05 Five Points of Fatalism
The Five Points of Fatalism
TheFive Points, as John Calvin preached them, correspond to those points as Augustine preached them; but they do not correspond to the Bible. Calvin’s doctrine contained much that is true; but it contained much that is diametrically opposite to the doctrine of the Bible. The reason for that difference is that Calvin started from a position exactly opposite to the Bible,and starting out opposite, it was certain that he would wind up on the opposite side from the Bible.
Calvin’s starting point was fatalism. He insisted that God is the cause, the author, of every act that is performed- regardless of how good or how evil that act may be. He insisted that God forces the reprobate to do him service, that he bends the will of the sinner to do what he does, that he instigates every good deed and every sin.
Calvin’s doctrine with regard to how people are saved is simply the working out of his fatalism in connection with the salvation of sinners. Every point has fatalism for its foundation.
He was sure that man is by nature depraved; but man sins because God predestinated that he would sin in that way and at that time. He says God elected a people to live in heaven, but he also chose a people to suffer in hell. He preached a Universal Atonement, but he is sure that only the elect will hear the gospel and believe; so only the elect will benefit from the atonement. He preached that all the elect will hear and believe the gospel, and persevere in a state of holiness, because he predestinated all the events necessary to bring that about.
Examine his doctrine as much as you will, and from any angle you will, and it still comes out the same. His entire system rests on his fatalistic foundation. It would be far less confusing if theirFive Pointshad rather been calledthe Five Points of Fatalism. The doctrine of grace begins from an entirely different starting point. The doctrine of grace teaches the five points the Calvinist lays claim to. It teaches Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and the Preservation of the Saints.But it grounds those doctrines on the grace of God-it does not ground them on the doctrine of fatalism. The doctrine of grace teaches that man is totally depraved, but it teaches that sin came by man’s transgression. “Wherefore as byone mansin came into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned,” (Romans 5:12). It does not teach, with John Calvin, that God predestinated Adam to sin. It does not teach that God predestinated every sin that has been committed since that day. And it does not teach, with the Westminsterdivines, that God manipulates man, and orchestrates circumstances and conditions, to bring about those sins he predestinated.
It teaches that out of that fallen race of mankind he chose a people for his name, and determined to do all things necessary to bring them safe home to heaven. It does not teach, with John Calvin and the Westminster Confession that, for thepleasureof seeing them burn, he predestinated the rest of mankind to eternal damnation. The doctrine of grace teaches that he simply left the rest of mankind where he found them. He did not take anything from them, and he did not provide heaven for them. The gospel of grace extolls and magnifies the grace of God. It presents him as doing all things necessary for the salvation of his people. The Five Points of Fatalismimagines that God cannot do his work-that he cannot even know the future, unless he has predestinated every act that will ever happen, unless he manipulates and orchestrates all that comes to pass. It makes God the motivating force, the cause, the author, of every sin. The five points of the doctrine of gracepresent God as hating sin, forbidding sin, who will have nothing to do with sin, and will, one day, bring every sin into judgment.