Like most 24-year-old men, Stephen Jones is keenly interested in sin. But while many of his peers enjoy their youthful indiscretions, Jones takes a more, shall we say, Puritanical stand.
Last weekend (June 12-15), Jones and 4,000 other young Christians packed into a convention center in Palm Springs, Calif., to hear preachers tell them that they are totally depraved, incapable of doing the right thing without a mighty hand from God, and — most importantly
— have absolutely no control over their eternal fate.
The mind behind that message is John Calvin, the 16th-century Reformer often better known for condemning sinners and heretics than for igniting evangelical zeal. But as Presbyterian and other Reformed churches prepare for the 500th birthday of their spiritual godfather on July 10, increasingly, it is young American evangelicals who are taking up his theological torch.
[blockquote]But former Southern Baptist Convention President Jerry Vines said Calvinism inhibits evangelism and missionary work, which is the lifeblood of the SBC, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. If Jesus died only for the elect, then what’s the point of trying to reach others, said Vines, who co-organized a conference dedicated to debunking Calvinism last year.
“I do believe it is possible to be a five-point Calvinist and be evangelistic and missionary-minded,” [former Southern Baptist Convention president Jerry] Vines said. “But their evangelism and missionary work is in spite of their Calvinism, and not because of it. That’s going to make some of them mad, but I do believe it.”[/blockquote]
Vines is representative of all too many Christian leader who criticize what they don’t understand. Calvinists don’t claim to know who the elect are, and so are called to preach the gospel to all, not knowing who will respond positively, and in any event leaving the results to God. Calvinists have been tremendously successful missionaries in many parts of the world (Korea, for instance), and it is because they believe in the sovereignty of God, who is the One who saves, rather than their own efforts, which God uses, but are of no consequence in and of themselves.
In light of the SBC’s continued membership decline I’d suggest Mr. Vines worry more about his own evangelimpotence than those of us with a more passionate Calivinistic background. Or, perhaps he might benefit from J.I. Packer’s [i]Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God[/i]
Can a true 5-point Calvinist tell me why I should care one way or the other if God has elected me to salvation, or not. I mean, why worship God, pray, or lead a spiritual life at all? Whether or not I “know” that I am saved is utterly irrelevant to whether or not I was elected. Are there any Anglicans out there who hold to Double Predestination? Thx.
rob k – read Packer’s ‘Knowing God’ & you’ll get the answer to just about all your questions.
Rob, I would say your question reveals your problem: first, it appears that grammatically, you, not Christ, are at the center of your life. Secondly, anthropologically, it appears that your understanding of worship, prayer and leading a spiritual life are for your benefit and find their value as the affect you. While, in reality, all are directed toward God and are called forth from us as the only response possible in consideration of the excellency, glory and mercy of Christ. Finally, theologically, as I don’t know you, I’m confused as to whether you are Pelagian or semi-Pelagian. It is at least the latter implicit in your enquiry.
As I understand Calvin, predestination arises from the sovereignity and glory of God. It is one more reason to praise God — and also a matter of our certainty as God’s will cannot be contradicted. However, in regard to ourselves, we are aware only of frailty and uncertainty. Subjectively, the anxiety of choice and freedom is real. Our only certainty of election is given in the person of Christ, in whom we have confidence in God’s good will. The deeper our knowledge of Christ, the greater our certainty of election — which again draws us into worship and the community and study of the church.
The kind of evangelical preaching being described owes more to Whitefield (and, to some extent, Edwards) than it does Calvin. Having said that, it seems to me that Steve’s response in #5 is faithful to Calvin.
No. 4 – Azusa – Thx. for the tip.
No. 6 – J. Champlin – Thx. “The deeper our relation to Christ, the greater our certainty of election”. It’s been said that Calvinist piety was based on the desire to “prove” to oneself that one was, as a matter of fact, a member of the elect – a neurotic need for reassurance rather than a grateful response to God’s grace and love. I suppose that, if (double) predestination is true, it must necessarily arise from God’s glory, sovereignty, or His very being.
We had a power outage here. Steve, I’ll answer you. Thx.