I am sure you have all heard men stand in their pulpits and decry the evils of Calvinism. I am equally sure that you have also heard those same men from those same pulpits quote such great men of God as, Charles Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards, John Gill, Matthew Henry, John Bunyan, and countless others. I could list many more, but I think the point is well made. What is even more amazing is that many of these preachers use commentaries written by some of these men who would be according to most Baptists today, “heretics”
While this post is not intended to argue for or against Calvinism, it is intended to expose the hypocrisy among many fundamental Baptists. I am personally not as concerned with how you define election as I am with how you answer the the question, “What must I do to be saved.” There are many who would condemn others for their views concerning sovereign grace, yet are consistently making men two fold children of Hell with their soft Soteriology and refusal to allow the Holy Spirit to actually draw the sinner and regenerate him. My point, however, is that it is extremely hypocritical to hail the men afore mentioned as great men of God ( which they were) and on the other hand dismiss every present day Calvinist as heretic.
The logical conclusion that one is left to come up with then is that it was alright to be a Calvinist then but certainly not today. To bolster my point let me ask one question. Would any of the men that quote Spurgeon or Edwards ( or any other Calvinist from the past) allow a present day Calvinist to speak in their Church? The answer is a resounding no, because as I said earlier there is blatant double standard. It is my prayer that these unfair attacks would cease so that we can all busy ourselves with the task at hand which is the call for sinners to repent and turn to Christ.
As I said earlier this post is not intended to argue for or against Calvinism, my biggest concern is that we are actively trying to reach sinners for the glory of God, and that we are not watering down the gospel. All I am saying is that we should know who we are quoting before we blast modern Calvinists. As long as a man is preaching the gospel and trying to reach sinners, lets not attack him because of how he interprets certain passages of Scripture.
I pray that no one takes this post the wrong way. I would ask that before you judge me, take time to listen to my sermons so that you will know where I stand. I love the Lord, I love sinners, and I want to help God’s people.
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October 10th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Nicely said. I believe that those preachers who sidestep important doctrines in an effort stay as far away from Calvinism have ceased to be preachers. While they associate themselves with the preachers you mentioned because of their popularity… they ignorantly refuse the truth that these preachers taught. The worst part is, they have become like the Prophets of Jeremiah’s time who spoke oppositional to the Word of God.
Jer 23:21 I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
Jer 23:22 But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.
October 10th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Thank you for the positive input. I could not have said it better myself. I pray that those preachers would not pick fights, but rather rejoice in that Christ is preached.
October 10th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Hey! What gives with the funky password-thingy? Do I have to memorize it so I can log in every time?
Anyhoo…
FWIW, BJH, I wouldn’t say these preachers have “ceased to be preachers.” I think most just do not understand classic Calvinism, nor have they thoroughly studied these preachers-of-old.
But BJK’s point is well taken: it is inconsistent to decry modern Calvinists as the worst heretics and then laud Calvinists of the 18th-19th centuries.
October 11th, 2008 at 12:11 am
Amen brother. By the way.. I love the title of this post!
October 11th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
BJC, I understand your point… but I’m not referring to those preachers who are simply ignorant of Calvinism; I’m referring to those who are willfully ignorant. By failing to provide that which is profitable to the flock (Acts 20:20), it seems to me that they are willfully forfeiting their designation as Preachers. I don’t see that as any different than a Prophet saying “Thus saith the Lord”, when the Lord did not speak.
Those who willfully neglect to teach those things which are profitable, are lying by omission.
October 10th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Your statements seem rather arrogant. It seems that you are saying that those “who are willfully ignorant” as if they’ve studied Calvinism, then rejected it, are therefore “failing to provide that which is profitable to the flock”. Have I misunderstood you? If you don’t mean to stand either for or against Calvinism, merely those who act in the simple hypocritical way that you outline, then you shouldn’t criticize them for choosing NOT to adhere to Calvinism. All of the “dead Calvinists”, whether they are wrong or right about Calvinism, were Christians who might have much in the way of truth to be shared outside of a strict adherence to Calvin’s doctrines. For them to quote any other part of these authors would not then be hypocritical, merely particular as to what they believe helps in bringing the truth to their flocks.
