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Table of Contents: Statement of The DoctrineThe Foreknowledge of God Outline of Systems The Scriptures are The Final Authority By Which Systems are to be Judged A Warning Against Undue Speculation The Five Points of Calvinism Chart: "Calvinism v Arminianism" Total Inability Unconditional Election Limited Atonement Efficacious Grace The Perseverance Of The Saints That It Is Fatalism That It Is Inconsistent With the Free Agency And Moral Responsibility of Man That It Makes God the Author of Sin That It Discourages All Motives To Exertion That It Represents God As A Respecter of Persons, Or As Unjustly Partial That It Is Unfavorable To Good Morality That It Precludes A Sincere Offer of The Gospel To The Non-Elect That It Contradicts The Universalistic Scripture Passages Salvation By Grace Personal Assurance That One Is Among The Elect Predestination In The Physical World A Comparison With The Mohammedan Doctrine of Predestination The Practical Importance of The Doctrine Calvinism in History |
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Reformed Doctrine of Predestination
Chapter XXVII - The Practical Importance Of The Doctrine Next Chapter
1. Influence
of the Doctrine in Daily Living. 1. INFLUENCE OF THE DOCTRINE IN DAILY LIVING This is not a
cold, barren, speculative theory, not an unnatural system of strange doctrines
such as many people are inclined to believe, but a most warm and The Christian
who has this doctrine in his heart knows that he is following a heaven-directed
course; that his course has been foreordained for him personally; and that it is
a good course. He does not yet understand all of the details, but even amid
adversities he can look forward confident of the future, knowing that his
eternal destiny is fixed and forever blessed, and that nothing can possibly rob
him of this priceless treasure. He realizes that after he has finished the
course here he shall look back over it and see that every single event in it was
designed of God for a particular purpose, and that he will be thankful for
having been led through those particular experiences. Once convinced of these
truths, he knows that the day is surely coming when to all those who grieve or
persecute him he shall be able to say, as did Joseph to his brothers, "As for
you, ye meant evil against me, but God meant it for good." This exalted
conception of God as high and lifted up yet personally concerned with even the
smallest events leaves no place for what men commonly call chance, or luck, or
fortune. When a person sees himself as one of the Lord's chosen and knows that
every one of his acts has an eternal significance, he realizes more clearly how
serious life is, and he is fired with a new determination to make his life count
for great things. 2. A SOURCE OF SECURITY AND COURAGE "It is the
doctrine of a particular providence," says Rice, "that gives to the righteous a
feeling of security in the midst of danger; that gives them assurance that the
path of duty is the path of safety and of prosperity; and that encourages them
to the practice of virtue, even when it exposes them to the greatest reproach
and persecution. How often, when clouds and darkness seem to gather over them,
do they rejoice in the assurance given by their Saviour, 'I will never leave
thee, nor forsake thee.' " 2 The sense of security which this
doctrine gives to the struggling saint results from the assurance that he is not
committed to his own power, or rather weakness, but into the sure hands of the
Almighty Father,
that over him is the banner of love and underneath are the everlasting arms. He
realizes that even the Devil and wicked men, regardless of whatever tumults they
may cause, are not only restrained of God but are compelled to do His pleasure.
Elisha, lonely and forgotten, counted those who were with him more than those
who were against him, because he saw the chariots and horsemen of the Lord
moving in the clouds. The disciples, knowing that their names were written in
heaven, were prepared to endure persecutions, and on one occasion we read that
after being beaten and reviled "they departed from the presence of the council
rejoicing that they were accounted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name," Acts 5 :41. "The godly
consideration of predestination, and our election in Christ," says the
seventeenth article in the creed of the Church of England, "is full of sweet,
pleasant, and unspeakable comfort to godly persons." Paul's injunction was, "In
nothing be anxious." And it is only when we know that God actually rules from
the throne of the universe, and that He has ordained us to be his loved ones,
that we can have that inward peace in our hearts. Dr. Clarence E.
Macartney, in a sermon on Predestination, said: "The misfortunes and adversities
of life, so called, assume a different color when we look at them through this
glass. It is sad to hear people trying to live over their lives again and saying
to themselves: 'If I had chosen a different profession,' 'If I had taken a
different turning of the road,' 'If I had married another person.' All this is
weak and unChristian. The web of destiny we have woven, in a sense, with our own
hands, and yet God had His part in it. It is God's part in it, and not our part,
that gives us faith and hope." And Blaise Pascal, in a wonderful letter written
to a bereaved friend, instead of repeating the ordinary platitudes of
consolation comforted him with the doctrine of Predestination, saying: "If we
regard this event, not as an effect of chance, not as a fatal necessity of
nature, but as a result inevitable, just, holy, of a decree of His Providence,
conceived from all eternity, to be executed in such a year, day, hour, and such
a place and manner, we shall adore in humble silence the impenetrable loftiness
of His secrets; we shall venerate the sanctity of His decrees; we shall bless
the acts of His providence; and uniting our will with that of God Himself, we
shall wish with Him, in Him and for Him, the thing that He has willed in us and
for us for all eternity." Since the true
Calvinist sees God's hand and wise purpose in everything, he knows that even his
sufferings, sorrows, persecutions, defeats, etc., are not the results of chance
or accident, but that they have been foreseen and foreappointed, and that they
are chastisements or disciplines designed for his own good. He realizes that God
will not needlessly afflict His people; that in the divine plan these are all
ordered in number, weight and measure; and that they shall not continue a moment
longer than God sees necessary. In sorrow his heart instinctively clings to this
faith, feeling that for reasons wise and gracious though unknown, the affliction
