Calvinism Unmasked

Chapter 3

Augustine and Calvin

 

      We have seen that Augustine was greatly influenced by Plato, Aristotle and Plotinus. We have seen that Augustine had great influence over Calvin according to Benjamin Warfield. John Calvin wrote a lot about God’s attributes and His immutable counsels in his monumental work, Institutes of the Christian Religion. Although he is still highly regarded for this work and his tremendous wealth of biblical knowledge displayed in his commentaries and other writings, I believe he made many statements under the influence of Augustine’s philosophy. They were claims unsubstantiated by God’s word. In this chapter, I want to address many of Calvin’s statements about God and God’s alleged decrees. Calvin wrote:

      By that immutable counsel of God, by which he predestined to himself whomever he would, was alone effectual for their salvation. That Scripture clearly proves this much, that God by his eternal and immutable counsel determined once for all those whom it was his pleasure one day to admit to salvation, and those whom, on the other hand, it was his pleasure to doom to destruction.[1] “Because his immutable decree had once for all doomed them to destruction.[2] Where it is said that God repented of having made Saul king, the term change is used figuratively. Shortly after it is added, “The Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent, for he is not a man, that he should repent.” In these words, his immutability is plainly asserted without figure.[3]

      Calvin did not use biblical proof to make his declaration that God remains unmoved or remains unalterably the same. He made a dogmatic statement that it didn’t mean what it said when the Bible stated that God repented or changed His mind. Because the Scriptures disagreed with his Augustinian ideas, he explained that 1 Samuel 15:29 really was “without figure”: “And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent. For He is not a man, that He should repent.” How did he determine that the use in verses 10 and 11 was figurative as well as the use of the word in 35, but the use of the word in verse 29 was “without figure”?

      When I was attending the University of Illinois, a wonderful Christian friend of mine was pastoring a small country church while he was at school. He was taking a course of study that required some units in philosophy. One day he came home. I’ll never forget that day in 1952. In his philosophy class, they had such a fixation on Aristotle that he came in singing, sarcastically, “Praise God for Aristotle, from whom all blessings flow.” That pagan philosopher was born in 384 BC. He wrote in his book, Metaphysics, “There must be something which, existing in full actuality, produces motion without being moved. That something cannot be otherwise than it is in any respect.” This means, nothing can affect God. He continued,

      It is clear from the foregoing argument that there is some essential individuality that is eternal and immutable and distinct from perceptible things. . . . this individuality must be unaffected by anything and unalterable .... [then, after making some comments about the divine mind, he wrote,] what it thinks of is what is most divine and most worthy of esteem. And in this It is unchanging, because any change would be for the worse, and would be a kind of motion.

Although Greek philosophy contradicted God’s word, it became the intellectual basis of church doctrine. The battle is accelerating today.

      Compare Calvin’s statement with Aristotle’s summation: “for there is something which always moves that which is moved, and the prime mover is itself unmoved.”[4] Calvin was influenced by the philosophy of Aristotle and his mentor, Plato. We may not be able to prove their direct influence on him, but we can see that Calvin was seriously influenced by Augustine. As I have shown, Augustine was greatly influenced by these philosophers, especially through Plotinus. Augustine mixed biblical statements with his philosophical thoughts and formed his theology of immutability.

      I want to dwell on this point. Why was Calvin certain that God is immutable? Is this plainly asserted in Scripture? Was Calvin certain that God does not repent because the Scripture said so or because of his Platonic influence? Does Scripture show that God is immutable, or just the opposite, that He repents? Where is Calvin’s evidence? It is interesting that Calvin dismissed the evidence almost in a cavalier manner when he dealt with the Scriptures that God changes.

