What is Calvinism? - I'm familiar with their beliefs in Total Depravity and Irresistible Grace. But I'm finding myself confused about Limited Atonement, Perseverance of The Saints, Unconditional Election.

[Isaac]

I used to be very scared of Total Depravity, until I read Mere Christianity and read C.S. Lewis indirectly explain the Calvinist belief of Total Depravity. Now I find it quite comforting.

I find their theology quite respectable. But whenever I've tried to find explanations of their theology, it gives me the interpretation that it misrepresents their beliefs. When I first heard of TULIP, I thought it had meant that our Lord hated us because of how wicked and vile our nature was.

 

[Pee Cola]

I thought Calvinism was the act of peeing on either a Ford or a Chevrolet, depending on which way one swings.

 

[Megaton Punch]

I thought Calvinism was the act of peeing on either a Ford or a Chevrolet, depending on which way one swings.

No, that's Branch Calvinism and has been decried by the Prophet Watterson. Classical Calvinism is getting in a cardboard box and pretending to be a spaceman. Although there is a rift in the community right now, with some members claiming true Calvinism is playing a game where you make up the rules as you go along. Others claim that if the rules are undefined and in constant flux, then anything can potentially be considered Calvinism. It's a very controversial yet highly convincing argument.

 

[LolRaccoon]

Calvinism is the belief that God predestines people to salvation. This, of course, implies that God predestines people to go to hell, but most Calvinists will vehemently deny this. That and they act like smug cunts because they are "theologically superior" to other people. They are basically the fedora tippers of Christianity.

 

[Lord of the Large Pants]

FULL DISCLOSURE: I am very anti-Calvinist. But I'll do my level best to give a fair summary.

But if Total Depravity is what you want, then good news! You can believe in Total Depravity without being a Calvinist. That's the one thing Calvinists and Arminians agree on. (And there are other options besides Calvinism and Arminianism, those just happen to butt heads most often. But I'm here on behalf of Arminians.)

Total Depravity doesn't mean that humans are as bad as we can possibly be. It means, more or less, that we can't do anything good without the help of God. Most Arminians would say that even people who don't believe in God can do good things, through Common Grace.

So Arminians agree on that. We generally punt on Perseverance of the Saints. I think most would say that you can deliberately CHOOSE to walk away from God, and God will honor that decision, but that's the only way you can lose it. The only thing that can separate you from the love of God... is you. This is not official consensus however. Calvinists strongly believe in Perseverance of the Saints. If you are truly saved, NOTHING can change that, EVER. If you do fall away from God, that means you were never truly saved in the first place. I find this to be almost a reversal of cause and effect.

Now let's get to the meaty bits, where Calvinists and Arminians hate each other more than Kiwi Farmers and trannies.

Unconditional Election - According to Calvinists, people are chosen for salvation by God, through no merit of their own, solely by God's sovereignty. If people could make the choice themselves, that would (somehow, apparently) diminish God's sovereignty. How does God choose? Well, ALLEGEDLY, God foreknows how a person would have responded to the offer of salvation, and saves or damns them based on that knowledge. Arminians consider this to be crap, and believe that humans make their own choice here. If God is going to be just, he has to treat us according to what we've actually DONE, not what we WOULD do. Free will is a gift from God, and in his sovereignty he allows us this important choice. We couldn't make it on our own, without his help, but when God makes the offer we can freely choose to accept or reject it.

Irresistible Grace - Calvinists believe that when God offers salvation to someone, that offer will ALWAYS been accepted. For us to refuse it would be to diminish God's sovereignty, and would question if God really did foreknow who would accept or reject him. Arminians also consider this crap, basically for the same reason as the last one. We have a choice, because that choice is given to us by God.

Limited Atonement - Calvinists believe that Jesus died and atoned only for the saved. Arminians believe Jesus died for everyone, even those who reject him. Of course, as above, anyone can still refuse that gift. (I would go further and say that Jesus died for the entire universe, not just humans, but that's another topic.)

Here's the problem. Calvinism sacrifices God's justice and love for the sake of his (perceived) sovereignty. Calvinists believe that giving humans that level of freedom elevates us too much, and diminishes God. But an Arminian would say that if we have that choice because that's how God wanted things to be, then that doesn't diminish God's glory at all. On the contrary, he's even greater that he would make beings with such freedom. It's also the only way to defend God's justice, because Calvin's God is a tyrant who arbitrarily selects humans for salvation or damnation.

PS - Most of what I know about Calvinism came from a book by a Calvinist, called Willing to Believe. It made me not be a Calvinist.

 

[Jewthulhu]

Can't pretend to be a theological expert; but I was raised in a semi-Calvinist protestant sect so I'll answer what you're confused about to the best of my ability

Total depravity: Without God we are depraved. Think the Catholic dogma of original sin taken to its logical extreme. Instead of original sin being a simple blemish, it's complete depravity

Unconditional election: Predestination. Basically, those who will be saved (the elect) have been chosen from the beginning of time, their lives planned out and their salvation an inevitability. Because we are all born in total depravity, it is not what we have done (or will do) that allows us to be part of the elect, but unconditional selection by God.

Limited atonement: Since only the elect will be saved and the elect were prechosen, when Christ died for "our" sins he only really died for the elect.

Irresistible grace: Predestination part 2. Since God chose the elect and planned out their lives, the grace of God is inherently irresistible and salvation for the elect is assured.

Perseverance of the Saints: "Once-saved, always saved." Since the elect have been prechosen by God to be saved, once they find God and reach salvation they will remain saved for eternity. Basically, someone who has been "truly saved" won't turn their back on God later in life and start worshipping Dawkins or whatever.

I've since converted away from Calvinism. The predestination aspect especially really hurt me as an older teen prone to learned helplessness and depression.

 

[Lucky Jim]

Calvinism is where you believe in God's irresistible grace and unconditional election, yet must help that salvation along with the longest sermons and greatest pedantry available in Protestantism. Expect to see a lot of bowties and probably no liturgical vestments. Expect to see a lot of denominations, with a dizzying array of acronyms (OPC, PCA, PCUSA, RPC, CRC, and more) and a lot of blogging pastors. Expect to see a lot of tribalism online. Expect to rarely see the eucharist. Expect to hear that the PCUSA is "modernist" and "liberal" and "not really Calvinist." They don't do confirmation but they often treat formally joining a church with the same gravity.

Calvinists do have catechisms (several here and there, produced at various times in history by various traditions), and if you find members of Presbyterian or Reformed denominations, or even Baptist Calvinists online, they will even care what is in them. Most (probably all, if I remember) said as of the 1600s that the Pope is the Antichrist; you still find that claim now among very online Calvinists. The catechisms have footnotes wherever possible, showing how scriptural not just Protestantism but Calvinism is; they list the typical books recognized by any Evangelical church (no Catholic or Orthodox canon) but can't find a source in the Bible for what books are in the Bible.

John Wesley (the anti-Calvinist Church of England priest who started Methodism) enjoyed trolling Calvinists; the victim was Augustus Toplady, another Anglican; Wesley published a tract by Toplady, adding the note at the end, forging the signature:

The sum of all this: one in twenty (suppose) of mankind are elected; nineteen in twenty are reprobated. The elect shall be saved, do what they will; the reprobate shall be damned, do what they can. Reader, believe this, or be damned. Witness my hand, A T.

 

[Fetish Roulette]

I'm not sure, but I always thought it would serve as a good complement to Hobbesianism.