What was on of John Calvin's major teachings?

Answer 1

John Calvin preached the doctrine of Predestination, the destructive notion that you are already 'damned' or 'saved' but if you don't live a good Christian life (as Calvinists defines it), you are certain to be damned to everlasting Hell. **Just a little biased!! This is really what Calvin taught. Page numbers are from Calvin's Institutes Vol.2 (Library of Christian Classics edited by John T. McNeill) Eternal Election and Predestination *Do all Christians believe in the doctrine of predestination? All Christians who believe The Bible agree that The Bible teaches a doctrine of predestination. The word is clearly used in the Scriptures. However, believers disagree as to what this word means and whether it should be taught. *Should men be taught the doctrine of predestination? A. Importance of Teaching this Doctrine Some say that the doctrine is dangerous and shouldn't be taught, but Calvin says suppressing the teaching of this is a sin against both God and man. "They who shut the gates that no one may dare seek a taste of this doctrine wrong men no less than God. For neither will anything else suffice to make us humble as we ought to be nor shall we otherwise sincerely feel how much we are obliged to God." p.922 The doctrine of election, clearly shows us the debt we owe God for our salvation, and promotes in us humility, for we were not even around to contribute to our salvation. In the suppression of the doctrine there is also hidden arrogance: "But for those who are so cautious or fearful that they desire to bury predestination in order not to disturb weak souls-with what color will they cloak their arrogance when they accuse God indirectly of stupid thoughtlessness as if he had not foreseen the peril that they feel they have wisely met? Whoever, then, heaps odium upon the doctrine of predestination openly reproaches God, as if he had unadvisedly let slip something hurtful to the church." p.926 If God has revealed something, we should not hide it thinking it is a bad idea for people to know about it. In doing this we claim to be wiser than God. B. Biblical Doctrine of Predestination Summarized and Established "As Scripture, then, clearly shows, we say that God once established by His eternal and unchangeable plan those whom he long before determined once for all to receive into salvation, and those whom, on the other hand, he would devote to destruction. We assert that, with respect to the elect, this plan was founded upon his freely given mercy, without regard to human worth; but by his just and irreprehensible but incomprehensible judgment he has barred the door of life to those whom he has given over to damnation." p.931 Ephesians 1:3-6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. He chose us according to the good pleasure of His will, not because of anything in us. He chose us for His own glory. C. Is Foreknowledge the Basis of Predestination? All Christians who believe the Bible must believe in the doctrine of predestination, because the Bible clearly teaches it. The Bible uses the word and they must understand it to mean something. Some believe that God didn't predestine according to His own good pleasure. They believe that God predestined men to salvation or damnation based on His foreknowledge of their merits. God looked into the future and saw that they would do something worthy of salvation or damnation and predestined them accordingly. *Is foreknowledge the basis of election? First, Ephesians 1:5 gives us the reason for God's predestination: God "predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will..." Second, Ephesians 1:4 says, "God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy." If God chose us in order that we should be holy, then he did not choose us because He foresaw that we would be holy. Their doctrine inverts Paul's order, saying the things that result from election were actually the cause of election. Third, Ephesians 1:6 says, God "predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace." If election is according to the foreknown merits of men, then the doctrine cannot be to the praise of the glory of His grace. There is nothing gracious about God giving men what they deserve. D. Objections Answered Calvin expects objections: "Now when human understanding hears these things, its insolence is so irrepressible that it breaks forth into random and immoderate tumult as if at the blast of a battle Trumpet." p.947 Objection 1) If God universally invites all men to come but admits only the elect, then He is contradicting Himself. Answer: If God invites all men to come (Whosoever will...) and doesn't give them all an opportunity to hear the message, is He contradicting Himself? No Throughout history people have lived and died without hearing the message of the gospel. Because the invitation of the gospel is universal does not mean that all must have an equal opportunity to hear or respond to the message. Objection 2) Why would God predestine some to death who, since they did not yet exist, could not yet have deserved the judgment of death? This would be unjust! Answer: The final answer to all "Why" questions is "It was the will of God." We cannot get behind the will of God and determine why it was the will of God. A reason higher than God's will cannot be found. God did it because He wanted to. He has mercy on whom He wants and hardens whom He wants. People don't like this answer, but it is very similar to the one Paul gave in Romans chapter 9. Paul taught that the distinction between Jacob and Esau was made before they were born and had a chance to do good or evil. Romans 9:14-18 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion." So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth." Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. God has mercy on whomever He wills, and hardens whom He wills. He does whatever He pleases, and there is no higher answer to the "why" question. Objection 3) The doctrine of election takes away the guilt and responsibility of man. It would be unjust to find fault with those He predestined to damnation. The Apostle Paul answers this objection. Romans 9:18-21 Therefore He has mercy on whom He will, and whom He wills He hardens. You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?" But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?" Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? "And let us not be ashamed to submit our understanding to God's boundless wisdom so far as to yield before its many secrets. For, of those things which it is neither given nor lawful to know, ignorance is learned; the craving to know, a kind of madness." p.957 If you find in the Bible a clear teaching that you can't understand, then you must believe it in spite of your inability to understand it. God does not limit His activities to ones we are able to comprehend. He is free to do things we cannot comprehend! *Was an innocent man ever condemned by God? No innocent man has ever been condemned by God. So God is not unjust. Objection 4) Teaching the doctrine of predestination will lead people to a life of immorality. Men will say, "If life or death has been appointed by God's eternal decree, then I can't by my obedience or disobedience change a thing." Answer: Calvin admits that this has sometimes happened: "Obviously they are not completely lying, for there are many swine that pollute the doctrine of predestination with their foul blasphemies, and by this pretext evade all admonitions and reproofs...But the foul grunting of these swine is duly silenced by Paul." p.960 Any understanding of election that leads a person to be unconcerned about obedience to the commands of scripture is warped. For Paul teaches that election leads to holiness not disobedience. Ephesians 1:4 He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Warning: If your understanding of this doctrine leads you to conclusions that are clearly contrary to other portions of scripture, then you have not understood the doctrine. Ultimately, God can do whatever He pleases with His creatures. He is the potter and we are the clay. If we complain and argue, then the animals can too. "Let them answer why they are men rather than oxen or asses. Although it was in God's power to make them dogs, he formed them to his own image. Will they allow brute beasts to argue with God about their condition, as if the distinction were unjust?" p.933 E. The Comforts of the Doctrine of Election 1) When we preach the gospel, those ordained to eternal life will believe. We can expect fruit. Those who believe actually manifest their election by their faith. Acts 13:48 "As many as had been appointed to eternal life believed." 2) Our election assures us of our secure standing of favor with God, no matter who assails us. Romans 8:33 Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 3) Election gives assurance of our perseverance to the end. John 6:39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 4) The doctrine of election magnifies God's mercy Romans 9:16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. Answer John Calvin (1509-1564)