      Calvin’s explanation that “change” is just a figure of speech is unacceptable. Many biblical scholars have distorted some metaphors used in the Bible resulting in a lopsided view of God. We speak metaphorically by using words which describe one subject as a lens to see the other in a more understandable or emotional way, to represent one concept in terms of another because the nature of the two concepts allows an analogy to be drawn. Metaphors really matter because they give us insight into the glorious nature of God. However, theologians have suppressed the truth of many biblical metaphors about God while greatly magnifying others.[5]

      The goodness and compassion of God has been neglected. I have seen where they often state, without basis that a figure of speech does not mean what it actually shows. There is a significant difference between the concepts of “does not change his mind” and “changes his mind”. When it says in 1 Samuel 15:11 and 1 Samuel 15:35 that the Lord repented, what does it mean?

1 Sam 15:11 “I repent that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.” And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night.

1 Sam 15:35 And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord repented that He had made Saul king over Israel.

      Again, what does it mean when the Bible says “the Lord repented that He had made Saul king over Israel”? Especially when in 1 Samuel 15:29, the same word is used to say that the Lord does not repent.

1 Sam 15:29 “And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent. For He is not a man, that He should repent.”

      If we understand from the twenty-six places where the word repent is used of God, that the Lord does repent, but in this specific instance God will not change his mind about taking the kingdom away from King Saul, then, the apparent conflict is resolved. However, Calvin used another approach. Calvin was convinced that God is immutable from his studies of Augustine and, therefore, the term change was used figuratively in the 29^th verse.

      However, Augustine brought in some presuppositions from Platonic reasoning. Among these presuppositions was the doctrine of the immutability of God. Because of Greek philosophical influence, Augustine thought the idea of a mutable God was an absurdity. Only after Ambrose (c. 340-397), Bishop of Milan, allegorized the Old Testament Scriptures which revealed a mutable God, was Augustine able to accept the Catholic faith. Ambrose allegorized or spiritualized the offending Old Testament Scripture passages in his sermons, and, finally, Augustine was able to accept the Christian God. “For those absurdities which in those Scriptures were wont to offend me, after I had heard divers of them expounded properly, I referred now to the depth of the mystery: yea and the authority of that Book appeared so much the more venerable, and so much more worthy of our religious credit.”[6]

      Augustine’s so called absurdities had hindered him from believing in the word of God. Augustine believed that God was immutable. To him it was absurd to believe in a God who could change his mind or be mutable. How did Augustine know that this was absurd? He believed the force of reason explained what was absurd; a reason buttressed by Platonic philosophy. Only after he heard Ambrose was Augustine able to judge biblical authority rational. Augustine only turned to the Scriptures after the absurdities were “expounded properly” by Ambrose. Now he could rely on Scripture for the spiritual help he needed since his reason, according to Augustine, was not able to overcome his sexual desires.[7] He wrote, “Seeing therefore mankind would prove too weak to find out the truth by the way of evident reason, and for this cause was there need of the authority of Holy Writ”.[8]

      Although Augustine developed a high regard for Scripture later, at first, he allowed reason to dictate his ideas about God’s attributes. Then, he attempted to buttress his ideas with the Scriptures. His primary presupposition was the immutability of God. This doctrine of immutability influenced his doctrines of predestination, foreknowledge, and the atemporality of God. Subsequently these doctrines were absorbed by Calvin. This influence of Augustine over Calvin is attested by Calvinists. Remember Warfield’s statement: “The system of doctrine taught by Calvin is just the Augustinianism common to the whole body of the Reformers—for the Reformation was, as from the spiritual point of view a great revival of Augustinianism.”[9]

      Therefore, where did Calvin obtain his conviction that God is immutable? Why did he, without an explanation, dismiss the idea that God could change his mind? Calvin quoted Augustine as a source for immutability. As we have already demonstrated, Augustine received his doctrine of Immutability from Plato when he was involved with the Manichaeans for a number of years.

      When I was younger, I saw the righteousness and justice of God very clearly. But, because I was under the influence of western civilization’s philosophical thought, I believed in an immutable, unchanging, and impassible, unfeeling God. As I have shown, this philosophy apparently was developed by Socrates, written down by Plato and further developed by Aristotle.

