Does Calvinism lead to pride? In other words, in Calvinism’s doctrine of Unconditional Election, if one believed that God chose them from eternity—over their neighbors—how might that type of thinking tend to affect them, emotionally and behaviorally?
Dave Hunt: “Theology inevitably affects behavior.”453
Dave Hunt: “Life reflects doctrine (2 Timothy 3:10).”454
- Brent Cobb: “We become more and more like our concept of God. If I see him as harsh, that’s the way I’ll become, but if I see God as compassionate, that’s the kind of person I’ll become.”455
Whereas Calvinists feel that their doctrine of Unconditional Election is the most humbling doctrine in all of Scripture, the concern is that its practical application functions in exactly the opposite manner.456
As a form of soteriological elitism, Calvinism can flatter people into prideful thinking that they had a greater potential for salvation than ordinary people. By observation, Calvinists tend to take great pride in their personal election. While feigning humility in their perceived election, they can become arrogant and abusive when challenged, in order to protect their turf, so to speak, over their perceived spiritual birth-right.
What do Calvinists believe?
John Calvin: “All are not created on equal terms, but some are preordained to eternal life, others to eternal damnation; and, accordingly, as each has been created for one or other of these ends, we say that he has been predestinated to life or to death.”457
John Calvin: “Hence Augustine, having treated of the elect, and taught that their salvation reposes in the faithful custody of God so that none perishes, continues: The rest of mortal men who are not of this number, but rather taken out of the common mass and made vessels of wrath, are born for the use of the elect.”458
John Calvin: “Solomon also teaches us that not only was the destruction of the ungodly foreknown, but the ungodly themselves have been created for the specific purpose of perishing (Prov. 16:4).”459
Our reply:
These quotes are exactly the opposite of how Peter understood humanity, in terms of God not being partial to anyone:
Acts 10:28: “And he said to them, ‘You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.’”
Acts 10:34-35: “Opening his mouth, Peter said: ‘I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.’”
In which of these quotes do we learn that all are not created equal or that some are born for the use of the elect? The concern with Calvinism is that it does not remove pride, but instead systemizes it.
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453 Debating Calvinism (Sisters, Oregon: Multnomah Publishers, Inc., 2004), 227.
454 Ibid., 248.
455 A. Brent Cobb, The Great Scandal.
456 See the discussion on Boasting and Cage Stage.
457 The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 3, Chapter 21, Section 5 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, translated by Henry Beveridge, 1845), 770, https://ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes, emphasis mine.
458 Concerning the Eternal Predestination of God (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997), 107, emphasis mine.
459 Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries: Romans and Thessalonians, translated by Ross Mackenzie (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000), 207-208, emphasis mine.
[This post has been excerpted with permission from Richard Coords, Calvinism Answered Verse by Verse and Subject by Subject, © 2024.]