was sent. However keenly afflictions may at first wound, a little reasoned
thought quickly brings him to himself again, and the sorrows and tribulations,
in great measure, become pointless. And in
accordance with this the Scriptures say: "To them that love God all things work together for good," Romans 8:28; "My son,
regard not lightly the chastening of the Lord, Nor faint when thou art reproved
of Him; For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, And scourgeth every son whom he
receiveth," Hebrews 12:5, 6. "It is Jehovah: let Him do what seemeth Him good," 1 Samuel 3:18. "For I reckon that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory
which shall be revealed to us-ward," Romans
8:18. "Blessed are ye when men Our
predestination is our one sure guarantee of salvation. Other things may give us
comfort, but only this can This system,
logical and severe though it may be, does not make one sad and silent, but
courageous and active. Knowing himself to be immortal until his work is
done, Yet along with
these motives for courage are to be found 3. CALVINISTIC EMPHASIS ON THE DIVINE AGENCY He will be only
a very imperfect Christian who does not know these deeper truths which are
brought to light by the doctrine of Predestination. He can have no adequate
appreciation of the glory of God, nor of the riches of grace which are given him
through redemption in Christ; for nowhere else as brightly as in the
predestination of the elect to life does the glory of God shine out in its
full-orbed splendor, undimmed and unsullied by human works of any kind. It shows
us that all that we are and all that we have that is desirable we owe to His
grace. It rebukes human pride and exalts Divine mercy. It makes man to be
nothing and God to be everything, and thus preserves the proper relation between
the creature and the infinitely exalted Creator. It exalts one absolute
Sovereign, who is the universal Ruler, and humbles all other sovereigns before
Him, thus showing that all men in themselves and apart from God's special favor
are on the same level. It has championed the rights of mankind wherever it has
gone, in the State as well as in the Church. The doctrine of
Predestination emphasizes the Divine side of salvation while its rival system
emphasizes the human side. It impresses upon us the fact that our salvation is
purely of grace, and that we were no better than those who are left to suffer
for their sins. It thus leads us to be more charitable and tolerant toward the
unsaved and to be eternally thankful that God has saved us. It shows us that in
our fallen state our wisdom is folly, our strength It must be
evident that there are just two theories which can be maintained by evangelical
Christians upon this important subject; that all men who have made any study of
it, and who have reached any settled conclusions regarding it, must be either Calvinists or Arminians. There is no other position which a "Christian" can take. Those
who deny the sacrificial nature of Christ's death turn to a system of self
salvation or naturalism, and cannot be called "Christians" in the historical and
only proper sense of the term. By way of
comparison we may say that the Lutheran Church emphasizes the fact that
salvation is by faith alone; the Baptist Church emphasizes the importance of the
sacraments, particularly baptism, and the right of individuals and of
congregations to exercise private judgment in religious affairs; the Methodist
Church emphasises the love of God to men, and man's responsibility to God; the
Congregational Church emphasizes the right of private judgment and of local
congregations to manage their own affairs; the Roman Catholic Church emphasizes
the unity of the Church, and Dr. Warfield has
given us a good analysis of the formative principles which underlie the Lutheran
and the Reformed Churches. After saying that the distinction is not that the
Lutherans deny the sovereignty of God, nor that the Reformed deny that salvation
is by faith alone he adds: "Lutheranism, springing from the throes of a
guiltburdened soul seeking peace with God, finds this peace in faith, and
stops right there... It will know nothing beyond the peace of the justified
soul. Calvinism asks with the same eagerness as Lutheranism the great question:
'What shall I do to be saved?' and answers it precisely as Lutheranism answers
it. But it cannot stop there. The deeper question presses upon it, 'Whence this
faith by which I am justified?' . . . . It has zeal, no doubt, for salvation,
but its highest zeal is for the honor of God, and it is this question which
quickens its emotions and vitalizes its efforts. It begins, it centers, and it
ends with the vision of God in His glory; and it sets itself before all things
to render to God His rights in every sphere of life activity." 5 And again he says: "It is the vision of God in His majesty, in a
word, which lies at the foundation of Calvinistic thinking," and after a man has
seen this vision he "is filled on the one hand with a sense of his own
unworthiness to stand in God's sight, as a creature, and much more as a sinner,
and on the other with adoring wonder that nevertheless this God is a God who
receives sinners." All dependence on self is gone, and he casts himself on the
grace of God alone. In nature, in history, in grace, everywhere, from eternity
to eternity, he sees the all-pervading activity of God. If God has a
definite plan for the redemption of man it is very important that we shall know
what that plan is. The We have no
hesitation in affirming that this system of belief and doctrine, as given by
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is the true and final system of Philosophy.
Furthermore, Theology studies God Himself, while the physical sciences and
liberal arts study only His garments. In the very nature of the case, therefore
Theology must be the "Queen of the Sciences." Philosophy, as it has usually been
studied by the different schools of thought, is indeed the ground and mistress
of the merely human sciences, but is itself only an auxiliary science in the
study of Theology. Calvinistic
Theology is the greatest subject that has ever exercised the mind of man. Its
very starting point is a profound apprehension of the exaltation and perfection
of God. With its sublime doctrines of God's sovereign grace, power, and glory,
it rises to far greater heights than does any other system. In fact, the one to
whom it is presented is moved to cry with the psalmist, "Such knowledge is too
wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain unto it"; or to exclaim with the
apostle Paul, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of
God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!"
