02 Lost History of Calvinism
The Lost History of Calvinism The Calvinism of John Calvin and the Westminster Confession is dead. It has been dead for almost 200 years, and it is unlikely it will ever be resurrected. But while that is true, the fundamental principles of Calvinism are resilient. They keep rearranging themselves and showing up in one form or another. They have done that throughout history. For at least fifty years there has been considerable effort to establish a modified, more acceptable, version of Calvinism, and that effort is gaining ground in some circles. In 1959, D. Martin Lloyd-Jones, J. I. Packer, and about 20 others held the first of what they called the Puritan and Westminster Conferences. J. I. Packer later dropped out, but the conference continued to meet every December for the next twenty years. According to Lloyd-Jones, at the time they began, “virtually no Puritan books were then in print.” It was their purpose to republish those old Puritan writers, and so spark new interest in Calvinism. They have enjoyed considerable success. The renewed interest in Calvinism is the result of that series of meetings. It produced The Banner of Truth Trust, the Banner of Truth Magazine, and a steady stream of Puritan books republished by a large number of publishing houses. That publishing effort has brought on inquiry into Calvinism, both among Protestants and some Baptists.
John Calvin did not originate the system that bears his name. Lorraine Boettner says, “Augustine had taught the essentials of the system a thousand years before Calvin was born, and the whole body of the leaders of the Reformation movement taught the same” (The Reformed Doctrine....pg 4). Louis Berkhof tells us, “The Reformers shared the views of Augustine....” (System of Theology pg 220). “According to the common doctrine of Augustinians, as expressed in the Westminster Confession, etc....” Charles Hodge (Systematic Theology, vol. 2, pg 321). Search as many Calvinistic Systematic Theologies as you will, and every one of them claims to be a follower of Augustine. If at times it appears that we are paying more attention to Augustine than we are to Calvin, that is the reason. Augus-tine was the real founder of Calvinism.
Calvin only resurrected the doctrines of Augustine, and endeavored to restore the Catholic religion to its Augus-tinian roots.
I acknowledge the great influence of Calvinism and the attention it is presently receiving, but I am convinced the system is broken, and it cannot be repaired. Before we get to that, I want to point out that there is a vast difference between that broken system and the honest and decent people who are victimized by it. In this book I am not talking about all those good, and sincere people who call themselves Calvinists. Most of them have very little idea what Calvinism is all about. They have been led astray by teachers, who, generally, do not themselves fully understand the doctrines they are teaching.
I will do all within my power to expose the falsehood of the system, but I earnestly pray that God will give me the grace and the tact to do it without injuring the tender feelings of those precious children of God, who have been deceived by it. Those good and honorable people have been a benefit to this nation, and we owe them a debt of gratitude we will never be able to repay.
Before we get to any of that, we need to acknowledge that many of the claims of the Calvinists are clearly true. Those claims are supported by the historical record, and it is folly to deny them. For one thing, Calvinists are accustomed to claiming that Calvinism produced the economic and industrial develop-ment that began just after the Protestant Reformation and spread over the entire Western World. They point out that the Roman Catholic Church discouraged scientific research and development, and was not favorable to commerce. Their lack of interest in commerce resulted in what has come to be known as the Dark Ages.
It is not easy to dismiss the argument. It can be shown that the fall of the Roman Empire, and the development and rise of the Roman Catholic Church, marked the beginning of the Dark Ages, and that sad period in history ended with the Protestant Reformation. The Industrial Revolution began in Protestant Scotland, and spread through England, America, and most of Northern Europe. That is exactly the area covered by the Reform-ation. Rome continued to control Spain, Italy and most of Southern Europe. If you draw a line across Europe, south of the line there has been poverty; north of the line has been prosperity. Where the Reformation went, prosperity followed. Where the Pope retained control, poverty was the rule. An even clearer example of that is in the Western Hemi-sphere. The Pilgrim Fathers landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. In 1629, the Puritans came. That began a flood of Calvinism that spread across the continent. At the time of the Revolution, fully 75% of Americans were Calvinists. Till this day, Mexico, and Middle and South America remain solidly Roman Catholic. If you draw a line begin-ning along the Rio Grande River, you have poverty to the Roman Catholic south, and prosperity to the North. America is no longer the Calvinistic stronghold it was two hundred years ago, but we are still reaping benefits from the influence of those hard working Calvinists that went before. Regardless of what a person may think of Calvinism as a religious system, there is no need, and no benefit, in denying the obvious. That brings us to the American Revolution. No honest and accurate survey of Calvinism can ignore the role those Calvinistic Puritans of New England played in the founding of this country. They were brave and patriotic people who were willing to risk everything they had, even their very lives, in order to gain freedom from an oppressive foreign power.
