Finding Your Theological Foundation

CALVINISM:  For some people it's just another irrelevant "ism."  For others it's the theological equivalent of a cuss word.  While still others enjoy pinning it to their chest in a desperate attempt to be taken seriously.  But in my experience, Calvinism, is either misunderstood by those who loathe it or irrecoverably reduced to little more than a wilting tulip by many who claim to love it ( there's more to Calvinism than the 5 points)

---

As a pastor, people often seek to engage me in theological conversation and sometimes the kind of  misplaced loving or loathing of Calvinism referred to above rears its ugly head.  From my point of view these misplaced expressions can almost always be traced back to one simple root - neither the lovers nor the loathers have actually taken the time to study their subject.  To put it another way, they haven't really taken the time to discover and develop their theological foundation. 

​In terms of my Systematic Theological position I am a Calvinist - it is a pure and simple fact that I nether try to hide nor flaunt.

Why am I a Calvinist?
 
Because I took the time to investigate Calvinism and other systematic theological positions so as to assess them in light of the Bible.  In my case this investigation eventually gave birth to a Calvinist.
 
To state it negatively, I became a Calvinist not because I was trained in it from childhood (I wasn't).  I became a Calvinist  not because I had friends or family who were Calvinists (I didn't and they weren’t).  I became a Calvinist not because I started my theological training at a Calvinistic Bible College (I didn't).  I became a Calvinist not because I was desperately seeking a guru to follow other than Jesus (I wasn’t).  
 
I became a Calvinist because I actually took the time to read Calvin in his own words and to weigh his teaching in light of the Bible.  And so morning by morning on a big British double-decker bus between the village of Kirkintilloch and the city of Glasgow, I read Calvin's Institutes, and by the end of that winter I became convinced that the things I read were true and profoundly helpful in so far as they accurately represented the teaching of the Bible. 

I highly recommend this sort of exercise to anyone willing to read and wanting to grow in their Christian understanding.  Try it and see if you don’t experience a similar result.  

​I am fully convinced that if a solid theological foundation can be discovered within a public bus on its way to Glasgow, Scotland it can be discovered anywhere.
 
A helpful and easy to read encapsulation of Reformed teachings can be explored here .

---