(Psalm 139: 6; Romans 11:33). It is a subject which has challenged the intellects of all
great thinkers in earnest times, and there is little wonder that we are told
that these are things which angels desire to look into. To pass from other
systems to this one is like passing from the mouth of a river and launching out
on the mighty ocean. We leave 4. ONLY CALVINISM WILL STAND ALL TESTS The harmony
which exists between all the branches of Scriptural doctrine is such that truth
or error in regard to any of them almost inevitably produces truth or error, in
a greater or less degree, in regard to all the others,
which means that only Calvinists hold views which are, in all respects,
Scriptural in regard to any of the leading doctrines of Christianity. This does
not mean that the main substance of the most important doctrines, such as the
Divinity of Christ, His sacrificial death, His resurrection, the work of the
Holy Spirit, etc., are not held by others; but that the general tendency of
mistaken views in regard to these distinctively Calvinistic tenets is to lead to
greater departures from sound doctrines on other subjects. As a general rule
anti-Calvinists so seriously impoverish doctrines such as the atonement, the
agency of the Holy Spirit, the guilt and inability of man, regeneration, etc.,
that these are often little more than empty words; and along with this
impoverishment goes the tendency to neglect them entirely. AntiCalvinists
commonly make little distinction between the objective work of Christ
for us, and the
subjective work in
us; and for all practical purposes the atonement is reduced to little or nothing
else than an exhibition and proof of God's indiscriminate love to men, through
which it is shown that God is ready and willing to forgive. The tendency of
other systems is to the "moral persuasion" theory of the atonement, while
Calvinism holds that the suffering of Christ was a full satisfaction made to the
justice of God,
that his sufferings were a full equivalent of those which were due to His people
for their sin. We are living in
a day in which we see practically all of the historic Protestant churches
attacked by unbelief from within. Many of them have already succumbed; and the
line of descent has invariably been from Calvinism to Arminianism, and from
Arminianism to Modernism or Unitarianism; and this latter state has proved to be
self-destructive. We firmly believe that the fortunes of
Christianity are bound up with the fortunes of
Calvinism. Certainly the history of Modernism and Unitarianism in this country
has proved that they are too weak to maintain themselves. Where the principles
of Calvinism are abandoned, there is a powerful tendency leading downward into
the depths of Naturalism. Some have declared
and rightly we believe
that there is no consistent middle ground between Calvinism and Atheism. These
distinctions which we have set forth between Calvinism and Arminianism are broad
and important; and until one has made a special study of these truths he does
not realize what a large amount of heresy has been incorporated into the
Arminian system. If one system is true, the other is radically false. As strict
Calvinists we believe these doctrines to embody final truth and to be eternally
right. We believe this to be the only system of Christian truth
which is taught in the Bible and the only one that can be logically and
respectably defended before the world. And certainly it is much easier to defend
a type of Christianity which is in harmony with both Scripture and reason than
to defend any other type. We believe that Calvinism and consistent theism do not
merely have points of contact but that they are identical, and that to fall away
from Calvinism is to fall away by just so much from a truly theistic conception
of the universe. Dr. Warfield has said that Calvinism is "Theism come to its
rights," that it is "Evangelicalism in its pure and only stable expression,"
that it is "religion at the height of its conception." We believe that the
future of Christianity
as its past has done
lies in its hands, and that as Christianity progresses in the world this system
of doctrine will gradually come to the front. Because of the
inconsistent position of Arminianism as a half-way measure between a religion of
grace and a religion of works, it has been able to offer but little resistance
to the naturalistic tendencies of the last few years. Practically all of the
professedly Arminian churches have been swallowed up by the present day
Liberalism. "If we are not
only to defend Christianity against modern attacks," says Dr. S. G. Craig, "but
to commend it with any hope of success to the modern world, we must
undertake It is very
interesting to notice how, in the history of the Church, other systems of
theology have risen and fallen while this system has steadily endured.
Arminianism, in its present form at least, is of comparatively recent date. From
the time of the Reformation until late in the eighteenth century it was
consistently outlawed by Protestant church In Calvinism alone does the logical and consistent mind find rest. That it is a logical system is admitted even by its opponents. A man who is acquainted with Calvinism will either love or hate it, but even if he hates it, he cannot but speak respectfully of it. The criticism is sometimes made that it places too much stress on logic and too little on emotion. It is true that this anthracite Calvinism does not blaze up like straw; but it is also true that once afire it produces an intense and steady heat. "Calvinism," says Prof. H. H. Meeter, "bears the distinction among religious groups of being highly intellectual. Calvinism is known for its dialectics. The Calvinists are recognized as the logicians par excellence among theologians. Oliver Wendell Holmes even went so far as to satirize this aspect of Calvinism in his burlesque: 'The Deacon's Masterpiece.' The old one-hoss shay, which was so well constructed that every nut and bolt and bar and spoke was of equal strength and collapsed all at once before the meeting house, was to him the story of Calvinism. As a masterpiece of logic it had continued for ages, but was supposed to have collapsed completely when transcendentalism gained the ascendancy in New England." 6 The objection,
however, that it over-emphasizes logic, 5. THESE DOCTRINES NOT UNREASONABLE WHEN Perhaps no other
system of thought has been so grossly and grievously and at times so
deliberately misrepresented as has Calvinism. Many of those who have criticized
Calvinism have done so without making any adequate study of the system, and it
may truly be said that our opponents in general know little of our opinions
except what they have picked up by hearsay in which there is neither connection
nor consistency. The doctrine of Predestination especially makes the wisdom of
the world a laughing stock, and in turn the wisdom of the world scoffs at
Predestination. If any doctrine is to the Jews a stumbling block and to the
Gentiles foolishness, certainly this one is. Nakedly stated, the doctrine of
Predestination seems paradoxical; and those who are acquainted with no more than
the mere statement of it are likely to feel surprised that it could have been
maintained by the pious and thoughtful minds that have maintained it. But in
this case, as in many others, when we carefully examine its ground and
construction, its paradoxical character is at least diminished, if it does not
disappear altogether. Hence we ask