Puritanism in New England was one hundred years past its heyday when the Revolution began. But those sturdy New England patriots continued to be what Calvinism had made them. They were a tough, resourceful, fighting people. The Revolution would never have gotten off the ground, if it had not been for such New Englanders as Samuel Adams, John Adams, and John Hancock. Those names will forever live in the memory of those who love freedom. The Puritans, Presbyterians, and the various Reformed denominations, carried more than their share of the load in America’s struggle for independence. They were well represented both among the Founding Fathers and in the Continental Army. Their Calvinistic literature was a great force in the build up preceding the war. It conditioned the people to think in terms of independence. Outside of the Bible, the single most influential book in the entire conflict was Lex Rex (The Law and the Prince), written by an English Presbyterian, Samuel Rutherford. Most of the Founding Fathers were influenced by the ideas he set forth.
Many of the organizers of the Revolution studied at Princeton under the Presbyterian educator, John Wither-spoon. Tim LaHaye points out that among his many students were “the president, James Madison, the vice president, Aaron Burr, ten cabinet officers, twenty-one senators, thirty-nine congressmen, and twelve governors” (Faith of our Founding Fathers, pg 85). Witherspoon had more influence on the war than any other educator. Again, the Revolution would never have gotten off the ground if it had not been for such Presbyterian educators as Rutherford and Witherspoon, both staunch Calvinists.
We must take time to point out that there were two major struggles going on during the Revolution. There was the struggle for social, political, and economic freedom from England. In that struggle our nation owes a debt of gratitude to our Calvinist forbears. The New England Puritans (Congregationalists) were especially active in that part of the war. It is in that struggle they contributed very much to the well being of this nation. We shall never be able to thank God enough for all they did.
Then there was the struggle for religious freedom. There the facts were entirely opposite; those were two entirely different fields of endeavor. The Established Calvinistic churches wanted political and economic freedom; but they were the most bitter enemies of religious freedom. Except in Virginia, England never tyrannized over religion in America. Rather, the colonists often appealed to the King for relief from tyranny by the religious Establishment in America, and he often provided the relief they requested.
Prior to the Revolution every colony had its own established religion. In one way or another, church and state were united. One religion was established by law, and no other religion was allowed.
Every citizen was required to pay taxes to support the Establishment preacher. He was required by law to attend the Establishment church, and to submit his babies to be baptized. He was forbidden to submit to believers’ baptism, having once been baptized in infancy in an Establishment church. Preachers who disagreed with the Established religion were forbidden to constitute churches, to erect meeting houses, or even to preach.
Even after the adoption of the First Amendment forbidding the establishment of religion, the states continued to have their various State Churches. The First Amendment only affected the federal government; it did not bind the states. Massachusetts fought against religious liberty to the bitter end. They were the very last to grant religious freedom.
New Englanders like John Adams, who fought long and hard for political freedom from England, fought just as hard against relinquishing their own stranglehold on religion in America.
Baptists played their part in the revolution, and the war could not have been won without them; but war was not their normal response. They had suffered for centuries, first at the hands of the Roman Catholic Inquisitors, and then at the hands of the Protestant Inquisition. It was more their way to suffer in silence, to turn the other cheek. They almost counted it their badge of honor to suffer persecution for Christ’s sake. In England they suffered first at the hands of the Catholics. Then after King Henry VIII declared himself the head of the Church of England, they suffered at the hands of the Anglicans, or the Presbyterians, depending on which side had the upper hand at the time. In the 1640’s the Presbyterians took control of Parliament and led a revolt against King Charles I. Their commander, Oliver Cromwell, promised religious freedom to all, and the Baptists thought they saw a chance to reduce their suffering. They joined forces with their Protestant tormenters, and in the civil wars that followed they were well represented in Cromwell’s army.
