Calvinism and Romans – Part 1
Calvinism is a set of beliefs developed by John Calvin who lived from 1509 to 1564. He developed these beliefs because he was disillusioned with the Catholic Church, which, at the time, had devolved into many religious errors. He, along with other reformers such as Martin Luther, called for a reformation of the church and ended up breaking away from Catholicism. The result was the protestant reformation which evolved into what we know today as denominationalism.
It should be clear, though, that Calvin’s beliefs were a reaction to the things happening in the Catholic church at the time, and not originally formulated in scripture. The notion that Calvinism is the Bible and the Bible is Calvinism is flat out false. Such a characterization of the Bible is incoherent with Paul’s first letter to the church of Corinth where the Holy Spirit prohibits taking men’s names and substituting them for the practice and teaching of the truth. “Now I say this, that each of you says, ‘I am of Paul,’ or ‘I am of Apollos,’ or ‘I am of Cephas,’ or ‘I am of Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Corinthians 1:12-13). If Paul forbad his and Peter’s name to be used in place of Christ, why would we want to take Calvin’s name and use it in such a way? We could ask the same questions that Paul asked: “Was Calvin crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Calvin?” We should get rid of the term “Calvinism” entirely as it relates to any matter of truth. However, with respect to error, the term “Calvinism” is quite appropriate for the doctrines contain much. In the coming weeks, we will look at Romans 9:14-18 as it relates to Calvinism.
God bless you, and I love you.
Kevin Cauley