Protestant reformer who, nevertheless, continued to work for the Roman Catholic Inquisition Let it stand, therefore, as an indubitable truth, which no engines can shake, that the mind of man is so entirely alienated from the righteousness of God that he cannot conceive, desire, or design any thing but what is wicked, distorted, foul, impure, and iniquitous; that his heart is so thoroughly envenomed by sin that it can breathe out nothing but corruption and rottenness; that if some men occasionally make a show of goodness, their mind is ever interwoven with hypocrisy and deceit, their soul inwardly bound with the fetters of wickedness.

-- John Calvin, dicsuccing free will in Institutes, Book 2, end of Chapter 5; quoted from Dr Jonathon Host, personal letter to Cliff Walker (July 7, 2003), thanks for taking the time to share these findings with us! †† Who will venture to place the authority of Copernicus above that of the Holy Spirit?

-- John Calvin, pointing to Psalm 93:1 in his Commentary on Genesis **Calvin nowhere mentions Copernicus in his Genesis Commentary, nor in any of his writings for that matter. He did, however, hold to the Ptolemaic view of the universe like most scholars of his time. Copernicus did not publish his work until 1543 and Calvin died in 1564. The theory was quite new and had several centuries of accepted thinking to overcome.** [Those who assert that] the earth moves and turns ... [are motivated by] a spirit of bitterness, contradiction, and faultfinding; [possessed by the devil, they aimed] to pervert the order of nature.

