Posted on 07/04/2009 3:53:06 PM PDT by Alex Murphy
The 500th birthday of John Calvin has gotten me thinking about the influence the 16th-century Reformer has had on my own life and thought.
I grew up in a subculture immersed in Calvinism. My family attended a Christian Reformed church in New Jersey, and I went from kindergarten through 12th grade in schools that were founded on Calvinist thought.
I'm also a graduate of the college in Grand Rapids that bears Calvin's name, and I've known of that name since my earliest days: My oldest brother began attending Calvin College when I was only 3 years old.
But as with some close relationships, the one I have with Calvin is a complicated, love-hate thing.
My earliest memories of the complications of Calvinism are from catechism class. It was there a pastor tried to explain to a group of 11- and 12-year-olds the doctrines of election and predestination, which I found extremely troubling and still do.
In essence, these doctrines assert that human beings are predestined for heaven or hell. By virtue of being human, we are corrupted by original sin, born totally depraved and deserving of eternal punishment in hell. But God in his grace chooses to save the elect and grant them eternal life. It may seem as if you're choosing to accept God's grace, but God is really the all-powerful one whose grace caused you to do so.
A local pastor writing recently in a church newsletter summed up predestination by saying, "If we are lost, it's by our own fault. If we are saved, it is by grace."
This line of reasoning suggests it's possible for us to have free will when it comes to negative choices but not when it comes to positive decisions.
This kind of predetermination seems morally offensive and motivation-killing to me. It makes me wonder: How many people raised in a Calvinist environment have been turned off to Christianity by these messages about our predetermined fate? I know I was for a long time.
If you've ever seen the 1979 movie "Hardcore," by Calvin College alumnus Paul Schrader, you'll remember how the tenets of Calvinism struck a young prostitute helping a Christian Reformed pastor try to find his daughter in the porn world of Los Angeles.
The pastor explained to her the five points of Calvinism that children are often taught under the acronym TULIP -- total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace and perseverance of the saints. Her response to this litany (not so politely stated): "And I thought I was (messed) up."
Although I laughed uproariously at this comment and shared the young woman's sentiment, it's been difficult over the years to shake off the angst of not believing what family and longtime friends take as gospel truth and to try to frame a different understanding of the Christian faith.
The newsletter writer asserted that the doctrine of predestination "lies at the very core of the Reformed understanding of the Christian faith."
Perhaps it does, but it seems to me it doesn't lie at the heart of Christ's message. When I consider what the heart of that message might be, these words come to mind: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself.
And that brings me to the love part of my relationship with John Calvin. Despite the Calvinistic determinism that I find impossible to accept, there's an aspect to Calvinist thought that is highly motivating, life-affirming and world-changing.
It's the assertion that God's grace and transforming power are relevant to every aspect of life, that all of life is sacred, that Christians should be engaged with the world rather than isolated from it and that they do not have to become full-time preachers to live out their faith. They can be emissaries of God as lawyers, doctors, politicians, plumbers, bus drivers or journalists.
That's a message I took from my education at Eastern Christian schools and at Calvin College, and it's a message whose impact I see every time I read the college's alumni magazine. I see Calvin graduates working in prison programs, grappling with medical ethics, taking in foster children, finding ways to protect the Earth.
This is not to say that Calvinists are the only people actively engaged in trying to make a better world. But most Calvinists, unlike some segments of Christianity, don't believe in sitting around in isolation praising God and waiting for the day when Jesus comes again. They believe they should be helping to spread God's mercy and justice now.
And they don't do it for earthly rewards. They don't expect God to grant them riches or good health for their good deeds. They do good because it's the right thing to do. They persevere despite struggles, believing God stands with them through the darkest of times. They don't fall prey to blaming themselves for problems or tragedies outside their control. They understand the Book of Job and believe "the rain falls on the just and unjust alike."
When Calvinists aren't worrying about election and predestination, they can be a powerful force for good in the here and now.
That's what I choose to treasure from my Calvinist upbringing. And I figure God can someday answer the eternal questions.
....This is not to say that Calvinists are the only people actively engaged in trying to make a better world. But most Calvinists, unlike some segments of Christianity, don't believe in sitting around in isolation praising God and waiting for the day when Jesus comes again. They believe they should be helping to spread God's mercy and justice now.
I knew you were going to post this.
;-)
Predestination is a comfort to me. I guess I look at it this way: I don’t want to be the guy that condemned another to hell because I didn’t share the Word when I had the chance. I don’t want me in my flawed nature to be responsible for someone’s eternal soul. That’s a position only God should be in.
Does not predestination imply that no-one has any responsibilty for what happens? It WAS predestined, after all.
Amen!!! For many years I lived with the guilt that I simply was not doing enough. So many others seemed to have fruit where I had none. For years I questioned why I couldn't have gone into "God's service". I saw very few people come to know Christ through my actions while others seem to have the gift to preach. Quite frankly, I constantly questioned what was wrong with me. And I have known some very good people (some very well respected Calvinist preachers as well I might add) say that if you're not leading people to Christ you should question your salvation, since, after all, that is the main purpose of a Christian, isn't it? That didn't help. I simply needed to do more but even when I tried to do more nothing was working.
When I came to understand predestination it was a great relief. It's not an excuse for inaction but it's a relief knowing that God works within my limitations to carry out His mighty plan. Bottom line, God is in control, not I. If someone rejects the gospel, it wasn't because I didn't explain something quite right or I had onions on a hamburger that day.
Nope, cuz your job is to do what your told and act. The rest is God’s domain. You will be judged by your fruit irrespective of the fact that the souls you make contact with are predestined. The plan will go on if you don’t do your part but your place in that plan is up to you.
Not really. Predestination simply asserts that God, for reasons of His own, chooses some to be His own. And since we are not God, it’s not up to us to decide who “deserves” God’s favor and who doesn’t. Since we are not God, we are called to share the gospel with everyone, and to rejoice in His surprising mercies when some folks respond. “The gospel is like a joke told to a circle of men. And one man smiles.” (Ivan Illich)
Catholic and Orthodox Christians also do some “heavy lifting” in the Christian world view department. All three of these traditions, interestingly, practice infant baptism.
” I see Calvin graduates working in prison programs, grappling with medical ethics, taking in foster children, finding ways to protect the Earth.”
I’ve been seeing a lot of Christian writings talking about protecting the earth and preserving creation,lately..what’s up with that?
You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?"
But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?"
Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?
What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—
even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?-- Romans 9:19-24, ESV
Then, that is NOT predestination, if you can ALTER or control your FUTURE!
Ae those who will one day be with God ALREADY chosen, irrespective of their own pewrsonal efforts, for good or bad? If so, why bother doing ANYTHING? Just let your “bet” ride!
The traditional Calvinist perspective holds that a strong evidence of one's elect status is an increasing and growing desire to please God with fruitful lives and well-ordered families. If we do not have that desire to live righteously, then we can ask ourselves if we are truly regenerate.
Ultimately, though, God is the Judge, and He will do that which is right, because He is good. This gives us hope, even as we struggle with remaining sin.
Looks to me like Calvinisn and predestination have problems with pure reason.
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