that this system shall be examined without passion and that it shall be studied
in its relations and logical consistency. We have already seen that it is
abundantly established on Scripture authority; and when we add to this the
evidence which comes from the laws of Nature and the facts of human life, it
becomes altogether possible, probable, just, and righteous. Viewed in this light
it ceases to be the arbitrary illogical, immoral doctrine that its opponents
delight to picture, and becomes a doctrine which sheds glory on the divine
Majesty. These, of course, are not the doctrines which the natural man expects
to find. Salvation by works is the system which most naturally appeals to
unenlightened reason; and if we had been left to develop a system ourselves,
there is hardly one chance in a thousand that we would have developed a system
in which a redeemer acting in his representative capacity would have earned
these blessings and graciously given them to his people. Says Zanchius, "The
judgment of the flesh, or of mere unregenerates reason, usually starts back from
this truth with horror; but, on the contrary, the judgment of a spiritual man
will embrace it with affection," (p. 152). "If Arminianism most commends itself
to our feelings," says Froude, "Calvinism is nearer to the facts, however harsh
and forbidding those facts may seem." It is plain that Calvinism makes its
appeal to Divine revelation rather than to man's reason; to facts rather than
sentiment; to knowledge rather than supposition; to conscience rather than to
emotion. As stated
before, many people see nothing in this system but a strange sort of
foolishness. But when studied with a little care these doctrines are found to be
neither so uncertain nor so difficult as men would lead us to believe; and the
uncertainty and difficulty which does attach to them is due largely to our
pride, love of sin, and ignorance of the real state of our heart. Those who have
come to accept this system almost feel that they are living in a different
world, so different is their outlook upon life. "Wherever the sons of God turn
their eyes," says Calvin, "they behold such wonderful instances of blindness,
ignorance and insensibility, as fills them with horror; while they, in the midst
of such darkness, have received Divine illumination, and know it, and feel it,
to be so." 7 If we may
paraphrase the words of Pope we can most fittingly say of this subject: "A
little Predestination is a dangerous thing; Then drink deep, or else touch not
the sacred spring." Here, as in some other instances, first draughts confuse and
unsettle the mind, but deeper draughts overcome the intoxicating effects and
bring us back to our right senses. This sublime philosophy of God's sovereignty and man's freedom is found in all parts of the Bible. No attempt, however, is made to explain to us how these two factors are related. The unvarying assumption is that God is the Sovereign Ruler who governs even the intimate thoughts and feelings and impulses of men; yet on the other hand man is never represented as anything else than an intelligent, free, moral agent who is responsible for his actions. The doctrines of foreordination, sovereignty, and effectual providential control, go hand in hand with those of the liberty and responsibility of rational creatures. It is not claimed that the doctrine of Predestination is free from all difficulties, but it is claimed that its denial is attended with more and greater difficulties. That a Being of infinite wisdom, power and goodness would create a universe and then turn it adrift like some huge vessel without a pilot, is a supposition which subverts our basic ideas of God, which contradicts the repeated testimony of the Scriptures, and which is contrary to our daily experience and common sense. Charles Hodge prefaces his discussion of "The Decrees of God," with the following statement: "It must be remembered that Theology is not Philosophy. It does not assume to discover truth, or to reconcile what it teaches as true with all other truths. Its province is simply to state what God has revealed in His word, and to vindicate those statements as far as possible from misconceptions and objections. This limited and humble office of Theology it is especially necessary to bear in mind, when we come to speak of the acts and purposes of God. 'The things of God knoweth no man; but the Spirit of God' (1 Corinthians 2:11). In treating, therefore, of the decrees of God, all that is proposed is simply to state what the Spirit has seen fit to reveal on that subject." 8 6. THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY AND THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION This system of
Theology, which is usually referred to as Calvinism or the Reformed Faith, finds
its most perfect expression in the Westminster Confession. The Westminster
Assembly was called together by the English Parliament. Its work extended over a
period of five and one half years, and was finished in 1648. It was a
representative body, made up of one hundred and twenty-one ministers or
theologians, eleven lords, twenty commoners, from all the counties of England
and the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, with seven commissioners from
Scotland. And whether judged by the extent and ability of its labors, or by its
influence upon later generations, it stands first among Protestant councils. The
most important production of the Assembly was its Confession of Faith, a
matchless compendium of Biblical truth which was the noblest achievement of the
best period of British Protestantism. It has rightly been called the theological
masterpiece of the last four centuries. Dr. Warfield said of the Westminster
Confession that it was "The most complete, the most fully elaborated and
carefully guarded, the most perfect, and the most vital expression that has ever
been framed by the hand of man, of all that enters into what we call evangelical
religion, and of all that must be safeguarded if evangelical religion is to
persist in the world." Dr. F. W.
Loetscher, in an address before the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church,
U. S. A., 1929, referred to the Westminster Standards as, "these incomparable
works of religious and theological genius;" "those noblest products of the great
religious revival that we call the Reformation; those matchless formularies
which at least English-speaking Christendom has come to regard as the most
comprehensive, precise, and adequate embodiment of the pure Gospel of the grace
of God." And in the same address he also said, "I realize that such a
characterization of these venerable documents will appear to many, even among
those whom I have the honor of addressing on this occasion, as an unwarranted
exaggeration, if not a sheer anachronism. For the fashion of the day minimizes
the value of creeds, and our Confession, like many others, must often undergo
the sorrowful experience of being damned with faint praise even in the home of
its reputed adherents." Dr. Curry, who
for a time was Editor of the "Methodist Advocate" of New York, in an editorial
on Creeds, called the Westminster Confession "the ablest, clearest, and
most In these
standards we have the grandest conception of theological truth that has ever
entered the mind of man. As a system it exhibits far more depth of theological
insight than does any other, and it is worthy the admiration of the ages. It is
a system which produces men of strong doctrinal convictions. The person who
holds it has a definite basis for belief and is not "tossed to and fro and
carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness,
after the wiles of error." But while the
Westminster Confession is so logically wrought out, so clear and comprehensive
in its statements, how sadly it is neglected today by the members and even by
the ministers of the Presbyterian and Reformed Churches! "The Confession of
Faith," says Dr. Frank H. Stevenson, the first president of the Board of
Trustees of Westminster Theological Seminary, "remains in the Constitution of
the Presbyterian Church, neglected, well-nigh forgotten, but unamended,
untinkered with in twenty-five years of doctrinal confusion. It is the creed of
the church, and every line sustains a courageous stand. Not for its own sake
alone, but because it gives full honor to Christ it is a worthy standard beneath
which to carry on what Paul prophetically called 'the good fight of faith.' "
9 With those words we fully agree. 7. THESE DOCTRINES SHOULD BE PUBLICLY TAUGHT The doctrine of
sovereign Predestination, as well as the other distinctive doctrines of the
Calvinistic system, should be publicly taught and preached in order that true
believers may know themselves to be special
objects of God's love and mercy, and that they
may be confirmed and strengthened in the assurance of their salvation. What a
misfortune it is for the truth which reflects so much glory upon its Author and
which is the very foundation of happiness in man to be suppressed or to be
confined merely to those who are specializing in Theology ! For the Christian
this should We are commanded
to go and "preach the gospel"; but in so far as any part of it is mutilated or
passed over in silence we are unfaithful to that command. Certainly no Christian
minister is at liberty to take his scissors and cut out of his Bible all of
those passages which are not to his liking. Yet for all practical purposes is
not that the effect when important doctrines are deliberately passed over in
silence? Paul could say to his Christian converts, "I shrank not from declaring
unto you anything that was profitable"; and again, "I testify unto you this day,
that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I shrank not from declaring unto
you the whole counsel of God," Acts 20:20, 26,
27. If the Christian minister today would be able to
say this, let him beware of withholding such important truth. Paul repeatedly
referred to these doctrines. His letter to the Romans (chs. 8 to 11) and to the Ephesians (chs. 1 and 2) are the most prominent in this
respect. In writing to the Romans he was in effect bringing these things before
the whole world and stamping a universal
imprimatur upon them; and if he considered them
so important that they should be written to the primitive Christians in the
young church at Rome which he had not visited, we may be sure that they are
important for Christians today. Christ and the apostles preached these things,
and that not merely to a few people but to the multitudes. There is hardly a
chapter in the Gospel of John which does not either mention or imply election or
reprobation. When a plain, straight-forward, common-sense man asks, "Is the
doctrine of Predestination taught in the Bible?" the answer certainly should be
in the affirmative,
that it is constantly taught in both the Old and the New Testaments.
Furthermore, the Westminster Confession states it very explicitly. Hence we are
to teach it and to explain it in so far as that is possible. Paul urges us to
"put on the whole armor of God"; yet what a large part of that armor a person
lacks if he is ignorant of this great doctrine of Predestination! Augustine
rebuked those in his day who were passing over the doctrine of Predestination in
silence, and when he was sometimes charged with preaching it too freely he
refuted the charge by saying that where Scripture leads we may follow. Luther,
and especially Calvin, strongly emphasized these truths, and Calvin developed
them so clearly and forcefully that the system has ever since been called
"Calvinism." Not only in the countries where the Reformation was at its best,
but later in Holland, Scotland, England at the time of the Westminster Assembly,
and America during the earlier periods of her history, these doctrines were
commonly preached and were the means of developing deep religious convictions in
all classes of people. It was Calvin's
conviction that the doctrine of Election should be made the very center of the
Church's confession, and that if it were not thus emphasized the Church should
be prepared to see this wonderful doctrine buried and forgotten. The correctness
of his views is shown by the fact that those groups which did not emphasize it,
whether in England, Scotland, Holland, the United States, or Canada, have, for
all practical purposes, lost it completely. The one who is
entrusted with a message from the King must give it as he has received it; and
surely the greatest of all messages, that of predestination unto life, should
not be passed over in silence. "An ambassador," says Zanchius, "is to deliver
the whole message with which he is charged. He is to omit no part of it, but
must declare the mind of the sovereign he represents, fully and without reserve.
He is to say neither more nor less than the instructions of his court require,
else he comes under displeasure, perhaps loses his head. Let the minister of
Christ weigh this well."11 These are doctrines which have been expressly given by divine
revelation. They make wholly for the divine glory, bringing comfort and courage
to the elect, and leaving sinners without excuse. True, man does not like to be
told that he is a sinner and unable to help himself. Such doctrine is too
humiliating. But if he is lost without Christ, the sooner he knows it the
better. For us to refuse to preach it is to be false to our Lord and negligent
in our duty to our fellow men. To ignore it is to act like a doctor who refuses
to operate to save the life of a patient because he knows the operation will
cause the patient pain. If these truths were fearlessly and courageously
preached Modernism and unbelief would not creep into our churches as they are
doing. The group of professing Christians would perhaps be smaller but more
loyal and effective in Christian works. The preaching of
these doctrines will, of course, stir up some controversy. But controversy is
not to he looked upon as an unmixed evil. As long as error exists there must be
controversy. The attacks which were made upon the doctrines of the Church by the
pagans and heretics during the early Christian centuries and in the Middle Ages
forced the Church to re๋xamine her doctrines, to work them out, to explain,
purify and fortify them. They compelled a closer study of the Bible. A number of
brilliant churchmen arose who wrote books and articles on the Christian Faith,
and as a result the Church was greatly enriched by the intellectual and
spiritual fruits thus produced. It is a mistake
to say that people will no longer listen to doctrinal preaching. Let the
minister believe his doctrines; The doctrine of
Predestination is a doctrine for genuine Christians. Considerable caution should
be exercised in preaching it to the unconverted. It is almost impossible to
convince a non-Christian of its truthfulness, and in fact the heart of the
unregenerate man usually revolts against it. If it is stressed before the
simpler truths of the Christian system are mastered, it will likely be
misunderstood and in that case it may only drive the person into deeper despair.
