002 Preface

Preface No writer has the ability, or the authority, to issue the final word on his subject. Regardless of how well he may have done his work, or how high an opinion he may have of his own point of view, it is still his opinion, his observations, his conclusions. It is inevitable there will be others, better informed, and more widely read, who will reach other conclusions. That certainly applies to this work. I do not expect that my observations will be accepted as the final word, and they should not be. The only final word is God’s Word, and it is the right, and the duty, of each person to read the Bible and reach his own conclusions.

I have repeatedly gone back through these pages in an effort to remove any unnecessarily negative remarks. I have no desire to offend any little child of God who has been captivated by the notions of John Calvin and his followers. The Bible clearly teaches five fundamental doctrines with regard to the grace of God. For almost 500 years the followers of John Calvin have advocated a system which resembles those doctrines and it has become customary to refer them as The Five Points of Calvinism. It is easy to see how so many humble, prayerful children of God have been confused.

History has provided an army of articulate, and well informed, Calvinistic writers who are able to overwhelm any reader. They meticulously lay out their many subjects, with their topics, sub-topics, and proof texts. They cover those subjects so accurately and so well, their knowledge seems almost encyclopedic. They present such conclusive arguments it would be folly to argue with them. They cover such a wide range of theological subjects that they seem to leave no subject untouched and unexplained. In the face of such obvious scholarship, it is not easy to realize there are other subjects on which their system is totally unscriptural, and totally alien to the religion of Christ and the apostles. With all the things they got right, it is hard to realize that from the very beginning, Calvinism-or Augustinianism if you prefer-has opposed some of the most fundamental and vital doctrines of the Bible.

Paul described a people who were “ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7). More than any other people, that text describes Calvinistic theologians. No one can read their massive dissertations and doubt these are brilliant men.

They are able to travel the entire range of scripture, and assemble proof texts to bolster their arguments. And on many subjects they are not only learned, articulate, and convincing, they reach conclusions that are unquestionably correct.

They can soar to the very heights in talking about God and his attributes. They can come as near to explaining the mysteries of the Trinity as anybody ever did. They talk about election and redemption, about resurrection and eternal judgment, about heaven and hell. They assemble literally mountains of arguments and proof texts, and it is folly to challenge them. They assemble systems of theology that are the wonder of religion. Who would dare doubt these are brilliant, learned and articulate men? But if they can range back and forth through the Bible, both in their own language, and in the original languages, finding proof texts to establish every facet of their doctrine on other subjects- there is no excuse for their denying the plain teaching of the Bible on those points on which they have so steadfastly opposed Bible truth.

I pray that God will give me the grace to be as gentle as it is possible to be. There is nothing that terrifies me more than the thought of offending one of the Lord’s little ones. But as fearful as I am about offending anyone unnecessarily, I am faced with the gravity of the situation. The stakes are high, and when anyone misrepresents our Maker, and opposes his people, the way Augustinianism/Calvinism has for the last 1600 years, it becomes our solemn duty to speak up.

Calvinism did not begin with John Calvin in the 1500’s. Calvin simply resurrected the system Saint Augustine had preached over 1000 years before. Augustine was the source of Calvinism, and of the persecution of Christians by other Christians. John Calvin incorporated both into his system. Calvin’s Calvinism, and religious persecution, have always gone hand in hand. We will look briefly at that connection in this book. For over 200 years our American people have been protected by the First Amendment, and unless any reader has spent some time studying the history of religion, he will likely be in the dark about the nature of religious persecution. In this book we hope, first, to look at the doctrinal teachings of Calvinism, and then, to trace the history of the system, and the way its advocates have, for 1600 years, systematically victimized the Lord’s people.

Note: If it seems that we have neglected the Calvinists of England and America, that is not an oversight. I believe the material we have provided is fully sufficient to show the character and history of Calvinism as a religious system. If the material we have provided is not sufficient to demonstrate the points we set out to prove, any further account of Calvinism in England and America would not do so.

Second, I am presently preparing an account of the London Confession of Faith of 1689, and the conditions that gave rise to it, and to the Philadelphia Confession of 1742. In that volume I expect to spend ample time with the Calvin-ism of England and America. I do not think it is necessary, or beneficial, to cover the same ground twice. With the Lord’s assistance, we will have that work ready some time next year.

More than that, I am determined to hold this book to about 200 pages. I would not want to spend so much time and energy on a book that lies on the shelf unread, and it is my opinion that most people are many times more likely to read a 200 page book through to the end, than they are a 400 page book.

Little, if anything, original with me

You should not expect to find much, if anything, that is original with me. This entire book is little more than a collection of quotes from other writers who have gone before. The ground we will be covering has been covered many times before by writers much more articulate and better informed than I will ever be.

Over the years, Baptist writers like Thomas Crosby, Joshua Thomas, G.H. Orchard, William Jones, Thomas Armitage, Robert Robinson, and Sylvester Hassell have all covered the ground. This book is largely a long list of quotes from men such as those. They make the case much better than I can.

Along with those Baptist writers, we will spend time examining direct quotes from Calvinistic writers, especially John Calvin, Augustine of Hippo, and the various Calvinistic confessions of faith. Augustine of Hippo originated the system we call Calvinism 1600 years ago, but it was John Calvin who, in the 1500’s, organized it and put it forth for the modern world. The system has ever since borne his name. We will spend much of our time examining the career and doctrines of Augustine.

