Calvinism - Introduction - Reply to Johnson C. Philip (Part 1)

 

What is Dr. Philip warning the Brethren community about in his book?[1] ... A new cult? Liberalism? Secularism? False prophesy scenarios? No. He is sounding the alarm about a system of beliefs commonly called "Calvinism." Before starting the rebuttal, let me detail my view of Johnson C. Philip’s book.

About Johnson C. Philip’s book

I will enumerate those things about his book for which I am pretty much disappointed.[2] First of all, instead of trying to prove Calvinism wrong from the Scriptures, he went on to attack Calvin. It may be because of his faulty assumption that Calvinism is founded by Calvin. Secondly, there are no citations given in that book that substantiates his arguments. Finally and more importantly, he has misrepresented Calvinism. If you haven’t read his book, please go through it before reading this rebuttal.

Predestination! (Fatalism?) and John Calvin

After reading Dr. Philip’s book, I could not help but think with R. C. Sproul that Calvinism is misapprehended by many. Let me quote R. C. Sproul, “The very word predestination has an ominous ring to it. It is linked to the despairing notion of fatalism and somehow suggests that within its pale we are reduced to meaningless puppets. The word conjures up visions of a diabolical deity who plays capricious games with our lives. We seem to be subjected to the whims of horrible decrees that were fixed in concrete long before we were born. Better that our lives were fixed by the stars, for then at least we could find clues to our destiny in the daily horoscopes.”

“Add to the horror of the word predestination the public image of its most famous teacher, John Calvin, and we shudder all the more. We see Calvin portrayed as a stern and grim-faced tyrant, a sixteenth-century Ichabod Crane who found fiendish delight in the burning of recalcitrant heretics. It is enough to cause us to retreat from the discussion altogether and reaffirm our commitment never to discuss religion and politics.”[3]

Calvin and Calvinism[4]

With a topic people find so unpleasant, it is a wonder that we ever discuss it at all. Why do we speak of it? Because we enjoy unpleasantness? Not at all. We discuss it because we cannot avoid it. It is a doctrine plainly set forth in the Bible. We talk about predestination because the Bible talks about predestination. If we desire to build our theology on the Bible, we run head on into this concept. We soon discover that John Calvin did not invent it.

It is important for us to see that the Reformed doctrine of predestination was not invented by John Calvin. There is nothing in Calvin's view of predestination that was not earlier propounded by Luther[5] and Augustine before him. It is also noteworthy that in his famous treatise on theology, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin wrote sparingly on the subject. Luther wrote more about predestination than did Calvin. This destroys the whole argument of Dr. Philip which is as follows: Calvinism is false and heretic because Calvin is a murderer-terrorist-heretic!! (his book in once sentence!).

Some Reformed Theologians and Missionaries

Let me catalogue some theologians and missionaries of the past and present, who were Calvinists:

Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wycliffe, William Tyndale, John Knox, Theodore Beza, Heinrich Bullinger, Jonathan Edwards, J N Darby[6], B W Newton, Handley Bird, Anthony Norris Groves[7], J. G. Bellett, George Müller, William Carey[8], C. H. Mackintosh, William Wilberforce, Matthew Henry, J. C. Ryle, Isaac Watts, John Foxe, John Bunyan, John Eliot, Charles Spurgen[9],  Adoniram Judson, George Whitefield, John Newton[10], John Owen, A. W. Pink, Charles Hodge, John Gill, Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck, B. B. Warfield, J. Gresham Machen, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, James Montgomery Boice, Philip Hughes, Cornelius Van Til, J I Packer, John H. Gerstner, John Stott, R. C. Sproul, John Piper, John Macarthur, Steven Lawson, Timothy J. Keller, Wayne Grudem, Loraine Boettner, and many more.

To be sure, it is possible that Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Edwards and others listed above could all be wrong on this matter. These men certainly disagree with each other on other points of doctrine. They are neither individually nor collectively infallible.

Methodology followed in this blog series

This rebuttal is divided into four chapters and two appendices. For the readers, let me give some account of what it is:

Part 2: It shall be established that the early Brethren pioneers were strictly Calvinistic in their Soteriology.

Part 3: The early Brethren Assembly men in Kerala were also Reformed in their view of Election and Predestination. The cases of Handley Bird and K V Simon are demonstrated.

Part 4: We shall examine critically whether or not Johnson C. Philip has rightly represented Calvin’s beliefs!

Parts 5, 6: We shall look into some facts about the life of Calvin and the times in which he lived.

Part 7: We cannot determine truth by counting noses. The great thinkers of the past can be wrong. Therefore, it shall be proved from the Scriptures that the Doctrines of Grace (which is called by the name Calvinism), which was preached by the Reformers, is the very one taught in the pages of Scripture.

Part 2

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[1] Dr. Johnson C. Philip, Dr. Saneesh Cherian, Calvinism! A Strange Doctrine Among the Brethren. (Available as e-book), 4^th Revised and Expanded Edition.

[2] Read for yourself to see whether my comments are justifiable.

[3] R. C. Sproul, Chosen by God, pp. 9-10.

[4] Ibid., pp. 10, 15

[5] “Later, Lutheranism did not follow Luther on this matter but Melanchthon, who altered his views after Luther's death”, Chosen by God, R. C. Sproul, p. 15.

[6] Father of Dispensationalism

[7] Brethren missionary to India

[8] Also knows as “father of modern mission”

[9] Known as “prince of preachers”

[10] The author of “Amazing Grace”.