-- John Calvin, sermon no. 8 on 1st Corinthians, cited in William J Bouwsma, John Calvin: A Sixteenth Century Portrait(1988), quoted from The Talk Origins Archive, "Cretinism or Evilution?: The Evils of Copernicanism" (we are on the lookout for a complete, intact version of this quip)

Answer 2

predestination (:

Answer 3

John Calvin preached the doctrine of Predestination, the destructive notion that you are already 'damned' or 'saved' but if you don't live a good Christian life (as Calvinists defines it), you are certain to be damned to everlasting Hell. **Just a little biased!! This is really what Calvin taught. Page numbers are from Calvin's Institutes Vol.2 (Library of Christian Classics edited by John T. McNeill) Eternal Election and Predestination *Do all Christians believe in the doctrine of predestination? All Christians who believe the Bible agree that the Bible teaches a doctrine of predestination. The word is clearly used in the Scriptures. However, believers disagree as to what this word means and whether it should be taught. *Should men be taught the doctrine of predestination? A. Importance of Teaching this Doctrine Some say that the doctrine is dangerous and shouldn't be taught, but Calvin says suppressing the teaching of this is a sin against both God and man. "They who shut the gates that no one may dare seek a taste of this doctrine wrong men no less than God. For neither will anything else suffice to make us humble as we ought to be nor shall we otherwise sincerely feel how much we are obliged to God." p.922 The doctrine of election, clearly shows us the debt we owe God for our salvation, and promotes in us humility, for we were not even around to contribute to our salvation. In the suppression of the doctrine there is also hidden arrogance: "But for those who are so cautious or fearful that they desire to bury predestination in order not to disturb weak souls-with what color will they cloak their arrogance when they accuse God indirectly of stupid thoughtlessness as if he had not foreseen the peril that they feel they have wisely met? Whoever, then, heaps odium upon the doctrine of predestination openly reproaches God, as if he had unadvisedly let slip something hurtful to the church." p.926 If God has revealed something, we should not hide it thinking it is a bad idea for people to know about it. In doing this we claim to be wiser than God. B. Biblical Doctrine of Predestination Summarized and Established "As Scripture, then, clearly shows, we say that God once established by His eternal and unchangeable plan those whom he long before determined once for all to receive into salvation, and those whom, on the other hand, he would devote to destruction. We assert that, with respect to the elect, this plan was founded upon his freely given mercy, without regard to human worth; but by his just and irreprehensible but incomprehensible judgment he has barred the door of life to those whom he has given over to damnation." p.931 Ephesians 1:3-6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. He chose us according to the good pleasure of His will, not because of anything in us. He chose us for His own glory. C. Is Foreknowledge the Basis of Predestination? All Christians who believe the Bible must believe in the doctrine of predestination, because the Bible clearly teaches it. The Bible uses the word and they must understand it to mean something. Some believe that God didn't predestine according to His own good pleasure. They believe that God predestined men to salvation or damnation based on His foreknowledge of their merits. God looked into the future and saw that they would do something worthy of salvation or damnation and predestined them accordingly. *Is foreknowledge the basis of election? First, Ephesians 1:5 gives us the reason for God's predestination: God "predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will..." Second, Ephesians 1:4 says, "God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy." If God chose us in order that we should be holy, then he did not choose us because He foresaw that we would be holy. Their doctrine inverts Paul's order, saying the things that result from election were actually the cause of election. Third, Ephesians 1:6 says, God "predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace." If election is according to the foreknown merits of men, then the doctrine cannot be to the praise of the glory of His grace. There is nothing gracious about God giving men what they deserve. D. Objections Answered Calvin expects objections: "Now when human understanding hears these things, its insolence is so irrepressible that it breaks forth into random and immoderate tumult as if at the blast of a battle trumpet." p.947 Objection 1) If God universally invites all men to come but admits only the elect, then He is contradicting Himself. Answer: If God invites all men to come (Whosoever will...) and doesn't give them all an opportunity to hear the message, is He contradicting Himself? No Throughout history people have lived and died without hearing the message of the gospel. Because the invitation of the gospel is universal does not mean that all must have an equal opportunity to hear or respond to the message. Objection 2) Why would God predestine some to death who, since they did not yet exist, could not yet have deserved the judgment of death? This would be unjust! Answer: The final answer to all "Why" questions is "It was the will of God." We cannot get behind the will of God and determine why it was the will of God. A reason higher than God's will cannot be found. God did it because He wanted to. He has mercy on whom He wants and hardens whom He wants. People don't like this answer, but it is very similar to the one Paul gave in Romans chapter 9. Paul taught that the distinction between Jacob and Esau was made before they were born and had a chance to do good or evil. Romans 9:14-18 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion." So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth." Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. God has mercy on whomever He wills, and hardens whom He wills. He does whatever He pleases, and there is no higher answer to the "why" question. Objection 3) The doctrine of election takes away the guilt and responsibility of man. It would be unjust to find fault with those He predestined to damnation. The Apostle Paul answers this objection. Romans 9:18-21 Therefore He has mercy on whom He will, and whom He wills He hardens. You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?" But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?" Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? "And let us not be ashamed to submit our understanding to God's boundless wisdom so far as to yield before its many secrets. For, of those things which it is neither given nor lawful to know, ignorance is learned; the craving to know, a kind of madness." p.957 If you find in the Bible a clear teaching that you can't understand, then you must believe it in spite of your inability to understand it. God does not limit His activities to ones we are able to comprehend. He is free to do things we cannot comprehend! *Was an innocent man ever condemned by God? No innocent man has ever been condemned by God. So God is not unjust. Objection 4) Teaching the doctrine of predestination will lead people to a life of immorality. Men will say, "If life or death has been appointed by God's eternal decree, then I can't by my obedience or disobedience change a thing." Answer: Calvin admits that this has sometimes happened: "Obviously they are not completely lying, for there are many swine that pollute the doctrine of predestination with their foul blasphemies, and by this pretext evade all admonitions and reproofs...But the foul grunting of these swine is duly silenced by Paul." p.960 Any understanding of election that leads a person to be unconcerned about obedience to the commands of scripture is warped. For Paul teaches that election leads to holiness not disobedience. Ephesians 1:4 He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Warning: If your understanding of this doctrine leads you to conclusions that are clearly contrary to other portions of scripture, then you have not understood the doctrine. Ultimately, God can do whatever He pleases with His creatures. He is the potter and we are the clay. If we complain and argue, then the animals can too. "Let them answer why they are men rather than oxen or asses. Although it was in God's power to make them dogs, he formed them to his own image. Will they allow brute beasts to argue with God about their condition, as if the distinction were unjust?" p.933 E. The Comforts of the Doctrine of Election 1) When we preach the gospel, those ordained to eternal life will believe. We can expect fruit. Those who believe actually manifest their election by their faith. Acts 13:48 "As many as had been appointed to eternal life believed." 2) Our election assures us of our secure standing of favor with God, no matter who assails us. Romans 8:33 Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 3) Election gives assurance of our perseverance to the end. John 6:39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 4) The doctrine of election magnifies God's mercy Romans 9:16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. Answer John Calvin (1509-1564)

