A Critical Look at Calvinsim

A critical look at Calvinism. I have written a very lengthy and comprehensive post on Reformed theology also known as Calvinism. (Google most likely wouldn't index a paper this long so I have written this intro that it may be found on the web and lead you to the post.)

The system is often referred to at TULIP to highlight its major pillars. Calvinism is to a certain degree logically valid in that each of the pillars is interdependent upon each other like a three legged stool. However, the bible is only a partial revelation of God's truth and we would have to expect that a systematic theology grounded in the bible would be at times "incoherent" because of this "partial" revelation. Additionally logical validity is only a guarantee of truth if and only if the premises are true. To see this we only need to look as far as the valid proposition "Jones has 2 unicorns and Smith has 4 unicorns; together they have 6 unicorns."

Many have found favor and delight in Calvinism because of this coherence in its systematization. I however find it to be a flaw. Again, the bible if full of mystery and leaves us without answers to many puzzling questions. For example: how can man have free will and God be sovereign? Unless we can know how and what God knows we cannot answer this question - yet Calvin with the greatest assurance gives us an answer. If find this troubling when a theologian "knows everything".

Please click on the following link to read the paper. Examining Calvinism