      God’s word has continued to transform my life over the years. Now, I have read much of the OT with a different purpose. I wanted to find out who God is. So my question now, is, what is God like? What would God do? We can get an understanding of His person only from the word of God. Notice God’s passion in the following passages.

      Just as a parent asks in despair, “What did I do wrong,” God said in Mic 6:3, “O My people, what have I done to you? And how have I wearied you? Testify against Me.” Similarly, in Num 14:27, He asked Moses and Aaron, “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me.” But all His agony is tempered with compassion. For it says in, Deu 32:36 “For the LORD will judge His people and have compassion on His servants, when He sees that their power is gone, and there is no one remaining, bond or free.” Further, it shows that God was vexed by Israel in Psa 78:36-41:

      Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, and they lied to Him with their tongue; 37 For their heart was not steadfast with Him, nor were they faithful in His covenant. 38 But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned His anger away and did not stir up all His wrath; 39 For He remembered that they were but flesh, a breath that passes away and does not come again. 40 How often they provoked Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert! 41 Yes, again and again they tempted God and limited the Holy One of Israel.

      How often did God put up with them compassionately? Num 14:22,23 tells us:

      because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, 23 they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.”

      When we read the Old Testament, we find that God has strong emotions. In Jer 15:6 it says, “You have forsaken Me,” says the LORD, “You have gone backward. Therefore I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you; I am weary of repenting!” But we must always remember, according to Psa 145:8, “The LORD is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy.” And though He said He was weary of repenting, later He said in Jer 31:1-9,

      “At the same time,” says the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.” 2 Thus says the LORD: “The people who survived the sword Found grace in the wilderness—Israel, when I went to give him rest.” 3 The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with loving kindness I have drawn you. 4 Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! You shall again be adorned with your tambourines, And shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice. 5 You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria; The planters shall plant and eat them as ordinary food. 6 For there shall be a day when the watchmen will cry on Mount Ephraim, ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.’” 7 For thus says the LORD: “Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations; Proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘O LORD, save Your people, the remnant of Israel!’ 8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, And gather them from the ends of the earth, Among them the blind and the lame, The woman with child And the one who labors with child, together; A great throng shall return there. 9 They shall come with weeping, And with supplications I will lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters, In a straight way in which they shall not stumble; For I am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn.

      God addressed this rationalism first espoused by Augustine and adopted by Calvin when He inspired Paul to write this in 1 Co 1:19-21.

      For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

This verse contradicts the rationalism propagated by those who influenced Calvinistic theologians. As I have shown, Augustine had been influenced, especially, by Plotinus, a Neoplatonic philosopher. The concept of atemporality – God being in the state of Eternal Now – was reinforced by Plotinus. We saw this influence in the last chapter about Augustine’s exposition of the Eternal Now. They both believed there was no change in the Eternal Now. Plotinus wrote: “which is static by not changing to the ‘will be,’ nor ever having changed”[10] Augustine similarly stated: “but beholds all things with absolute unchangeableness”[11]

      The concept of immutability was always the foundation of Augustine’s theology and played a vital role in the development of the doctrine of atemporality. For God to be immutable, the future could add no knowledge to what God already knows. For Plotinus and Augustine, this unchangeableness is present in the eternal. Modern theologians have denied the basis of their rationalistic theology and even criticized the philosophers by whom they have been influenced. For example, Robert Morey, who “has earned degrees in philosophy, theology and cult evangelism,” wrote this in his chapter on “The God’s of the Philosophers.”

      Since it was God who created the world with its space-time limitation, He Himself is not limited by space or time, but greater than both. Since He made the space-time universe, it does not make or control God. To say that the creation is greater than the Creator is absurd. This is why Christians have always said that God is eternal in the sense of “timelessness” not “endless time.” To say that God exists in “endless time” is to make time ultimate over God. It would make God depend on time for His own existence. This would make Time a higher god than God![12]

      We must evaluate this short statement. First, it is rationalistic thought which maintains that space and time were created when God created the world. Morey probably got this from the math of the new physics. The Bible always portrays God in space and time, yet it never alludes to space-time exerting any control over Him. Second, pagan philosophers like Plato and Aristotle were the ones who maintained that God was in a state of timelessness. Third, just because God does things one thing at a time, doesn’t make time “ultimate over God.” The Bible described God doing things in sequence, one day at a time in the creation account. That put no limitation on Him. We are slaves to time because we need to sleep, eat, and eventually we die. God faces none of these. Time is no burden to God. “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Pe 3:8).