In preaching to the unconverted or to those who are just beginning the Christian
life, our part consists mainly in presenting and stressing man's part in the
work of salvation,
faith, repentance,
moral reform, etc. These are the elementary steps so far as man's consciousness
extends. At that early stage little need be said about the deeper truths which
relate to God's part. As in the study of Mathematics we do not begin with
algebra and calculus but with the simple problems of arithmetic, so here the
better way is to first present the more elementary truths. Then after the It is worthy of
notice that in developing his "Institutes" Calvin did not treat the doctrine of
Predestination in the early chapters. He first developed the other doctrines of
the Christian system and deliberately passed over this even in several cases
where we might naturally have expected to find it. Then in the last part of his
theological discussion it is developed fully and is made the crown and glory of
the entire system. It may be
further said that in preaching this doctrine care should be taken not to
exaggerate any statements, and also to show that it is founded not upon
arbitrary will but upon infinite wisdom and love. 8. ORDINATION VOWS AND THE
MINISTER'S Every minister
and elder who is ordained in the Presbyterian and Reformed churches solemnly
vows before God and men that he sincerely receives and adopts the Confession of
Faith of his church as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy
Scriptures, (Pres. Ch. U. S. A., see Form of Government, XIII :IV ; XV :XII)
.13 Since these confessions are thoroughly Calvinistic, this means
that none but Calvinists can honestly and intelligently accept this ordination.
An Arminian has not the slightest right to be Many young men
enter the ministry without any real acquaintance with the doctrine of the Church
in which they intend to serve, and when they hear of any who preach agreeably to
the Westminster Standards they consider them as "setters forth of strange
doctrines." The great need of the Church today is for men of firm convictions
and settled minds rather than the latitudinarian type of Modernists or Liberals
who wander to and fro rejoicing that they have no dogmatic opinions and no
theological preferences. It seems that the majority of our ministers no longer
believe these Calvinistic doctrines, and that many of them, contrary to their
solemn ordination vows, are putting forth by crafty and unfair methods their
strongest efforts to destroy the faith that they have solemnly sworn they have
been moved by the Holy Spirit to defend. If these doctrines are true they should
be clearly and aggressively taught and defended in our churches, seminaries, and
colleges. If they are not "The creed of a
Church," says Shedd, "is a solemn contract between church-members: even more so
than the platform of a political party is between politicians. The immorality of
violating a contract, some people do not seem to perceive when a religious
denomination is concerned; but when a political party is the body to be affected
by the breach of the pledge none are sharper to see and none are more vehement
to denounce the double-dealing. Should a faction arise within the Republican
party, for example, and endeavor to alter the platform while still retaining the
offices and salaries which they had secured by professing entire allegiance to
the party, and promising to adopt the fundamental principles upon which it was
founded and by which it is distinguished from the Democratic and other political
parties, the charge of political dishonesty would ring through the whole rank
and file of Republicanism. And when in the exercise of party discipline such
factionists are turned out of office, and perhaps expelled from the political
organization, if the cry of political heresyhunting and persecution should
be raised, the only answer vouchsafed by the Republican press would be that of
scorn. When political dishonesty would claim toleration under cover of more
'liberal' policies than the party is favoring, and would keep hold on party
emoluments while advocating different sentiments from those of the mass of the
party, it is curtly told that no one is compelled to join the Republican party
or to remain in it, but that if a person does join it or remains in it, he must
strictly adopt the party creed and make no attempts, secret or open, to alter
it. That a Republican creed is for
Republicans and no others, seems to be agreed on all sides; but that a
Calvinistic creed is for Calvinists and no others, seems to be doubted by some .
. . . "If in the heart of the Democratic party a school should arise which would claim the right, while remaining in the party, to convert the body to Republican principles and measures, it would be told that the proper place for such a project is outside of Democracy, not within it. The right of the school to its own opinions would not be disputed, but the right to maintain and spread them with the funds and influences of the Democratic party would be denied . . . . . They would say to the malcontents 'We cannot prevent you from having your own peculiar views and do not desire to, but you have no right to ventilate them in our organization.' " 14 Calvinistic
churches are sometimes accused of intolerance or persecution when departures
from the church creed are made the subject of judicial inquiry. We submit,
however, that this charge is unjust and that such a church is entirely within
her rights when she requires her ministers and teachers to conform their
preaching and teaching to the denominational standards. From these
considerations it will be clear why many of us have so little enthusiasm for
church union movements which would unite groups holding widely different systems
of doctrine. We believe the Calvinistic system to be the only one set forth in
the Scriptures and vindicated by reason, and therefore the most stable and
influential in the production of righteousness. Yet to all who differ from us we
cordially allow the right of private judgment, and sincerely rejoice in the good
which they are able to accomplish. We rejoice that other systems of theology
approximate ours; yet we cannot consent to impoverish our message by setting
forth less than what we find the Scriptures to teach. If a union could be
consummated in which Calvinism would be accepted as the system of truth taught
in the Bible, we should be delighted to enter into it; but we believe that for
us to accept anything short of that would be to surrender vital truth, and that
anything vague enough to embrace These doctrines,
now so disregarded or unknown if not openly opposed, were universally believed
and maintained by the reformers, and following the Reformation were written into
the creeds, catechisms, or articles of every one of the Protestant churches. Any
one who will compare the printed pulpit utterances of our own day with those of
the Reformers will have no difficulty in perceiving how contradictory and
irreconcilably hostile they are to each other. 9. THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IS TRULY BROAD While the
Presbyterian Church is pre๋minently a doctrinal Church, she never demands the
full acceptance of her standards by any applicant for admission to her fold. A
credible profession of faith in Christ is her only condition of Church
membership. She does demand that her ministers and elders shall be Calvinists;
yet this is never demanded of lay members. As Calvinists we gladly recognize as
our fellow Christians any who trust Christ for their salvation, regardless of
how inconsistent their other beliefs may be. We do believe, however, that
Calvinism is the only system which is wholly true. And while one can be a
Christian without believing the whole Bible, his Christianity will be imperfect
in proportion as he departs from the Biblical system of doctrine. In this
connection Prof. F. E. Hamilton has well said: "A blind, deaf and dumb man can,
it is true, know something of the world about him through the senses remaining,
but his knowledge will be very imperfect and probably inaccurate. In a similar
way, a Christian who never knows or never accepts the deeper teachings of the
Bible which Calvinism embodies, may be a Christian, but he will be a very
imperfect Christian, and it should be the duty It must always
be kept in mind that Calvinism includes much more than those peculiar features
which distinguish it from Arminianism. It holds firmly to the great doctrines of
the Trinity, the Divinity of Christ, the Miracles, the Atonement, the
Resurrection, the Inspiration of the Scriptures, etc., which form the common
faith of evangelical Christendom. In regard to the
truly broad and tolerant nature of the Presbyterian Church we shall now take the
privilege of quoting rather extensively from Dr. E. W. Smith's admirable little
book, "The Creed of Presbyterians,"
more than sixty-five thousand copies of which have already been
distributed. "The catholicity
of Presbyterianism, its liberality of thought and feeling, its freedom from
sectarian narrowness and bigotry, is one of its crowning characteristics . . .