October 11th, 2009 at 12:22 am
OK, I never said that they were willfully ignorant. But, just to be plain, they are not rejecting Calvin’s doctrine. They are rejecting doctrines that are plainly taught in Scripture. I do not fall out with those that do not accept the doctrines of grace, but to cry against “the evils of Calvinism” out of one side of your mouth and praise dead Calvinists as heroes of the faith certainly is hypocrisy.
October 12th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Actually, you did say they were willfully ignorant. “I’m referring to those who are willfully ignorant” is an exact quote of what you stated. Again, your arrogance is showing. The doctrines of Calvin appear to YOU and many others to be “plainly taught in Scripture”. They do NOT, however, appear to be plainly taught to just as many earnest, sincere Christians. You seem to stray from your original purpose in this blog when you start making statements such as, “willfully forfeiting their designation as Preachers.” The hypocrisy is evident in any preacher who would do as you say, but the greater question to ask of both you, who seem to identify yourself as a Calvinist, and those preachers is why is it necessary either to speak against or for “Calvinists”? Are we not all Christians? Did not Paul decry the habit of identifying ourselves with any other than Christ? Why does anyone feel the need to identify themselves with a man who felt it necessary to persecute, torture and murder brothers and sisters in the Lord because they did not agree with his “doctrine”. If his doctrines are clearly taught in the Scripture, it should follow that teaching the Word would suffice to bring those doctrines to light. Why involve that man in it at all? If the truths are indeed clearly evident in Scripture, they will be just that, evident, and Calvin, Arminius, Augustine, Luther and others who wrote in the past, distant or recent, would not need to be quoted as any kind of authority. They could be merely brothers who have gone on to their reward who may have, on occasion, taught something that would be helpful in elucidating some point a preacher or teacher of the Word is trying to make. I would prefer that all preachers just preach the Word of God without reference to anyone’s particular take on it. The Holy Spirit is quite capable of making sure that one of God’s children sees the “light”; that is, after all, one of His works, to illuminate truth to believers. I applaud your desire to stop attacking people and let them get on with the business of preaching the Gospel. Let’s hope that the sincere desire of every preacher is to see people saved. I don’t believe that Calvin’s name need enter into any sermon in either a negative or positive way. Utilize your passion and energy to do what you evidently love, serve God by being a preacher of the Gospel in order to see souls saved. Calvin’s “doctrines” should be just as dead as he is (after the flesh). If his ideas are truly scriptural, don’t worry about it. The Lord will protect His truth; His Word does not return to Him void. I trust that you will accord to me what you ask for yourself in the original post, don’t take this the wrong way and don’t judge me. God bless you in your service to Him.
October 12th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
Is everyone confusing John Kuykendall,(aka admin) the author of this blog, with John Hardin the guy that comments on this blog? Everyone listen, I AM NOT JOHN HARDIN. He’s a great guy and all but I am pretty sure that I am not him. So actually, I did not say that stuff.
Btw, I appreciate your comments. Thanks for reading.
October 13th, 2009 at 1:48 am
I don’t know about anyone else, but I certainly did confuse the Johns on this blog. Are you also Pastor John as well as Admin? Thanks for the clarification and my sincere apology for confusing your words and his. Your original words are much more succinct and to the point you actually seem to be trying to make. I do stand by what I wrote, though. I’d love to see anyone’s doctrine other than the Bible’s go by the wayside. Just preach the word; it suffices. Again, God bless you.
October 13th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
Yes I am also Admin. Sorry for the confusion. I’ll see that it doesn’t happen anymore. Thanks again.
October 16th, 2009 at 1:25 am
I’ll forgive you this once DCMitchum for misappropriating your jabs to someone other than myself
. You’ll notice in my post that I differentiated between those that are, and those that aren’t willfully ignorant. I don’t believe ALL non-Calvinists are willfully ignorant. But I do believe (as I stated in my first comment) that anyone who “sidesteps important doctrines (such as the doctrines of grace) in an effort stay far away from Calvinism” has undoubtedly made themselves “willfully ignorant”.
In fact I believe that was a very nice definition of “willful ignorance” as it pertains to the study of scripture.