They fought bravely and well; but they did not engage in the conflict until the Presbyterians led the way. Until then they simply continued worshiping God in their own way-and suffering at the hands of Anglicans and Presbyterians alike. Their experience was the same in America. The Catholics have never had the power to persecute in America the way they did in Europe; but the Protestants have. In New Eng-land Baptists suffered at the hands of the Puritans. To give just one of many possible examples, the Puritans caught Obadiah Holmes, and two other Baptist preachers quietly holding a meeting in a private home in Massachusetts. The officers burst into the home and arrested the three of them. The others were released on payment of bond. When, as a matter of principle, Obadiah Holmes refused to pay the bond, or to allow it to be paid for him, he was publicly beaten with thirty stripes from a three pronged whip. For weeks he slept on his knees and elbows. He could not bear for his back to touch the bed. The Puritans in New England and Anglicans in Virginia were brutal in their treatment of our Baptist ancestors, but when the break with England finally came, Baptists and Protestants fought side by side against their English oppressors. The Baptists saw an opportunity to gain their own freedom. They made it abundantly clear they were fighting for freedom from religious tyranny in America, and they firmly resisted until that point was carried. Then, they fell in beside their tormentors, and together- and with the help of their Maker-they gained freedom for us all.
Baptists pulled their fair share of the load in the Revolution, but the victory would never have been won without the cooperation of Baptists and Protestants. In fact, without the Calvinists leading the way, it is unlikely the Revolution would have even begun. We should never forget the contribution they made toward our freedom. By the same token, the Calvinists, with their strict moral code helped to weave the moral fabric that, till this very day, helps to define America. The French had a Revolution that followed on the heels of ours. Louis XVI almost bankrupted France helping finance our revolution. Then in 1789 the French people stormed the Bastille, and their revolution was under way. But that revolution turned out very differently. The American Revolution resulted in the freedoms we all enjoy. In spite of the faults of this nation, America is still the freest nation on earth. The French Revolution ended in The Reign of Terror, the very scandal of revolutions.
Fifty years after our revolution, a French political philo-sopher by the name of Alex de Tocqueville came to America intent on discovering what made the difference. Until the American Revolution, it was the rule, rather than the exception for revolutionaries to turn on each other- revolutions consumed themselves. The French Revolution did that; America’s revolution did not. To be sure, there were differences among our Founding Fathers, serious differences. They squared off and did battle. Sometimes, arrogant, strong-willed, self-important men fought hammer and tong to have their own way. But in the end, for the most part, right prevailed. In the white-hot blaze of debate they hammered out the principles and the documents that made this nation great.
France had men just as qualified, just as bright, just as well informed in the art of governing. But, while in America adversaries wrote stinging articles, plotted, and called each other scurrilous names, in France they lined up their adversaries and chopped their heads off. They kept the headsman busy with the Guillotine, and it seemed the heads would never quit rolling.
What made the difference? How was it our Founding Fathers hammered out the United States Constitution, which became the wonder of the civilized world, at the same time the French made chopping heads such an attraction the public came to sit in the galleries and watch the heads roll. De Tocqueville came to America to find out.
He wanted to learn the secret of America’s greatness. He traveled over the country, talking with people, asking questions and listening. He went from town to town; he examined our system of government, our schools, our economic system. He could not find the answer to his question: what made America different; what made America great?
Then he visited America’s churches. He found the pulpits of America “aflame with righteousness,” and learned firsthand what made America great. He went back to France and told his countrymen, “America is great, because America is good; and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
We have said all of that to get to this: At the time Alex de Tocqueville wrote that, the majority of the churches in America were Calvinistic churches.
Calvinism is a system flawed at its heart, and we will demonstrate in this book that it cannot be repaired. To those who are involved in that system the Lord says, “Come out of her my people that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” (#Revelation 18:4/) It is the duty of those who love the Lord and his truth to leave the system. The Lord has a church; that church is “the pillar and ground of truth” (1 Timothy 3:15), and it is the duty of every heaven born soul to search for it and find it (Matthew 6:33). But while the Calvinistic system is flawed, we do not deny that for generations here in America that same system embodied a strict Puritanism, a strict morality, that contributed much to the moral fiber of this nation. In this promiscuous age in which we live we could use a hearty dose of old fashioned Puritan values.
I do not mean to single out the Calvinists to the exclusion of others. Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians alike made their contribution to the moral underpinnings of America. But we must never lose sight of the contribution of the Calvinists. Even now, some of the leading warriors in the battle for Bible based values are staunch Calvinists. They continue to fight long and hard for those principles that must undergird any safe and sane society. We would not have anybody get the idea that, because we point out the fundamental unsoundness of the system, we have overlooked the priceless contribution the good and honorable people involved in that system have made to this nation, and to the nations of the world.