Wings Like Eagles
Well-Known Member
By the criteria which Jesus gave us for judging a false prophet (teacher) in Matthew 7:15-16, John Calvin, one of the leaders of French Protestantism (real name Jean Cauvin) in the 16th century, was a false teacher. Not without reason, he was called the "tyrant of Geneva." Among his crimes are the machinations to have the civil authorities send an innocent man (Michael Servetus) to burning at the stake for a theological disagreement (although Calvin allowed later that if he had it to do over again, he would have made sure that they used dry wood, instead of green, for the burning). Calvin also ordered the execution of a nine-year-old girl for slapping her mother. If you point out Calvin's deficiencies to a modern Calvinist, you are often given the excuse that amounts to " Well, yes, but that was then and this is now. They did those kinds of things back then. Still, you cannot deny that the Institutes of the Christian Religion authored by him, is a masterpiece."
Yes, I can deny it. Because Calvin was such a slavish devotee of Augustine, he borrows most of his major teachings from Augustine. In fact, Calvinism was originally called "Calvinistic Augustinianism". Augustine had some serious flaws in his theology that are too lengthy to go into here but, it is one of the reasons why the RCC has backed away from Augustine, even though he was named "Doctor of the Church" by the RCC a long time ago. Don't get me wrong--I am not defending the RCC--much of what the Vatican has done over the centuries are crimes against humanity. All one has to do is read some of the history of the Popes to understand how corrupt the RCC has been in both doctrine and practice. But, under the theory that "it takes a thief to catch a thief" here is a link to a short history of Calvin compiled by a Jesuit priest. Don't worry--Fr. Franca has annotated footnotes and even modern Calvinists would not deny the accuracy of what has been noted by the Jesuit scholar (and, the Jesuits, if nothing else, are scholarly). Be prepared to be shocked: https://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/e034rpCalvin_Franca05.htm
There are many other scholarly works which describe Calvin's cruelty--among them, Church history books by Calvinists themselves. I have one but I loaned it to someone and never got it back. In any case, it has been long out of print. If you put "John Calvin was a false teacher" into any internet search engine, you will come up with much more than you ever wanted to know about his reign of savagery in Geneva, Switzerland.
Yes, I can deny it. Because Calvin was such a slavish devotee of Augustine, he borrows most of his major teachings from Augustine. In fact, Calvinism was originally called "Calvinistic Augustinianism". Augustine had some serious flaws in his theology that are too lengthy to go into here but, it is one of the reasons why the RCC has backed away from Augustine, even though he was named "Doctor of the Church" by the RCC a long time ago. Don't get me wrong--I am not defending the RCC--much of what the Vatican has done over the centuries are crimes against humanity. All one has to do is read some of the history of the Popes to understand how corrupt the RCC has been in both doctrine and practice. But, under the theory that "it takes a thief to catch a thief" here is a link to a short history of Calvin compiled by a Jesuit priest. Don't worry--Fr. Franca has annotated footnotes and even modern Calvinists would not deny the accuracy of what has been noted by the Jesuit scholar (and, the Jesuits, if nothing else, are scholarly). Be prepared to be shocked: https://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/e034rpCalvin_Franca05.htm
There are many other scholarly works which describe Calvin's cruelty--among them, Church history books by Calvinists themselves. I have one but I loaned it to someone and never got it back. In any case, it has been long out of print. If you put "John Calvin was a false teacher" into any internet search engine, you will come up with much more than you ever wanted to know about his reign of savagery in Geneva, Switzerland.
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