What's up fam?
I listened to a sermon a while back on Calvinism. I think B. Morr actually pointed me to this sermon. Well, I had disagreements with the preacher, so I left a comment on his sermonaudio.com page. I don't remember the name of the sermon, but it was by a guy named Marc Monte. He sent me an email response. Here it is:
Dear Mike:
Thanks for posting a comment about my Calvinism series. You state that I should study Calvinism from a non-biased standpoint. How would someone do that? If I read Calvin, I get his biased viewpoint. If I read his opponents, I get their biased viewpoints. An unbiased study of Calvinism is logically impossible.
I have, however, read both sides of the issue. My chief pro-Calvin source for reformed doctrine has been Loraine Bottener. He is considered a standard authority on the Reformed faith. I have also read several detractors from Calvinism.
However, the greatest contradiction to Calvinism is the Scriptures themselves. The Bible describes a God who is sovereign and yet allows man to exercise free will. Mans’ exercise of free will can not thwart God’s sovereignty, but God is not responsible for mans’ wrong choices. Calvin’s view of God is that God is so small that He had to ordain everything in order for everything to turn out His way. Calvin’s God is the ultimate micro-manager, responsible for both good and, ultimately, evil.
The Bible presents a God whose plan will be accomplished, but who can accomplish His plan in spite of man’s attempts to thwart it. (A simple overview of eschatology illustrates this. God’s plan is to establish His kingdom. Satan’s plan is to thwart God’s kingdom. Though Satan will work overtime to accomplish his plans, God will ultimately win. Calvinism seems to indicate that God is ultimately behind the acts of Satan, ordaining the evil of the Evil One, somehow to His (God’s) glory. That, my friend, is confusion.)
Suppose for example that you told your children not to drink beer. Then you forced them to drink beer by opening their mouths and pouring it down their throats. Then you got angry and punished them for drinking beer. Would your children be confused? You bet they would be! Could that be considered abuse? Sure! Calvinism teaches essentially the same thing about God.
The Biblical view of God may be illustrated thusly:
Life is a chess game between me and God (or you could say the “world” and God or the “devil” and God, whatever). God knows ALL of my moves before I make them (His foreknowledge). In fact, God knows infinitely every move that will be made and every move that could be made. God does not force me to make any move, but He does know all of my moves. I am therefore responsible for every move I make. I make every move freely, of my own will. However, guess who wins in the end? That’s right—God! God’s sovereign victory in the accomplishment of His will is absolutely assured NOT because He ordained every move, but because He knew every move I would make.
Read the Bible with this illustration in mind, and you will see multiple examples of God’s working providentially according to his foreknowledge. (The story of Queen Esther is a prime example.)
Now, one more thought about Calvinism. As a theological system, Calvinism is very difficult to understand and is based on logical extensions from questionable interpretive premises. Its complexity as a theological system gives me pause because the Apostle Paul warned us about being beguiled away from the “simplicity that is in Christ.” The complexities of Calvinism indicate to me that Calvinism is not the Gospel, but a man made aberration from it. Just chew on that for a while.
Finally, my position against Calvinism is not a condemnation of the many fine preachers who are adherents to its theological positions. I also realize that there are degrees of Calvinism, just like anything else. I am a student of many of the fine Calvinistic preachers on sermonaudio.com. (I am currently listening to a series by Cornelius Van Til—not exactly a card carrying arminian!)
My concerns about Calvinism stem from the fact that the reformed movement is experiencing a revival of sorts that is transferring its doctrines into formerly non Calvinistic churches and schools. The resulting intellectualism and elitism has had a chilling effect upon soulwinning and evangelism. (Such is not always the case, but such is typically the case.) It is my hope that Christians think Biblically—submitting neither to Calvinism nor Armenianism as theological systems. I prefer Paul to St. Augustine any day!
Thanks for your comment, and thanks for listening to sermonaudio.com!
Dr. Marc G. Monte
Senior Pastor
Please visit our website at www.faithbaptistavon.com or listen to sermons on the web at http://faithbaptistavon.sermonaudio.com
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