If I might repeat myself, we must acknowledge that, on the one hand, Calvinism is a vast, comprehensive system that spans the entire range of Bible doctrine, and on ever so many subjects it is accurate, to the point, and utterly irrefutable. But, on the other hand, there are some of the most vital doctrines of the Bible on which Calvinism is as opposite the doctrine of the Bible as it is possible for any system to be.

We will show that, in spite of all it got right, Calvinism is really a clever merger of Judaism, pagan philosophy, and some Bible doctrine.

We will show that, in spite of all their learning, when the Protestant Reformers reached their conclusions, they often came down- point by point-in opposition to Bible truth.

I find it strange that so few of those who call themselves Calvinists have ever studied Calvin from his own writings. As a general rule most of them have obviously learned about Calvin from passages carefully, and cautiously, selected for them by Calvinist writers. The name of John Calvin is one of the brightest stars in the pantheon of religion, and I have no desire to sully his memory; but an obligation to the truth requires us to be faithful. God’s people have a right to know the truth, and we cannot allow the reputation of any man to drive us from our duty.

We will show, by direct quotes, that for centuries John Calvin and his followers have taught that God is able to know the future, only because he is the cause, the author, of every act that will ever be committed, regardless of whether that act is good or evil. We will show that Calvin made fun of those who believe God only orchestrates circumstances, and manipulates sinners, to bring about the result he wants. We will show that he taught God “forces the reprobate to do him service,” that he forces sinners to sin. Author, cause, and forces are all his words. We will give you book, chapter, and verse; you can read him for yourself.

God calls on the church to come out from the world and be a separate people. We will show that both Calvin and the Westminster divines believed in merging the church and the world by joining church and state. They taught the church had the right to direct the government, and use the government to force people into their church. The Bible teaches that every heaven born soul should believe the gospel, repent of sin, and be baptized publicly as a testimony to his faith in Christ.

We will show that, rejecting believers’ baptism, Calvin and the Westminster divines advocated infant baptism in order to bring the entire population into their church-to merge the church and the world.

God taught that we should in meekness instruct those who oppose themselves(2 Timothy 2:25). We will show that Calvin emphatically rejected that Bible principle. He taught that the church had the right to use the secular authorities to arrest, torture, banish-and if necessary kill-those who would not submit to their authority.

We will also show that, beginning with Fox’s Book of Martyrs, the Calvinists have been feverishly rewriting their own history. They have been very faithful to tell how they suffered under the Roman Catholic Inquisition, but they have been just as careful to cover up their Protestant Inquisition. We will provide information about the Protestant persecution of Baptists, which, for what he calls causes reasonable, John Fox thought it best not to record.

We will show that Calvinism has been a bloody religion. On those occasions when they held the power of the sword, they persecuted, tortured, and sometimes killed, those who disagreed with them. They were only stopped here in America by the First Amendment to the Constitution. Throughout its history, Calvinism has been a very dangerous system, and our people need to know what it is all about.

I have spent the last fifty years assembling most of the sources I will be quoting. Several of the books had been out of print for many years, and I happened to learn about limited reprints, and acquired the books during those brief windows of opportunity. But we live in a remarkable age. Books that have been virtually impossible to find for generations have now become available on the internet. With a little determination, you will be able to verify every quote. To those of you who have never studied the history of Calvinism, be prepared to be surprised at the clear historical record. We will provide names, dates, places, and direct quotes for every fact. And we will provide book, chapter, and verse references. You can look it all up for yourself.

Since we are examining what has come to be known as Calvinism, I have looked carefully at the writings of John Calvin and Augustine of Hippo. I began studying the two of them when I was still a teenager. My copy of Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion has the date 1956 scribbled on the flyleaf. I have, at least, three copies of Augustine’s Confessions. I bought my first copy of Augustine’s Confessions that same year. It is all underscored and noted. It has my little ex libris on the fly leaf. I used to do that when I finished a book.

I was searching for the Lord’s church, and with that in mind, I struggled line by line through Augustine’s Confessions as soon as I bought it. I did not fare so well with Calvin’s Institutes. I spent a large amount of time with Calvin, but I did not finish the book. The book is two fairly large volumes. More than that, I found Calvin very difficult to read. As a writer, he will freeze you to death. I must admit that I have read comments by others who reach a different conclusion. But with his constant raging against the Baptists (Anabaptists) of his day, and his constantly calling them such scurrilous names, Calvin turned me off so that I did not, at that time, finish the book.

Calvin made no effort to conceal his hatred for the Pope, for the Anabaptists, and especially for the man he called that Anabaptist, Servetus. He had a twenty year vendetta against Michael Servetus. Servetus offended Calvin when they were both young, and Calvin never forgave him. Calvin pestered the Roman Catholic authorities about Servetus, demanding to know why they did not burn him, since they had burned so many others, and he assured his friends that if Servetus ever came to Geneva, he would see to it that he never left alive. He finally trapped Servetus, brought him to trial, and had him burned.

That, among others of Calvin’s attitudes, dampened my desire to study his work, but since that time, I have since spent more time than I probably should have in reading his books.