us, but since we are addressing Christian BS I want to try and save you the trouble of having to ever include this insidiousness into your hearts. Please understand that this criticism of Calvinism as a systematic theology should not be translated as a criticism of the people who embrace it. All people have a choice to make when it comes to the doctrine and theology they will embrace – that is the essence of Subjective ChristianityA direct, personal relationship with God—free from institutional authority, guided by personal relationship, faith and agape love. – but this approach allows others (like me) to believe as I see fit too.

Now as we have pointed out there are Christians who will maintain that they “ONLY accept what “God has said” – but in the end, when such statements are challenged, they are proven a fail. What is really being claimed is that they believe only what they believe or “want God to be saying” – and not what He is saying. This is more often the case than the exception. The import of a sound contextual understanding of scripture is vital to preventing private interpretations from running Amok – like those of Reformed Theologians.

Along the same lines there are people who will say, “I’ve gotta see that in the Bible before I’m gonna believe it” – but again, we often find that we only see what we want to see in the Bible – and refuse to explore other possibilities and potentialities that are also present therein through new eyes and hearts that feel. In essence, people will firmly build a theological camp on a foundation of religious tradition and when actually shown what the Bible actually supports other traditions they will refuse to pull up stakes but instead point a crooked finger and shout! “Heresy!”

Diversity of Thought in Christianity

Add in to the mix the fact that the Bible, like the parables of Jesus, can, in fact, be understood in a variety of different ways with all of them being right (depending on the maturity and intellect and Holy Spirit working on the believer) we can see that most things in the Body are not hills to die upon. Water baptism is a great example of this (as we discussed last week). Relative to biblical topics, most positions and doctrines found in modern Christianity truly have supports for being “right.”

I suggest that God has allowed for such diversity of thought and expression because there are so many factors involved when fallen man is seeking to reach and understand Holy God. In other words, we all arrive in the Body of Christ with different temperaments, intellects, passions, and spiritual gifts, making the body of believers a highly diverse collection of individual parts orbiting around in a vast array of unique situations, experiences, and backgrounds. Because humankind has a tendency to try and bring order and certainty to these bodies of mass diversity and perspective religious zealots frequently come along and…

Systematic Theology and Human Tendencies

Through dogma and religious demands, institute what is called systematic theology. Once it is established and accepted, this systematized view becomes the law that people are expected to embrace. I think God never intended this to be. But humankind pushes for systems and systematic theologies to exist (and even thrive) because they help make things work in our little brains, and because nature abhors a vacuum and because systems give the masses certainty and the leaders control, effectively bringing the masses of diverse thinking under the confines of one theological or religious roof.

So where God has allowed for a vast array of divergent thought to exist in and through conscientious study of His Word, men like Jean Calvin, who was uber tight, restrictive and punished people who saw things differently than himself, step in and using their fantastic minds, say: “This is how this is” – “believe it,” “do it,” “accept it” or be cast out.

In such cases, God’s means of bringing up “babes in Christ with the mature,” and Christian artists maturing with Christian scientists, and Christian liberals up with the Christian conservatives, “is lost –“ because a static system has been received, believed and demanded.

Core Issues in Biblical Christianity

This being said, there are some essential core issues to biblical Christianity on which we cannot give an inch. To some extent or another these may include:

1. Monotheism (or the belief that there is only one true and living God).

2. The Deity of Jesus Christ (meaning He is God incarnate or God with us).

3. The Gospel (or Good News) which is articulated in scripture as:

   • Jesus died for sinMissing the mark of faith and love—no punishment, just lost growth or peace.
   • He was buried
   • He overcame the deathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God. and rose on the third day.
   • That He is the author and finisher of our faith.
   • That human-kind is saved by grace through faith on Him, and
   • That there is no other way to receive a forgiveness of sin or to be reconciled to God.

There might be other issues people would add to my list, but when it comes to core Christian tenets, let’s leave it here. In addition to these six core essentials, there are thousands of other points of doctrine that can (and do) serve to get in the way of Christian love (as defined by 1st Corinthians 13). These split churches, have even broken up marriages, and divide those who embrace all the essentials but can’t agree on the non.

Non-Essentials and Christian Liberty

Part of the blame lies in the nature of religious men and women which seems to include the need to be “right about everything.” Does it not amaze us today that believers in Christ have actually been put to death by believers in Christ because they possessed opinions differing from religious tradition on non-essential doctrine and theology! (Not to suggest that death over the essentials is ever justified either). Few things are more terrifying to see in another human being than a zealous, fanatical stance on a faith that is all about “faith and love.”

Now, hang in there. Non-essentials should certainly be discussed and discerned – even debated peaceably and/or rejected – but in my opinion, they ought to be allowed to exist within the hearts and minds of all who trust Christ – allowing God by His Spirit to rearrange ideas and beliefs. For this reason, we must give a constant pass to all five-point Calvinists, Preterists, pre-tribulationists, Arminianists, hyper-Calvinists and every other “ist” and “ism” thriving on earth.

The Challenges of Reformed Theology

I have to say this at the start of our discussion on the horrors of Reformed Theology. So why even address Reformed theology or Calvinism? It is this writer’s opinion that the scourge of Calvinism (not Calvinists but Calvinism) is an actual threat to the reality of Anarchistic Christianity. That it threatens the freedom, love and the liberty Jesus won. Because it is the central theological premise taught in most Christian universities it is growing in power across the world.

Therefore, the Crooks of Calvinism are beginning to overpower the hearts and minds of otherwise good people. These Crooks are zealous in their relentless challenges to anyone who challenges them, bearing the same spirit that their founder bore against critics to his views – meanness, hatred, and punishment.

MORE NEXT WEEK.

OUT!