Calvinism : Questions

I'm new also but find it impossible to have a genuine conversation here without being trolled.

Not sure where you should be in the Forum but Prof. Louis Berkhof's Systematic Theology was our main text book when I started Bible College in 1988 and I rejected Calvinism on his interpretation.

However, I later read Dr. Millard J. Ericsson's Christian Theology and changed my view and became a Moderate Calvinist.

 

PS I was in a Protestant Interdenominational Bible College at the time.

Our lecturers used to joke that the followers of Calvin were more Calvinistic than Calvin himself.

 

Ericsson has given the best explanation of Predestination and Election I've ever read.

He manages to synthesise Divine Sovereignty and human Free Will in a way that finally made sense after yrs of searching

 

All good.

Theology is the most exciting subject I've even studied.

BTW Berkhof was great in his day and was the main Standard Bearer for Protestant Theology but his writings needed bringing into the 21st century to be relevant.

Many now consider Ericsson to have replaced him but traditionists still stick with Berkhof.

If you want a "spoiler" on how I believe he integrated Divine Sovereignty and human Free Will let me know.

 

Just wanted to say goodbye, LaGrange, as you seem one of the genuine ones here.

I only opened my account here today but I've decided to close it.

Having worked in Christian ministry and now retired I feel there are trolls and offensive comments and personal attacks allowed here that I believe are not appropriate on a Christian website.

Stay Strong in Christ and hope you find Ericsson interesting!

 

That is not completely a joke. A bit of history on the name "Calvinist" and the Reformed Movement. Setting aside Augustine, who discovered many of the same truths a millennium earlier under the Catholic Church, the ideas found in the Reformation (Calvinism) begin with Tindale and Huss and Zwengli (some of whom lived and died before John Calvin was even born), and was clearly defined at the Synod of Dort after John Calvin. The famous "TULIP" of Calvinism dates to the 20th century as an acronym.

The name "Calvinist" was given to the Reformers by the powerful Lutheran state church as an insult to describe those reformers that had gone beyond the teaching of Luther and, in their opinion, the teaching of scripture. The name was intended as an insult to imply that these reformers were following a man (Calvin) rather than Scripture. So the writings of John Calvin are useful, but they are not the foundation of Calvinism. The closest thing for that purpose that you will find is the report of the Synod of Dort, which was written as an official response from the "ecumenical" Reformed community to the Remonstrances of the Arminians.

Beyond that, the Reformed split into two distinct branches in the 1600's. One branch leads to the Dutch Reformed and the modern Presbyterians and their views are best codified in the Westminster Confession of Faith. The other branch leads to the Baptists and their views are best codified in the London Confession of 1644.

Let me know if you have specific questions that I can help with.
For the record, I am a Reformed (Calvinist) Baptist that just happens to be familiar with the Westminster Confession and not a complete stranger to Catholicism.

(Avoid the Political Forum and avoid senseless arguments in the other forums.)

 

Thx for that.

I'm still a little hot under the collar about some of the comments earlier. So I'll wait a little while till I calm down so I don't say something that I will regret later.

Yes, I was aware of Augustine. A brilliant mind for sure. If memory serves me correctly much of the Protestant Reformation was based on Augustine's teaching but my studies were a long time ago now.

FYI I completed a Diploma in Ministry at an Interdenominational Bible College in Sydney, Australia and then started a Theology degree with Morling College Sydney.

Morling was the main Baptist Theological Seminary for Australia at the time. I had to defer my studies due to my wife's illness and never completed it.

 

You are way ahead of me in Bible Academics. I took one course at a Community College where a Jesuit Professor taught me that Moses didn't write Genesis but it was compiled by scribes from the P, S and V versions that predated it. That pretty much ended any enthusiasm for formal theological study.

So I studied Mathematics, Behavioral Science, Computer Science, and then got a Bach. of Architecture. About 90% of my theology came from desperately searching the Bible for answers to really hard questions, and the vocabulary lesson came from an adult Sunday School class taught by Hank, who had Doctorates in Theology and Mathematics from Moody and headed up sales for Coca Cola. It turned out what I believed was 4 point Calvinism (I never gave any thought to who else Jesus died for, it was enough that He died for me.)

• (T) People are no darn good.
• (U) God sure didn't pick me because I deserved it.
• (L) ... How should I know who Jesus died for, ask Him. He died for me and that's good enough for me!
• (I) God made me an offer I couldn't refuse.
• (P) God's arm is not short, so God will finish what God starts!

 

His textbook is probably the standard one in use, along with Dr Grudem!

 

Berkhof is really good for a concise underlying of Calvinism,but need Grudem and Erickson to balance in the " Baptist perspective"

 

Glad to assist you on this area, as started out myself reading Hodge and Berkhof, and then Grudem and Erickson, and now reading John frame!

 

Hello LaGrange, I have a scholarly buddy that is a Baptist and a Thomist. He graduated from VIU Norman L. Geisler School of Apologetics and is what I would call a very Soft Determinist and a Compatibilist but understands the importance of maintaining free will to avoid Theological Fatalism. Welcome to the board and the world of Determinism VS Free Will.

 

read him and Dr Grudem for Baptist views, then go into the deep pool for likes of a Hodge or John Gill!

 

By moderate Calvinist, I'm assuming you mean what some people like to call 4-point Calvinist. Is that correct?

I'm sorry to hear that. Hopefully, you decide to stay a little longer. It's a great time in America right now so don't let anyone else bring you down, friend.