THE CALVINIST DEBATE
Addendum and Resources for Further Research
Wikipedia
read on Sebastian Castellio
This
man was very close to John Calvin. Sabastian Castellio had been a theologian
in
the Roman Catholic Church, and he witnessed the burning of alleged heretics
by
the Dominicans and other Catholic officials. He hated this, and he left Rome
and
declared himself converted to the Reformation doctrines. He went to Geneva and
spent
time with John Calvin. Calvin was astounded at Castellio's brilliance, and later
Calvin
made Castellio rector of a church in Geneva and master of a theological college.
All
was only good fellowship between Castellio and Calvin until Calvin orchestrated
the
burning of Servetus at the stake for heresy. Castellio was horrified, and he spoke
out
opening against Calvin's decision to murder Servetus. Calvin defrocked
Castellio at once
and made a beggar of him.
Castellio
literally had to go from door to door begging for food
for his family. His
family lived in Basel and dated not return to Geneva because Calvin
had published
his Confessio, in which he declared his biblical justification for murdering
Servetus.
He also wrote that anyone who disagreed with his decision was to also be
burned
at the stake as a heretic.
Castellio
wrote a pamphlet reproaching Calvin's murder of Servetus, and it was grabbed
up
eagerly all over Europe by Reformed men who hated what they saw in the heart of
John
Calvin. Castellio's pamphlet was reprinted, and liberty of conscience slowly became
the
policy over all of Europe. It was this mind set that virtually laid the foundation
for the
US Constitution, for this mind set was considered Christian biblical
doctrine from Castellio's
day onward. After Castellio died, Reformed fanatics
exhumed his body and burned it.
Gerlof Homan, Torn Between Two Faiths? American Calvinist Leonard Verduin and his Anabaptist/ Mennonite Connections The work of Leonard Verduin on the history of Anabaptists and Mennonites was the topics of Gerlof Homan�s presentation. Homan noted that as a minister in the Christian Reformed Church (CRC), Verduin spent much time on the two of CRC�s foundational documents the Cannons of Dordt and the Belgic Confession, both of which contain criticisms of the Anabaptist movement. Homan concluded that according to Verduin because of existing political conditions, leading reformers had been required to make accommodations to civil authority in these two documents, for the first time such accommodation was not necessary when the United States was formed. Read more
Another source on the murder of Servetus
MUST
READ:
Did Calvin Murder Servetus?
By Stanford
Rives
No other book written, other than the Bible itself, makes it 100% clear
that John Calvin Murdered Servetus and spent the rest of his life
desperately
trying to justify himself and threaten his adversaries
with the same treatment
he gave Servetus. Miles Sandford has been a
trial lawyer for twenty nine years,
and he attends an Evangelical church.
The
book is 550 pages long. Not one paragraph is fluff. Read virtually every page
beginning
with the cover, or you will miss something important.
He includes over 900
footnotes, some of which are more forceful than the
main text itself. He has
a bibliography of 390 sources, many of which were
current to the era when Calvin
lived. There is NO fluff in his bibliography, and
much more could be learned
by studying his sources further.
After
reading this book, anyone who claims that it is too long ago to really
decide
if John Calvin murdered Servetus is a blithering idiot and a perverse
defender
of evil.
I
was told by one pastor, "We need to leave Calvin's actions
alone and just
study what he taught." This is the same idiocy as saying
we need to ignore
the gassing of the Jews by Adolph Hitler and just study
Mein Kamf.
You
will also learn from this book that John Calvin's claim to be a theologian
was
extremely cheap stuff by the standards of his day. He had finished law
school,
and he took Greek and Hebrew. That's it! He was 24, and he published
a commentary
on a book on Mercy which flopped. Next, he published his
Institutes.
They were an instant success, and the young don went bonkers
with pride and
arrogance. He later declared his Institutes to be the virtual
Doctrine
of God. For the rest of his life, he showed no sign of humility, often
found
in Martin Luther, John Knox, and other Reformers. He was absolute
monarch of
any place he lived, and that included the secular civil authorities.
Before
he wrote his Institutes, John Calvin had only ONE theologian friend,
and this
man was a rebel Catholic free thinker and had no sympathy for
the Reformation.
Is there such a thing as a true Reformed Baptist? Larry Vance speaks
Larry Vance's book, The Other Side of Calvinism This is deep stuff, and even you arrogant Reformed egg heads will choke on it I fear.
Proof
the John Calvin with really a Roman Catholic in
a thin candy shell of Reformed
legitimacy.
Menno
Simons was the leader of the Anabaptists, whom Calvin hated, and Ulrich Zwingli
murder by the hundreds. The Anabaptists had been around many years before the
Reformers came partially out of the Whore of Rome. Menno Simons plead with them
to finish the job, so the Reformers killed the Anabaptists as heretics.
READ
ABOUT IT
Possibly the most articulate and informed Reformed theologian in modern times, Leonard Verduin, left us his book, The Reformers and Their Stepchildren. Verduin spoke 6 languages and read nine, including Arabic. He did all his research in Europe in moldy basements of churches and ancient libraries. Those who pass him off as a bit strange have no idea how utterly stupid they are. A MUST READ FOR ALL REFORMED PEOPLE
Editor: Steve Van Nattan's Conclusions:
Finally, I have seen the results of John Calvin's wickedness in those who defend him. They are calloused at the suffering of anyone who is not Reformed. They are even brutal on one another where there is a slight difference. I fear having a friend who defends John Calvin, for when they find that I do not agree with them, I assume they would do anything they pleased to me, or they would try to get me in trouble with the civil authority. I have learned that John Knox accepted John Calvin's teachings and looked the other way about Servetus. Thus, Presbyterians must be included as suspect friends. Only Martin Luther, as of this writing, did not filthy himself with the apologetics of Calvin. I fear I may find that is also incorrect.
At the end of the day, the issue it this: Reformed doctrine is brutal. It is all of the sovereignty of God and none of his mercy. Arrogance and self-justification are the hallmarks of all Reformed denominations, and this results in very little care to really win souls. Reformed people much prefer to try to stop abortions. This insulates them from actually making friends of vile sinners, as Jesus did. March in front of the abortion clinic, and go home and smoke a cigar.
Thus, I conclude that Calvinism and biblical Christianity are mutual exclusive religions. In as much as many Bible teachers like RC Sproul and John MacArthur mix Calvinism in their doctrine and preaching, this is the measure of their compromise with heresy. Seminaries like Dallas Seminary, Grace Seminary, and Talbot Seminary have fallen in the ditch in compromise and higher criticism as a result of adopting an arrogant posture in the Calvinist model.
Dr. John Walvoord, former president of Dallas Seminary, showed his colors in a pastor's retreat one time when a pastor asked a question of him. Walvoord sensed the pastor was not headed the same direction he was, and for the benefit of the other pastors standing around, Walvoord gave the pastor a high toned verbal thrashing. THIS is the fruit of John Calvin 500 years later. It will NOT go away, and I would not be at all a surprise to find that the Antichrist is from a Reformed Church and has a degree from Dallas Seminary or Calvin College.
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