THE FIVE POINTS OF CALVINISM
"Weighed And Found Wanting"
George Bryson.
I recommend the article at the following link. It is long but well worth reading if you want to get an understanding of Calvinism as promoted by Calvinist teachers. The first part of the article (pages 1-26) is constructed mainly of quotes from Calvinist writers. In my opinion their statements expose the lie of Calvinism more effectively than any opponent of Calvinism could. Of course that is conditional upon how affected by Calvinism the reader’s theology has become.
I don’t think the second part of the article has the effect of the first. The writer doesn’t always present his own arguments as clearly as he could – and he doesn’t expose the errors of Calvinism anywhere as efficiently as the Calvinists have already done themselves earlier in the article.
I came across this article recently and have only just read through it. I don’t agree with all of the conclusions the author makes, but it’s still a very interesting read.
The Five Points of Calvinism -"Weighed and Found Wanting" by George Bryson
1 comment:
Having looked at George Bryson's work, I notice that Calvinism still is unable to explain how ANY Bible could be valid, in view of Total Depravity. If Man is Totally Unable to advance the cause of his own Salvation, he would not be competant to translate or publish any Bible. Now, when push came to shove during the Council of carthage of 397 AD, we cannot be assured that the Church Fathers made the correct selection when they excluded the Gnostic Gospels, the very books that mmost agree with the Calvinist Position. Chapter XXXI of the Westminster COnfession voids the authority of ANY and ALL Church Councils, including Carthage, which allegedly settled the issue of what books went into the Bible.
Historically, John Calvin was certainly aware of the Albigenessees and the Bogomils, who were species of Manicheans left over from Iconoclasm, and certainly borrowed heavily from their doctrines. I have my doubts that John Calvin had the intelligence to put together TULIP, and feel that he must have been acquainted with some old Manichean source material such as the Gospels according to Judas, Phiillip, and Thomas. Article XXXI of the Westminster certainly permits the reinstatement of these books into the Cannon at a later date, as well as the exclusion of the Books of James and Hebrews, which Calvinists detest.
Bryson's essay is a good read, but it doesn't go far enough! Granted, it is an Evangelical Refutation to Calvinism. I'm not an Evangelical, I am Orthodox, though I prefer to contrast myself from Evangelicals with the term Apostolic. Apostolic refers to the handing down of Pastorages and Priesthoods to successor Pastors and Priests in symbolism of the testimony of the Bishops who originally attested to the validity of each book of Scripture via St. Irenaeus and the Council of Carthage.
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