      Plato developed the thought of Heraclitus, Xenophanes, and Parmenides into his thesis of the immutability of God. We can understand the biblical concept of the immutability of God by using a biblically based syllogism. This time we will start with a perfect God since Mat 5:48 says “your Father in heaven is perfect.”

 

God is perfect.

God changes.

The perfect God changes.

 

      Even though all of Christianity has been influenced by Greek philosophy, that is changing. Many Calvinists think, a perfect God can’t suffer. But we have seen He is able. When tragedy strikes, when pain pierces deep – we are not the only ones who suffer. God suffers deeper than all of us put together. We have seen that the idea of God’s impassibility came from philosophy, not the Bible.

      Warren McWiliams wrote in his evaluation of God’s impassibility:

      Despite the emphasis on divine passion in the Bible, early Christian theologians gradually agreed on divine impassibility as the orthodox position. This development has been the target of most proponents of divine passibility, who generally agree that the main culprit responsible for the shift from passibility to impassibility is Greek metaphysics. Greek philosophers (e.g., Plato, Aristotle, Parmenides, the Stoics) developed an understanding of deity as immutable, self-sufficient, impassible, and static. Christian theologians eventually used these philosophical categories to describe God, even though this usually led to a distortion of God’s nature. God appeared more and more like Aristotle’s unmoved mover, for example, rather than the passionate, dynamic Yahweh of biblical faith. Only within the last couple of centuries has there been a genuine recovery of the biblical emphasis on divine suffering.[13]

      Many Calvinists say, “God can’t feel and can’t change.” Because of this, He can’t love, can’t suffer, and can’t be influenced. However, the Bible says frequently – He does love; He does suffer; He is influenced by prayer; and He does repent or change. In fact, we know He loved the world so much that He gave Himself. He doesn’t make us ascend out of our pain in this life. On the contrary, He descends into it, shares it with us, and strengthens us through it. What a God! Look at the following passages: “Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (Heb 5:8). “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate” (Heb 13:12). “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example . . . Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth; Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Pe 2:21-23). “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit” (1 Pe 3:18). “Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin” (1 Pe 4:1).

      In addition to these, we must realize that God was in Christ. John 1 says the word was in the beginning with God and was God. Christ was God. He came down here to suffer more intimately with us and then for us. I realize that the person of Christ, as a man, suffered, but it seems that God the Son learned by this experience since in Heb 2:9-18 it shows that He suffered for us:

      But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. 10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 saying: "I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You." 13 And again: "I will put My trust in Him." And again: "Here am I and the children whom God has given Me." 14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. 17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.

Therefore, we must conclude that the impassibility of God is not found in the Bible. It is only found in rationalistic thinking influenced by Greek philosophy.

      Calvinism has had a stifling influence on a number of important functions of the body of Christ. Evangelism has been crippled to a great extent. Fortunately we have many Calvinists who are inconsistent. Their theology does not influence their actions. But I have witnessed first hand the attitude of a youth director I overheard, speaking to a youth leader from his church. He told the youth leader, “We don’t have to worry about getting any of our youth saved, because Pastor says, ‘If they are elect, they will get saved by God, if they aren’t elect, nothing you or they can do will get them saved.’”

      Counseling is also a problem. Why counsel if everything is already determined by God? However, their is another side to counseling. Many Christians with whom I have counseled said that God took a loved one. Then, some of them had turned against God for being so cruel, and their lives were destroyed. I’m happy to share with these people the biblical view of our loving God.