Quotes from Camp

"Where we are and where we have been deeply affects who we think God is and what we think God wants us to be."

Lee Camp, "Mere Discipleship: Radical Christianity in a Rebellious World"

Calvinism: a received tradition

© Sely Friday 2009 NASSIO.COM

Evangelicals who are being ‘convinced’ of the Reformed doctrines of grace, as expressed by the acronym TULIP, should understand an important point.  Nobody’s understanding of God is shaped by Scripture alone.  

Calvinists will quote you their ‘proof texts’ in an attempt to prove that Calvinism is biblical.  Some of these ‘proof texts’ include (but are not limited to) John 6:44; Acts 13:48; Romans 8:29-30; and 9:15-24.  But have you ever stopped to consider this: Calvinists have learned the Bible by a ‘received’ tradition; i.e. Calvinism!  This means when they quote Scripture they interpret it by their ‘received’ tradition.  

Now consider this.  The Church throughout her history has done the same.  The Church has taught Scripture by her ‘received’ tradition.  This means that you can look back in history to learn what the Church has ‘believed everywhere, always, and by all’ (aka "The Vincentian Rule/Canon").  

Now what about those ‘proof texts’ that Calvinists use?  Can you study what the Church has taught concerning these?  Can you learn what the Church has said about election, predestination, grace, and free will?  Yes; you can!  Start with the Church Fathers (both Greek and Latin).  Learn from the undivided Catholic Church (please notice that I did not say Roman Catholic; there is a difference!).  If you take this journey, you may be surprised by what you discover.  

I've been on this journey for about three years now.  And this is what I've discovered: The Reformed doctrines of grace; known as TULIP (Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace, and Perseverance of the saints), are NOT part of the consensual teaching of the Church.  I am grateful to God for the journey and this discovery.  And I'm happy to say that, as a result, I'm no longer a Calvinist.  Today many evangelicals are taking the same journey and making the same discovery.  And they too are turning away from Calvinism.  Hopefully that will continue to increase.   

A Word from Michael Ramsey

"It is when the heart of a priest has been broken by Christ’s love and his will broken in Christ’s obedience that he brings the knowledge of Christ to the people whom he serves."

100th Archbishop of Canterbury, 
Michael Ramsey  

The Gift of Moral Freedom

"Goodness is worthless unless freely chosen in the face of possible evil."

Vernon Staley, "The Catholic Religion: A Manual of Instruction for Members of the Anglican Church," p.152

Sola Scriptura?

"We said above, that it has always been the custom of Catholics, and still is, to prove the true faith in these two ways; first by the authority of the Divine Canon, and next by the tradition of the Catholic Church. Not that the Canon alone does not of itself suffice for every question, but seeing that the more part, interpreting the divine words according to their own persuasion, take up various erroneous opinions, it is therefore necessary that the interpretation of divine Scripture should be ruled according to the one standard of the Church's belief, especially in those articles on which the foundations of all Catholic doctrine rest." 

St. Vincent of Lerins, "Commonitorium" 

Sola Scriptura?

"No matter how one looks at the history, it is difficult to maintain that the church had a closed New Testament canon for the first four hundred years of its existence. This means that an appeal to the "Bible" as the early church's sole rule for faith and life is anachronistic."

Craig Allert, "A High View of Scripture? The Authority of the Bible and the Formation of the New Testament Canon"