Misrepresentation of Calvinism

I recently posted an article on my facebook page titled Fruits of Calvinism by Ron Comfort. (Not to be confused with Ray Comfort)

I went on to point out the dishonesty of Mr. Comfort in his smearing of Calvinism and John Calvin. Below is word for word what I posted. I apologize for the length but unfortunately it was necessary. I pray that you will be encouraged to further study God's word and the works of men as well.

At first glance you would think that this is an article commending the doctrine of Calvinism. However it is not. It is an attack that is full of lies and dishonesty.

I don't know Ron Comfort (not to be confused with Ray Comfort) personally so I'm not judging his Christian character. I also don't want this to be a Calvinist vs. Arminian feud. There are many wing-nuts on both sides of the table that cause more trouble than good and honestly if Calvin and Arminius were alive today they would both disapprove of all the bickering that goes on instead of good clean debate and discussion of God's word in my opinion.

What I want to point out is the lack of honest study and disrespect for his readers that Mr. Comfort (Not Ray Comfort) had while penning this article. I say disrespect for his readers because he mentions things and assumes that his readers will take it at face value and not do the actual legwork to see if what he says is true. In most cases people can get away with this because many times certain books are not available or the person already has an idea of what is right in their head and they don't want to look into anything that might challenge that idea.

My main issue is that Mr. Comfort (Not Ray Comfort) like Dave Hunt choose to smear John Calvin instead of discussing what he has done for the kingdom of God. There hope is that if you hate the man enough you will ultimately disregard anything he ever wrote. As I was once a hyper-Calvinist I can say that that is a surprisingly good technique. I once would totally discount anything by Jacob Arminius or John Wesley simply because they were Arminian and I took what was being told to me at face value and didn't research anything. Thankfully God has seen fit to redeem my study habits and that is not the case anymore.

On page 3 of this article Mr. Comfort (Not Ray Comfort) says, " Not only does Calvinism incriminate His holiness, but, number two, it incriminates His love. Interestingly, in the almost 1,300 pages of Calvin’s Institutes, not one time does he expound on the love of God."

This is a flat out lie or either he was just lazy in his study and did not read thoroughly. I have a nice set of John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion and in Book 2 titled Christ's Execution of the Office of a Redeemer to Procure Our Salvation. His Death, Resurrection, and Ascension to Heaven and in Chapter 16 Section 3 John Calvin goes on to speak more about God's love in 2 pages than Mr. Comfort (Not Ray Comfort) does in 11 pages.

Page 5 he mentions this to further separate these two sides, "...the Calvinist’s arch enemy, Jacob Arminius..."

This is just ridiculous. Many don't even know how highly Arminius thought of Calvin. Here are Jacob Arminius' own words about Calvin,

"After the Holy Scriptures, I exhort the students to read the Commentaries of Calvin. . . . I tell them that he is incomparable in the interpretation of Scripture; and that his Commentaries ought to be held in greater estimation than all that is delivered to us in the writings of the ancient Christian Fathers: so that, in a certain eminent spirit of prophecy, I give the pre-eminence to him beyond most others, indeed beyond them all. I add, that, with regard to what belongs to common places, his Institutes must be read after the Catechism, as a more ample interpretation. But to all this I subjoin the remark, that they must be perused with cautious choice, like all other human compositions."

Concerning "Calvinist" students on page 6 he said they would tell him this, " They
would tell me time after time there was no Scriptural validation for an evangelist."

The students he was dealing with were immature and what I would call hyper-Calvinists. For more information regarding the differences between a Calvinist and a Hyper-Calvinist I urge you to pick up a book by Ian H. Murray titled Spurgeon vs. Hyper-Calvinism The Battle for Gospel Preaching.

On page 8 he quotes Philip Congdon, "Absolute assurance of salvation is impossible for Classical Calvinism.” He then goes on to quote John Calvin from Book 3 section 3 of his Institutes Chapter 24 titled Election Confirmed by the Divine Call. The Destined Destruction of the Reprobate Procured by Themselves.

“For there is scarcely a mind in which the thought does not sometimes arise, ‘Whence your salvation but from the election of God? But what proof have you of your election?’ When once this thought has taken possession of any individual, it keeps him perpetually miserable, subjects him to dire torment, or throws him into a state of complete stupor.”

How about we continue this quote in context and see how he slanders John Calvin...

"I cannot wish a stronger proof of the depraved ideas, which men of this description form of predestination, than experience itself furnishes, since the mind cannot be infected by a more pestilential error than that which disturbs the conscience, and deprives it of peace and tranquility in regard to God. Therefore, as we dread shipwreck, we must avoid this rock, which is fatal to every one who strikes upon it. And though the discussion of predestination is regarded as a perilous sea, yet in sailing over it the navigation is calm and safe, nay pleasant, provided we do not voluntarily court danger. For as a fatal abyss engulfs those who, to be assured of their election, pry into the eternal counsel of God without the word, yet those who investigate it rightly, and in the order in which it is exhibited in the word, reap from it rich fruits of consolation."

As I said before and as you can tell by the completion of John Calvin's quote in context you can see the very dishonest work on the part of Ron Comfort. (Not Ray Comfort)

There is so much more in this 11 page article where he slanders authors and shows his lack of knowledge in this area but I will close with just one more example from page 10.

He says, " If I were a Calvinist, why in the world would I do what I have done in starting this school? You know what I’d do? I’d get a job that paid well and make a lot of money and accrue a lot of material possessions and I would live it up. That’s the end result of Calvinism."

Folks this is not Calvinism at all. What he is describing is antinomianism and is completely opposite of what Calvinism teaches.

In closing I just plead with you to search out the things you read. Don't come to the table with your mind made up. What you may have read, been told or even experienced as Calvinism is probably Hyper-Calvinism. Search these things out in the scriptures and research the men writing these slanderous articles. You will more than likely find that they are being biased and dishonest on this particular subject.

Grace and peace,

Alex Johnson