John Calvin: Not a Calvinist

It's perhaps no secret to anyone that I'm a great admirer of John Calvin who, like Martin Luther, risked his own life to promote the great scriptural truth of salvation by faith alone through grace alone.

I'm going to demonstrate, based on John Calvin's own words, that John Calvin was not a Calvinist.

According to modern-day Calvinists, the five points of Calvinism are an unbroken chain, and if one link is proven to be untrue, then the entire system fails.

As we can see, based on Calvin's own words, he, in the very least, rejected the doctrine of limited atonement:

My intent on this forum has not been to convince others that Calvinism is true, but only that they should be more tolerant of Calvinists, especially since some of history's greatest missionaries and evangelists have been Calvinists.

Ecclesiastes 7:18
It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes.

1 Corinthians 8:2-3
Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.

 

I accomplished everything I intended to accomplish in removing the blinders of anti-Calvinists, and now I'm doing the same for the other side, to the glory of God alone. Are we not all brothers and sisters in Christ?

 

As an admirer of John Calvin, it feels good to realize that the dogmatic system today known as Calvinism isn't what John Calvin originally taught.

 

Why do modern-day Calvinists insist on breaking the the ninth commandment for any preacher or theologian who disagrees with their theology, by falsely accusing them of Pelagianism?

 

In the words of Calvinist apologist Cornelius Van Til, "Sin did not take away from man any of the natural powers that God had given him."
The Defense of the Faith

This would include our natural ability to choose between accepting or rejecting God's free offer of salvation in the Gospel.

If we were created in the image and likeness of God, that includes free will if God is a free being.

 

The five points of Calvinism weren't written until the Synod of Dort, in response to the five points of Arminianism, and Calvin himself never taught limited atonement.

The acronym "TULIP" did not even originate from Dort, but is, of course, a modern invention in the English language.

While Calvinists are our brothers in Christ, Calvinism is not the only legitimate interpretation of scripture, and accepting or rejecting it has nothing to do with salvation, and Calvin himself was historically not a Calvinist. Instead, he was called by others a Lutheran.

Ecclesiastes 7:18
It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes.

1 Corinthians 8:2-3
Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.