The 500th anniversary of his birth is July 10, and the religion press is proclaiming a renaissance for John Calvin. “His theology is the hottest, most explosive thing being discussed right now,” said Justin Taylor, 32, and an editorial director at Crossway, a Christian publisher in the evangelical heartland of Wheaton, Ill.
Less enthusiasm, please, I'm Lutheran. It's hard to imagine modern society getting too het up over double predestination, Calvin's signature teaching, which says that not only did God create "the elect" to go to heaven, but just for the pure fun of it, also created other people to roast in hell forever.
Calvin got his chance to show what his theology was all about when he molded 16th century Geneva to his liking by forbidding just about everything. The people didn't take to it that much, and got back at him with scorn and derision. The rousted him from sleep by singing sarcastic songs about him outside his bedroom window, and, lest he miss the point, naming their dogs after him. The prickly Calvin decided that criticism of his noble person was also against the law.
If we believed in predestination or double predestination, we probably wouldn't be Lutheran or Episcopalian or any other denomination of grace. However, I do think this Calvinist concept prevails in the fundamental and literal churches so common today. There is a human tendency these days to view salvation from a viewpoint of scarcity rather than abundance. If one looks from scarcity, it an advantage to believe in predestination because there are fewer people to threaten your salvation. If one comes from a view of abundance, the more the merrier!
Posted by: DKSampson | June 27, 2009 at 05:53 PM
Supposedly, up to maybe 30% of baptist preachers subscribe to some form of Calvinism. I wonder how they square predestination with "making a choice for Jesus."
Posted by: John Petty | June 30, 2009 at 12:55 PM