John Calvin Quotes – The Calvinism of John Calvin – Are Calvinists REALLY “Calvinists”?

Posted on September 1, 2014 by Kerrigan Skelly

As I have dealt with Calvinists throughout the years, there has been one objection that has stood out the most. There is one thing that I hear them say, more than anything else. They say this on YouTube videos, on Facebook posts, through email correspondence with them, etc. They are constantly accusing people of misrepresenting Calvinism, of not knowing what Calvinism “REALLY IS” and of engaging in straw man arguments against their doctrines.

You know what I think the problem is? I think that that most “Calvinists” aren’t REALLY Calvinists. They don’t even know what “Calvinism” is. I’ve been studying Calvinism for about 10 years now. I’ve studied a lot about Calvinism, both from Calvinists and from those against Calvinism. I’ve watched videos from both sides, listened to sermons from both sides, read books and articles from both sides, etc. For the most part, those who are against Calvinism have properly represented it. There have been those who have engaged in straw man arguments, but they have been few and far between, from what I have seen.

I think that many people who call themselves “Calvinists” haven’t studied much about Calvinism. They probably heard a passionate sermon from Paul Washer (and YES, HE IS a Calvinist), read an article by Charles Spurgeon, read a book by John Piper, listened to a James White debate, watched an R.C. Sproul lecture or read a John MacArthur Commentary. Then they put their theological “stake in the ground” and say, “I’m a Calvinist”. Also, some people are just “bandwagon” Calvinists. They see it as a popular trend in the circles they are in and “jump in”. I wonder what will happen when it’s no longer a “popular trend”?

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Calvinism, Free Will & God’s Expectations | Kerrigan Skelly

Posted on August 19, 2014 by Kerrigan Skelly

Isaiah 5:1-4 (NKJV) says, “Now let me sing to my Well-beloved a song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. ²He dug it up and cleared out its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, and also made a winepress in it; so He expected it to bring forth good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. ³And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. ⁴What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes?”

Calvinism teaches that God predestines/ordains/decrees/causes all things that come to pass (whether sin or righteousness) and that God did this in eternity past. If this is true, then no one and nothing has “free will”, by any definition of that word. And no, I don’t need to add the term “libertarian” before “free will” to explain what I mean by “free will”. In fact, I refuse to. To do so, would be to give in to the Calvinist’s redefining of the term “free will”. I won’t put up with the linguistic revision of Calvinism. In fact, I have a series of videos that seeks to expose this facet of Calvinism, that is called, “Calvinist CONFUSION“.

The above passage simply can’t fit into a system that says that God has caused all things to happen, in eternity past. Passages like the one above, won’t fit with Calvinism, no matter how much you twist it. How could the “god” of Calvinism possibly have “expectations” that are contrary to what He ordained to happen, in eternity past? How could the “god” of Calvinism possibly be “disappointed”, when things don’t go differently than he decreed them to be? If the “god” of Calvinism predestined the house of Israel to be like this, how could he be upset with them and punish them for such actions (read on to Isaiah 5:5-6)?

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Were the “Early Church Fathers” Calvinistic, In Their Soteriology? Part 1 (Conditional Security)

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Kerrigan Skelly

As I have dealt with Calvinists and Calvinism over the past 7-8 years, they always seem to want to present their soteriology (doctrine of salvation) as “The Historical Christian Faith”. When a Calvinist says such a thing, it makes me laugh (at least on the inside). It shows that they are either ignorant of what the Early Church Fathers believed and are just parroting what their favorite “theologian” has said or they are just outright lying.

Either way, such a statement couldn’t be further from the truth. And just to be clear, when I say, “Early Church Fathers” (ECF’s) I am referring to the Ante-Nicene Fathers. In other words, I am referring to the Church leaders who wrote extensively, prior to the Council of Nicea (325 A.D.).

With all of that in mind, I want to give you some quotes from the ECF’s regarding one tenant of Calvinism – “Perseverance of the Saints”. This is also know as the “P” from the acronym “T.U.L.I.P.”, which is used to represent the Calvinistic doctrine of soteriology. “Perseverance” of the Saints is more rightly called “Preservation of the Saints” or “Unconditional Eternal Security”, since God “preserves them” and since there is nothing they can do to “lose their salvation”.

No matter what you choose to call it, it was not what the Early Church believed in. The only group of people who believed such doctrines during this period of time, were the Gnostics, who were heretics. Jude 3 says, “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” If this verse it to have any meaning at all, we should be able to see some form of Calvinistic soteriology in the Early Church Father’s writings. Unfortunately, for the Calvinists, we don’t.

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