Calvin 1

Calvin Part 1

I have been doing some reflection on the growing sense of Calvinism we are seeing within Protestantism these days. Is this a good thing?

I decided to reflect on this a little and I want to start with some basic premises behind Calvinism and some of my thoughts on the subject. As a point of reference, I am not a proponent of Calvin so what I write may be somewhat biased.

To begin this, however, one thing needs to be stated. There are all sorts of theological frameworks in which people work. There are many theological vantage points that have a great deal of substance to them and many of them differ from each other in significant ways. Many of these frameworks, however, enable people to develop a relationship with God and ought not be trivialized. They do need to be seen, however, as theological frameworks which are not sacred in and of themselves. They are simply means of interpreting much greater truths.

In reviewing Calvinism, in its most basic form, there are five basic principles, often given the name TULIP. I’m going to reflect on each other.

In words from religioustolerance.org:

T: This usually stands for "Total depravity:" This is often mistaken to mean
that humans are all hopelessly, intensely sinful. Actually, it means
something quite different: as a result of Adam and Eve's disobedience to
God -- the Fall of Man -- sin has extended to all parts of every person's
being: "his thinking, his emotions and his will."

Sometimes, this has been called "Total inability." This is the concept that it
is impossible for the ordinary "natural" human to understand the Gospel's
message. They are spiritually helpless. First, God must first decide to
intervene in the form of the third personality within the Trinity, the Holy
Spirit. Otherwise, the person is lost forever.

Calvin’s point is that not everything every person does is driven by their depravity. This would make people unable to do anything good and worthwhile. His point, however, is that this depravity (his word, not mine) or sinfulness, touches on each portion of a person’s life. The writers point out examples of ‘thinking, emotions, and will.’ It is not that our thinking, emotions, and will are totally sinful, but that sin and human weakness touch every part of our being.

Often one of the differences between much of Roman Catholic theology and Protestant Theology is the nature of humanity. From my understanding, Roman Catholic theology teaches that humanity is basically good, but sinful; Protestant Theology teaches that human nature is essentially sinful with people’s goodness coming by the grace of God. While these appear to be opposite, they ultimately end with the same idea. People have goodness within them and people have an inclination to sin. Both are present in everyone all the time.

In essence, I’m not sure I am particularly comfortable with John Calvin’s words, total depravity, but the point is well taken.