Rescuing the Bible From Calvinism
Part 1: Introduction
Before I get to Calvinism, let’s take a snapshot of Calvinists wandering away and getting lost.
I’ll start with this clip of Megan Phelps-Roper, a former Calvinist and member of Westboro Baptist Church, a hyper-Calvinist sect, and Derek Webb, a former Calvinist member of the Christian Calvinistic band Caedmon’s Call; he’s now an atheist. I end the clip with John Piper, a hard-core Calvinist, saying he’s got ambitions to make everyone a Calvinist.
(Spoiler Alert: Their interpretation of Romans 9 is mistaken. Yet they reference it for reasons to leave Christianity. I’ll get to that in the following posts.)
Phelps-Roper and Webb formally held staunch Calvinistic beliefs. They have high public profiles—there are many other examples of Calvinist deconversions. Their theology kneecapped them, leaving them vulnerable. You hear in their words that they think Calvinism is Christianity. They falsely conclude that if they can’t believe in Calvinism, they can no longer be Christians. Christians leave their faith for many reasons, but what made these Calvinists leave? They thought the theology handed to them was biblical. God did not fail them. The Calvinism failed them. So, they are blaming the wrong source.
That is tragic!
This tragedy compelled me to do a series of posts to rescue the Bible - and Christianity - from the clutches of Calvinism.
Before we get to Calvinism.
I beg you to endure this brief story of me walking away and coming back to my faith for context before I get to Calvinism directly.
Many Christians grow up in church only to leave their faith. Although I was not a Calvinist, I was one of those sheep wandering away in the early 90s. I became agnostic. But agnosticism could not fill the void I had hollowed out inside. I longed for spirituality. That hunger led me to the New Age movement. The New Age spirituality made me feel more enlightened than the faith of my upbringing and agnosticism. I believed I was gaining special gnosis as I followed people such as Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, and Bishop John Shelby Spong. I read many books by those thought leaders.
Bishop Spong’s book, Rescuing the Bible From Fundamentalism, was a theology that gave me a new way of looking at the Bible, Christianity, and other faiths. I felt that the gnostic system could incorporate all religions into one, and it was narrow-minded not to believe that.
But all that glitters is not gold.
I joined a new-age congregation at Unity Church in Dallas, Texas, in early 2001. After I attended for a while, I saw a brochure about an upcoming lecture by Bishop Spong at Unity Church titled The Tomb Wasn’t Empty. But then the planes struck the Towers on 9/11.
Thinking about 9/11 and its after-effects led me to leave the New Age movement and all its gurus for many reasons, but mainly philosophical reasons. I was politically conservative, and I came to accept the New Age movement was deeply submerged in the political Left. After my exit, the dust settled, and I was more inclined to examine other aspects of the New Age movement more rationally and critically. They proclaimed a gross mischaracterization and misunderstanding of God and Jesus Christ, which I tolerated in my state of exploration but grew weary of over time.
Then, I took steps to return to my childhood faith. The religious detour I had naively taken damaged me on many levels in immeasurable ways. Beliefs blinded me and seduced me. Sins took hold like parasites while I was in a state of “open-mindedness.” And there are still daily battles with what I let creep into my open gates. This experience made me super sensitive to seductive false beliefs and to theological lenses that claim to aid my understanding of life and religion. I returned to fellowship with other Christians in 2006.
From infancy until age 28, I attended church every Sunday morning, evening, and Wednesday night. I absorbed vast quantities of Biblical teaching from various sources. I don’t think the theology formed in my mind was perfect, but it was substantial without a label. I might not be able to recite chapters and verses on all topics, but nowadays, I know when I’m listening to nonsense regarding significant issues.
Then, I ran into a clear case of Calvinism.
I joined a “Life Group” at a non-denominational church and made several friends. Things went great until a married couple I respected started discussing Calvinism with the group. As I listened, I realized there was no doubt in their minds that Calvinism was an undeniably accurate theological system. To not believe Calvinism was akin to heresy.