The catholicity of Presbyterianism is no mere sentiment. It is not a thing of
individual profession or platform declamation. It is rooted in our creed. It is
proclaimed in our Standards. It is embodied in our doctrine of the Church. 'The
visible Church,' says our Confession, 'consists of all those throughout the
world who profess the true religion together with their children.' (Conf. of F.,
XXV:2). Thus, formally and publicly do we repudiate the name of 'the' church and
claim only to be a church of Jesus Christ. Not only do our Standards contain no
denunciation of the antagonistic views of sister Evangelical churches, they are
said to be the only church Standards in existence which make explicit and "The catholicity
of our standards finds beautiful expression in the Presbyterian attitude toward
all sister evangelical churches. While a branch of evangelical Christendom
unchurches all sister denominations, such action is abhorrent to Presbyterian
feeling and unknown to Presbyterian practice. Members and ministers of other
evangelical churches we treat as in all respects true members and ministers
equally with ourselves of the Church of Christ. "While several
of these churches decline giving letters of dismission from their own to other
communions, we make no distinctions. We dismiss members to Baptist, Episcopal or
other Christian congregations, in precisely the same form, and with the same
affectionate confidence, as though we were transferring them to churches of our
own name. "Some
evangelical denominations deny the validity of ordinances performed by sister
churches, and when a minister or a member would come to them from a sister
denomination, the one must be re-ordained, the other re-baptized. Such denial is
utterly contrary to the Presbyterian spirit and usage. We never repeat the rite.
The ordinance of a sister church we accept as no less valid than if performed by
ourselves. "While from many
evangelical pulpits the ministers of sister churches are shut out, or from
co-officiation in sacred ceremonies, such exclusion is never practiced by us. It
is alien to the Presbyterian heart and habit. We are as free and cordial in
asking Episcopal, Baptist, or other evangelical ministers, to occupy our
pulpits, or assist us officially in administering the Lord's Supper, as in
asking our own pastors. "We unchurch no
true Christian. We reject no ministerial ordination. We repudiate no
administered scriptural And again he
says: "The catholicity of the Presbyterian Church appears in her one condition
of church membership. She demands nothing whatever for admission to her fold
except a confession, uncontradicted by the life, of faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. The applicant is not asked to subscribe to our Standards or assent to
our theology. He is not required to be a Calvinist, but only to be a Christian.
He is not examined as to his orthodoxy, but only as to his 'faith in and
obedience unto Christ.' (Conf. of Faith, 28:4). He may have imperfect notions
about the Trinity and the Atonement; he may question infant baptism, election,
and final perseverance; but if he trusts and obeys Christ as his personal
Saviour and Lord, the door of the Presbyterian Church is open to him, and all
the privileges of her communion are his. "When churches
prescribe conditions of membership other than the simple conditions of
salvation, they are guilty of making it harder to get into the Church than into
heaven. To such ecclesiastical tyranny and exclusiveness the Presbyterian Church
stands in utter contrast. Her Standards declare that as simple faith in Christ
makes us members of God's family, so 'those who have made a profession of faith
in Christ are entitled to all the rights and privileges of the Church.' (Bk. Ch.
Order, III, 3.) Thus with a broad and beautiful catholicity the gates of our
Presbyterian Zion are flung wide as the gates of Heaven for all the children of
God," (pp. 199, 200) . After declaring
that the Presbyterian and Reformed constitute the largest Protestant family in
the world, Dr. Smith, in eloquent language, gives the following grand summary of
her missionary achievement: "More catholic and imposing even than the
Presbyterian numbers is the worldwide range of the Presbyterian empire. While
the adherents of other Protestant communions are more or less massed in single
countries, the Lutherans in Germany, the Episcopalians in England, the
Methodists and Paptists in the United States, the line of the Presbyterian
Church is gone out through all the earth. She thrives this hour in more
continents, among a greater number of nations and peoples and languages than any
other evangelical church in the world. As her witness in Continental Europe, she
has the historic Presbyterian Reformed Churches of Austria. Bohemia, Galicia,
Moravia, Hungary, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, of
Russia, and Switzerland and Spain. She is rooted and fruitful in England,
Scotland, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Dutch East
Indies,
the people of this faith and order gird the earth. Presbyterianism
possesses a power of adaptation unparalleled by any other system. It has
furnished an unduly large proportion of the outstanding preachers, evangelists,
editors, authors, educators, statesmen, and civic leaders; and from its abundant
spiritual life are going forth the mighty forces of Christian missions into all
the heathen world," ( p. 211) . 10. REASONS FOR THE DEPRESSED FORTUNES What reasons are
we to assign for the present day defection from Calvinism? That the celebrated
five points of the Calvinistic star are not shining so brightly today will
hardly be disputed by any one. When we consider the trend of present day thought
we readily conclude that the fortunes of Calvinism (if we may change the figure)
are not at their flood. In many places where it once flourished it has now
almost disappeared. There are practically no "Calvinists without reserve" left
among the acknowledged leaders of religious thought in France, Switzerland, or
Germany where History shows us
quite plainly, however, that periods of spiritual prosperity alternate with
periods of spiritual depression. But above all, we believe in the invincibility
of truth. "Truth crushed to earth shall rise again; The unending years of God
are hers." That Calvinism
has many adversaries is not to be wondered at. As long as the fact remains that,
"The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are
foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually
judged" (1 Corinthians 2:14), so long will this be a strange, foolish system to the natural
man. As long as fallen human nature remains as it is, and as long as the decree
stands that Christ Himself is to be "a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence"
to the natural man (1 Peter 2:8), these things will be an offense to many. Nor was it to be
marveled at that the immortal Swiss reformer who was called to such a prominent
place in the development and defence of these doctrines has been on the one hand
the most passionately loved and admired, and on the other the most bitterly
hated and abused, among all the outstanding leaders in the Church. Since faith and
repentance are special gifts from God, we should not be astonished at the
unbelief of the world; for even the wisest and acutest of men cannot believe unless they receive
these gifts. It is very appropriately written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the
wise, and the discernment of the discerning will I bring to naught"
(1 Corinthians 1:19) ; and
again, "The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He
taketh the wise in their craftiness; and This is a system
which has always been strongly opposed by the world, and it is as strongly
opposed now as ever. Indeed, how could it be otherwise when man by nature is at
enmity and war with Him from whose mind it has emanated? It is not to be
expected that God in His wisdom and man in his folly would agree. God is an
all-wise and all-holy sovereign; man unchanged is a sin-blinded rebel, who wants
no ruler and most certainly not an absolute ruler. Since the enmity of man's
heart toward the distinctive doctrines of the Cross is as great and as intense
as ever, a system such as Pelagianism or Naturalism, which teaches salvation by
our own good works, or such as Arminianism, which teaches salvation partly by
works and partly by grace, strikes a quicker response in the unregenerate heart.
