This Week in Calvinism - February 22, 2008

TBNN reports that anti-Calvinist posters have been popping up all over campus at Pensacola Christian College.

Dmitry Chernikov, one of my favorite columnists at LewRockwell.com, is finding himself sympathetic to the Calvinism of A. A. Hodge.

Pastor Jerry Beaver preaches a sermon entitled "Debunking Calvinism." Of course, he can't debunk it, so he takes a page out of the Ergun Caner playbook and equates Calvinism with hyper-Calvinism. He then tries to tear down Calvinist heroes. He implies that Charles Spurgeon wasn't really all that Calvinistic because he was criticized by other Calvinists for instituting the altar call (which isn't true). He belittles Augustine's doctrinal teachings because Augustine believed in infant baptism. He leaves his congregation with the wrong impression that John Piper also supports infant baptism. He even dredges up the old "Calvin killed Servetus" argument, and if Calvin thought it was OK to execute someone for not believing in the Trinity, then how can we trust what Calvin taught in other areas? Well, if Pastor Beaver thinks it's OK to preach on subjects about which he knows nothing, then how can he be trusted to faithfully preach the Word?

Gordan Runyan of the Reformed Mafia rolls out Part 2 of his review of Frank Page's book, Trouble With the TULIP.

To his credit, Ken Schenck only hates Calvinism, not the Calvinist.

Michael Horton of the White Horse Inn addresses the issue of moralistic preaching, which often involves ignoring the main point of Old Testament stories: "Given the moralistic expectations often assumed, it is no wonder that people find the Old Testament boring and much of the New Testament incomprehensible." He adds that "instead of drawing a straight line of application from the narrative to us, which typically moralizes or allegorizes these stories, we are taught by Jesus himself to understand these passages in light of their place in the unfolding drama of redemption that leads to Christ. Moralistic preaching, the bane of conservatives and liberals alike, assumes that we're not really helpless sinners that need to be rescued, but decent folks who just need a few good examples, exhortations, and instructions."