Like Bishop Spong, Calvinism makes critical errors in interpreting and teaching scripture. Spong and Calvin taught what the Bible does not say. Spong wanted to rescue the Bible from Fundamentalism; I left Spong’s warped teaching long ago. Now, I want to rescue the Bible from Calvinism. And I want to restore the faith of people like Megan Phelps-Roper and Derek Webb.
None of it is simple.
I immediately saw the problem with Calvinism …philosophically. If true, then we are robots, and their version of God is playing both sides of the chess board. I looked up a few verses that countered Calvinism. I wrote emails to several people, some close friends, expressing my concern and hoping for reassurance, but to my surprise, most people agreed with my simple explanation of Calvinism. The gravity of a few “Calvinistic” passages was so heavy in their minds it dragged the whole Bible like a tractor beam to the Death Star of Calvinism. I hope to deactivate the tractor beam and release readers from Calvinism.
Back then, I wasn’t so compelled to deal with Calvinism because my residence and job changed, and gas prices skyrocketed. I was no longer going to that church. I’ve not been able to find another church yet to attend consistently, but I will never leave my faith again. Because I got away from Calvinism, the urgency to debunk it faded.
Fast forward to 3 years ago. I was with a dear Christian friend at a diner. Others were with us. The mood was festive. My friend jokingly but affirmatively said, “We have no free will.” All the other people at the table nodded in agreement. It rendered me speechless. I couldn’t tell you what we talked about before or after that. All I could think of was how this belief gives one license to let go of the wheel of life and to justify any urge by writing it off as all a part of God’s plan, pre-ordained to be an alcoholic, drug user, or adulterer, all by decree. I was sitting there with an alcoholic. It was as if that person’s condition was affirmed by Calvinism’s belief that God decrees everything.
There are countless other instances of being smacked in the face with Calvinistic views in the last few years. I’m finally done with enduring it without stating my reasons for not believing it.
Calvinists will say that this is not Calvinism. They’ll protest, “It’s not that simple.” They’re right. It’s much worse and more complicated. I’ve barely begun to tug on the thread. I will take it by the horns in the following series of posts. I’ve only nipped at the heels or poked the bear of Calvinism thus far.
I believe Calvinism is an opponent of Scripture and detrimental to Christianity and, therefore, can lead to Christians leaving and despising Christianity. If Calvinism is Christianity, I don’t blame them for leaving it. At the beginning of my concerns about Calvinism, I did not understand it. It’s been almost a year of diving deep into Calvin’s warped vision. It’s been shocking to see how his doctrine not only hurts Christianity but to discover it in me. Yes! Many Christians have fallen victim to Calvin’s doctrine and don’t realize it. More on that in a future post.
We’ll sneak through the ranks of Calvinism’s forward guard like Frodo and Sam in Mordor. We’ll walk through the midst of John Piper, John MacArthur, R. C. Sproul, Mark Driscol, and Rick Warren. We’ll glance at the destruction their Calvinism has wrought. But, as formidable as those names sound, once you reach and destroy the heart of Calvinism, those guys are a mere mop-up operation, as their foundation will disintegrate when we take down Calvin and his wizard, Augustine of Hippo.
We’ll head straight for John Calvin's Dark Castle in upcoming posts and remove the foundation. We’ll be in a target-rich environment. We’ll severely upset apple carts and sacred cows. John Calvin, up there in his high tower, the walls surrounding him behind trenches and ramparts may seem impassable and fierce, but Calvinism implodes like a paper tiger when you understand its ramifications. It comes tumbling down like Jerico. I hope to prove that just like the New Age movement mischaracterizes and misrepresents the Bible and God, and so does Calvinism.
So, what is Calvinism?
I will cover that in my next post. This introduction is only the beginning.
Hint: You have to be brave.
Thank you for reading my Substack. Please like, subscribe, and share my posts. Please consider pledging your support, as it takes me many hours, sometimes days, to produce this level of quality content.
And remember: It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to search it out. Proverbs 25:2