July 15, 2002
Calvinism hinges on predestination, theologian says
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___FORT WORTH--Whether or not one is a Calvinist depends on one question, not on strict adherence to all five points of traditional Calvinist theology, according to a theology professor who has written and spoken extensively on the subject.
___"The issue is not five points, but an either/or," said Fisher Humphreys, theology professor at Samford University's Beeson Divinity School. "If you believe that from eternity ... God decided to create one set of people who would be saved and one set who would not, you are indeed a Calvinist."
___Humphreys led a breakout session on understanding Calvinism during the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's general assembly in Fort Worth June 28. Although the session was held in one of the larger breakout rooms, it drew a standing-room-only crowd that spilled out into the hallway.
___He briefly outlined the five traditional tenets of Calvinist theology, often remembered by the acronym TULIP. They are the total depravity of humankind, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace and perseverance of the saints.
___Baptists find some level of disagreement on the first four of these, he reported, but not often on the last, perseverance of the saints. That doctrine asserts that once a person professes faith in Christ, he or she cannot lose salvation.
___On the first four points, there are different degrees of nuance implied between Calvinists and non-Calvinists that may change definitions, he explained.
___For example, on the matter of total depravity, non-Calvinist Christians agree with Calvinists that all people are sinners, that sin resides in both the body and soul and that humans cannot rescue themselves from sin. But Calvinists, he said, add to that another component--that humans are incapable of repentance without God directing that desire to repent.
___The greatest differences between Calvinists and non-Calvinists, however, are on the matters of unconditional election, limited atonement and irresistible grace. Taken together, these three doctrines assert that God, before the foundation of the world, chose some people for salvation and therefore others not for salvation. The sacrifice of Christ on the cross is effective only for those God preordained, the elect. Further, the call of Christ to salvation is so irresistible, Calvinists believe, that all who are among the elect will inevitably be drawn to faith.
___There is a resurgent interest in Calvinism among Baptists and some other evangelicals today, Humphreys reported. He cited John McArthur, John Piper, R.C. Sproul and James Packer as "very thoughtful" authors advocating Calvinism today. He also cited Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., as a prominent Southern Baptist advocate of Calvinism.
___Southern Baptist Calvinists today assert that they are returning to the faith of the founders of the Southern Baptist Convention, he explained. He acknowledged truth in that claim, but added that Baptists initially were not Calvinists.
___The earliest Baptists, who came to their theological convictions in Amsterdam after fleeing religious oppression in England, were in fact "anti-Calvinists," Humphreys said. They were living amid a significant debate within the larger church about the teachings of John Calvin, he said, and "were fully aware of what the issues were."
___There were no Calvinists in Baptist life for at least the first 25 years of the movement, he said. Then, somewhere around 1633, some Calvinists joined the Baptist movement and created a second stream of thought. For more than 200 years after that, some Baptists were Calvinists and some were not, he said.
___It is true, however, that when the SBC was formed in 1845, "most or all those present were Calvinists or modified Calvinists," Humphreys said.
___Both Calvinistic and non-Calvinistic streams continued to run through Southern Baptist life, however, and for most the last 100 years, few Southern Baptists have been Calvinists, he said.
___Divisions over Calvinism should not be grounds for one side to claim the other doesn't believe the Bible, said Humphreys, who is not a Calvinist.
___"We all believe the Bible," he said. "There is a set of Scriptures in the Bible that, taken at face value, will make you a Calvinist. There's another set of Scriptures in the Bible that, taken at face value, will make you not a Calvinist."
___The difference between Calvinists and non-Calvinists is which set of Scriptures each side takes at face value and which set they choose to interpret, he suggested.
___For example, Romans 9 is a passage taken literally by Calvinists. It says, in one verse, "Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated."
___An example on the other side, however, is 1 Timothy 2, which says God desires all people to be saved.
___So what drives one group of people to take a particular set of passages literally and interpret opposing passages?
___For Calvinists, Humphreys said, a strong emphasis on the sovereignty of God overrides all biblical understanding.
___For non-Calvinists, the teaching of John 3:16 shades all other interpretation of the biblical text with its assertion that God loves all people and wants them to find salvation, he said.
___It is not likely that Calvinist and non-Calvinists among evangelical groups such as Baptists can harmonize their views, Humphreys said during a question-and-answer time. "If you combine Calvinism with the belief that God loves all people, you end up with universalism."
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