When the Gospel becomes palatable to the natural man it ceases to be the Gospel
that Paul preached. And it is worth remembering here that in nearly every town
in which Paul preached his Gospel did cause either a riot or a revival and not
infrequently both. "Calvinism may be unpopular in some quarters," says
McFetridge. "But what of that? It cannot be more unpopular than the doctrines of
sin and grace as revealed in the New Testament" Another reason
for the depressed fortunes of Calvinism today is its tremendous emphasis upon
the supernatural. In all events and in all things, from eternity to eternity,
Calvinism sees God. His hand is visible in all the phenomena of nature and in
all the events of history. Through all occurrences His one increasing purpose
runs. We live in an age which is anti-supernaturalistic; hence it is
distinctively hostile to Calvinism. The emphasis today is upon the physical
sciences, upon rationalism in thought and sentiment. Even in present day
Christianity the tendency is to take the Bible merely as a human production and
to look upon Christ merely as the outstanding man. Present day Modernism, which
in its consistent form is pure naturalism and In the following
words Dr. B. B. Warfield, that giant of thought and action, has given us a good
analysis of the attitude which the world has taken toward Calvinism in recent
years. After saying that Calvinism is "Theism come to its rights," that it is
"religion at the height of its conception," and that it is "Evangelicalism in
its pure and only stable expression," he adds: "Consider the pride of man, his
assertion of freedom, the boast of power, his refusal to acknowledge the sway of
another's will. Consider the ingrained confidence of the sinner in his own
fundamentally good nature and his full ability to perform all that can be justly
demanded of him. "Is it strange that in this world in this particular age of this world it should prove difficult to preserve not only active, but vivid and dominant, the perception of the everywhere determining hand of God, the sense of absolute dependence on Him, the conviction of utter inability to do even the least thing to rescue ourselves from sin at the height of its conception? Is it not enough to account for whatever depression Calvinism may be suffering in the world today, to point to the natural difficulty in this materialistic age, conscious of its newly realized powers over against the forces of nature and filled with the pride of achievement and of material well-being of guarding our perception of the governing hand of God in all things, in its perfection; of maintaining our sense of dependence on a higher power in full force; of preserving our feeling of sin, unworthiness, and helplessness in its profundity? Is not the depression of Calvinism, so far as it is real, significant merely of this that to our age the vision of God has become somewhat obscured in the midst of abounding triumphs, that the religious emotion has in some measure ceased to be the determining force in life, and that the evangelical attitude of complete dependence on God for salvation does not readily commend itself to men who are accustomed to lay forceful hands on everything else they wish, and who do not quite see why they may not take heaven also by storm?"15 Yet there is no
occasion for Calvinists to feel discouraged. The easy going religion of today,
with its emphasis on social problems rather than on doctrine, has brought into
the Church multitudes which in other ages would have remained outside; and the
mere fact that Calvinists are not so conspicuous in the congregation does not
necessarily mean that their actual numbers have decreased. "There are very
likely more Calvinists in the world today than ever before," says Dr. Warfield.
"Even relatively, the professedly Calvinistic Churches are, no doubt, holding
their own. There are important tendencies of modern thought which play into the
hands of this or that Calvinistic conception. Above all, there are to be found
everywhere humble souls, who, in the quiet of retired lives, have caught a
vision of God in His glory and are cherishing in their hearts that vital flame
of complete dependence on Him which is the very essence of
Calvinism."16 And again, "I fully believe that Calvinism, as it has supplied
the sinews of evangelical Christianity in the past, so is its strength in the
present, and is its hope for the future." And in close
conformity with this Dr. F. W. Loetscher, has said: "It is no wonder that our
age, distraught by its very knowledge, irreverent of antiquity, impatient of
creeds and dogmas, intolerant alike of human and divine authority, overborne by
the currents of atheistic Naturalism and pantheistic Evolution, is directing its
heaviest artillery of unbelief against Calvinism as the strongest citadel of
supernatural revelation and redemption. And as Professor Henry B. Smith
prophesied a generation ago: 'One thing is certain
that infidel science will rout everything excepting a thorough-going Christian
orthodoxy.' Let us, then, resolutely accept this challenge. And let us be of
good cheer; for Calvinism can no more perish from the earth than sinful James Anthony
Froude, the distinguished professor of "Calvinism not
only has a future," said Dr. Abraham It may be proper
at this point to say that the author of |
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