Protestant reformer who, nevertheless, continued to work for the Roman Catholic Inquisition Let it stand, therefore, as an indubitable truth, which no engines can shake, that the mind of man is so entirely alienated from the righteousness of God that he cannot conceive, desire, or design any thing but what is wicked, distorted, foul, impure, and iniquitous; that his heart is so thoroughly envenomed by sin that it can breathe out nothing but corruption and rottenness; that if some men occasionally make a show of goodness, their mind is ever interwoven with hypocrisy and deceit, their soul inwardly bound with the fetters of wickedness.

-- John Calvin, dicsuccing free will in Institutes, Book 2, end of Chapter 5; quoted from Dr Jonathon Host, personal letter to Cliff Walker (July 7, 2003), thanks for taking the time to share these findings with us! †† Who will venture to place the authority of Copernicus above that of the Holy Spirit?

-- John Calvin, pointing to Psalm 93:1 in his Commentary on Genesis **Calvin nowhere mentions Copernicus in his Genesis Commentary, nor in any of his writings for that matter. He did, however, hold to the Ptolemaic view of the universe like most scholars of his time. Copernicus did not publish his work until 1543 and Calvin died in 1564. The theory was quite new and had several centuries of accepted thinking to overcome.** [Those who assert that] the earth moves and turns ... [are motivated by] a spirit of bitterness, contradiction, and faultfinding; [possessed by the devil, they aimed] to pervert the order of nature.

-- John Calvin, sermon no. 8 on 1st Corinthians, cited in William J Bouwsma, John Calvin: A Sixteenth Century Portrait(1988), quoted from The Talk Origins Archive, "Cretinism or Evilution?: The Evils of Copernicanism" (we are on the lookout for a complete, intact version of this quip)

Answer 4

predestination (:

Answer 5

Humanism