R*o 发帖数: 3781 | 1 A Brief Word
Discussions with many people around the world reveal that multitudes of sinc
ere, Bible-believing Christians are "Calvinists" only by default. Thinking t
hat the only choice is between Calvinism with its doctrine of eternal securi
ty and Arminianism with its falling away, and confident that salvation canno
t be lost because of Christ's promise to keep eternally those who believe in
Him, they therefore consider themselves to be Calvinists.
It takes only a few simple questions to discover the fact that most of those
who regard themselves as Calvinists are largely unaware of what John Calvin
and his early followers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries actually
believed and practiced. Nor do they fully understand what most of today's l
eading Calvinists believe.
While there are disputed variations of this doctrine, among its chief propon
ents (whom we quote extensively in context) there is general agreement on ce
rtain core beliefs. Multitudes who believe they understand Calvinism will be
shocked to discover its Roman Catholic roots and Calvin's grossly un-Christ
ian behavior as the "Protestant Pope" of Geneva, Switzerland.
Most shocking of all, however, is Calvinism's misrepresentation of God who "
is love." It is our prayer that the following pages will enable readers to e
xamine more carefully the vital issues involved and to follow God's Holy Wor
d and not man. |
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