Interested in Calvin, but not Calvinism

[dms1972]

I haven't read a lot of Calvin, I do have the Institutes, and I have found him worth reading in places, however I have very little interest in the five points, and disagree quite strongly with some of them. I prefer to read Calvin and just see were I agree and were I don't without writing him off. I also like William Shedd, Spurgeon, Bunyan, as well as non-calvinist writters - such as CS Lewis, Luther, Josef Pieper, Karl Stern, George MacDonald. My only interest in calvinism perhaps is an intellectual one in its historic development. To be honest I don't think one could understand Calvin from a summary of the five points, Calvin doesn't seem to lay out his Institutes in that way, but rather in four sections:

Knowledge of God the Creator
Knowledge of God the Redeemer in Christ
The Mode of obtaining the Grace of Christ
The Holy Catholic Church

I think this is a far better way to come to appreciate Calvin, than by beginning with the five points.

 

[Tree of Life]

I haven't read a lot of Calvin, I do have the Institutes, and I have found him worth reading in places, however I have very little interest in the five points, and disagree quite strongly with some of them. I prefer to read Calvin and just see were I agree and were I don't without writing him off. I also like William Shedd, Spurgeon, Bunyan, as well as non-calvinist writters - such as CS Lewis, Luther, Josef Pieper, Karl Stern, George MacDonald. My only interest in calvinism perhaps is an intellectual one in its historic development. To be honest I don't think one could understand Calvin from a summary of the five points, Calvin doesn't seem to lay out his Institutes in that way, but rather in four sections:

Knowledge of God the Creator
Knowledge of God the Redeemer in Christ
The Mode of obtaining the Grace of Christ
The Holy Catholic Church

I think this is a far better way to come to appreciate Calvin, than by beginning with the five points.

As a warm blooded Calvinist I totally agree. The best way to appreciate Calvin is to read him. Personally, I prefer his commentaries of Scripture over his Institutes. But both are wonderful.

 

[RC1970]

I haven't read a lot of Calvin, I do have the Institutes, and I have found him worth reading in places, however I have very little interest in the five points, and disagree quite strongly with some of them. I prefer to read Calvin and just see were I agree and were I don't without writing him off. I also like William Shedd, Spurgeon, Bunyan, as well as non-calvinist writters - such as CS Lewis, Luther, Josef Pieper, Karl Stern, George MacDonald. My only interest in calvinism perhaps is an intellectual one in its historic development. To be honest I don't think one could understand Calvin from a summary of the five points, Calvin doesn't seem to lay out his Institutes in that way, but rather in four sections:

Knowledge of God the Creator
Knowledge of God the Redeemer in Christ
The Mode of obtaining the Grace of Christ
The Holy Catholic Church

I think this is a far better way to come to appreciate Calvin, than by beginning with the five points.

You are correct. There is a lot more to Calvin's thought than just the "Five Points".

 

[Apologetic_Warrior]

I haven't read a lot of Calvin, I do have the Institutes, and I have found him worth reading in places, however I have very little interest in the five points, and disagree quite strongly with some of them. I prefer to read Calvin and just see were I agree and were I don't without writing him off. I also like William Shedd, Spurgeon, Bunyan, as well as non-calvinist writters - such as CS Lewis, Luther, Josef Pieper, Karl Stern, George MacDonald. My only interest in calvinism perhaps is an intellectual one in its historic development. To be honest I don't think one could understand Calvin from a summary of the five points, Calvin doesn't seem to lay out his Institutes in that way, but rather in four sections:

Knowledge of God the Creator
Knowledge of God the Redeemer in Christ
The Mode of obtaining the Grace of Christ
The Holy Catholic Church

I think this is a far better way to come to appreciate Calvin, than by beginning with the five points.

Hello my friend, a number of years ago I discovered the free Bible Software called "theWord Bible Softeware" and after using it for awhile, I learned how easily I could create my own "modules" for it, even using public domain works existing in my Logos Bible Software collection. Why would I want to have them in theWord Software when I already have them in Logos? There are a number of reasons, one of them being able to share with others who maybe cannot afford, or have other financial priorities, and so on. I spent a great deal of time converting them over, and the result is the works are easier and faster to navigate in theWord, than in the beloved Logos Software. To share them I had to find a good place to upload them, so I went with theWordmodules dot com. The modules I created can be found here:

Inspired_Word - Viewing Profile

They include:

Hodge, Charles - Systematic Theology (3 Vol in 1 Module) 1.0

Calvin, John - Institutes of the Christian Religion (Beveridge Ed.) 1.0

The John Calvin Biography Collection I. (6 Vols) 1.0

The Life and Times of John Calvin (2 Vols) 1.0

History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century (5 vol) 1.0

The Works of Archibald Alexander (20 vol) 2.0

The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks (6 Vol) (Puritan) 1.0

Confessions of the Reformed Faith 1.0

The Works of John Howe (Puritan) (3 Vol in 1 Module) 2.0

The Works of David Clarkson (3 Vol) (Puritan) 1.0

I have been working on a 59 or so volume collection of the works of John Bunyan module on and off for some time. Hopefully I can get around to completing it this next year.

 

[Apologetic_Warrior]

I haven't read a lot of Calvin, I do have the Institutes, and I have found him worth reading in places, however I have very little interest in the five points, and disagree quite strongly with some of them. I prefer to read Calvin and just see were I agree and were I don't without writing him off. I also like William Shedd, Spurgeon, Bunyan, as well as non-calvinist writters - such as CS Lewis, Luther, Josef Pieper, Karl Stern, George MacDonald. My only interest in calvinism perhaps is an intellectual one in its historic development. To be honest I don't think one could understand Calvin from a summary of the five points, Calvin doesn't seem to lay out his Institutes in that way, but rather in four sections:

Knowledge of God the Creator
Knowledge of God the Redeemer in Christ
The Mode of obtaining the Grace of Christ
The Holy Catholic Church

I think this is a far better way to come to appreciate Calvin, than by beginning with the five points.

Personally, I have only taken time to read bits and portions from the many writings of Calvin, and from writings about him. I have nearly the same interest in biographies about him, as I do in his actual writings. More often than not, his critics have compelled me to search his writings and writings about him, more than an actual desire to attempt to know his thoughts comprehensively. The Reformed confessions would be considered more authoritative than the actual writings of Calvin himself, one reason years ago I took greater interest in searching them out in a more historical manner. It was through that search that I discovered such statements of faith as the Genevan Confession, Catechism of the Church of Geneva, and the French Confession of Faith. These provide a much greater scope of what Reformed believers held to rather than simply what is known as the five points of calvinism.

 

[dms1972]

ok thanks for mentioning those, some of them I had not heard of.

Did Bunyan write much in the way of commentaries, I have heard of some of more well known books, Pilgrims Progress, Grace Abounding..., and have a few. I like some of the Puritans.

I tried to put together a bit of A CS Lewis database a while ago, just cross referencing some of his essays and stuff, but its not online, and the computer I had it on broke down, so not sure whether I'll be going back to it, might start something else like that. Hard to know sometimes what would benefit people, what they would find useful that would be within my abilities.

 

[Apologetic_Warrior]

ok thanks for mentioning those, some of them I had not heard of.

Did Bunyan write much in the way of commentaries, I have heard of some of more well known books, Pilgrims Progress, Grace Abounding..., and have a few. I like some of the Puritans.

My pleasure! As far as I know, Bunyan did not write much in the way of commentaries, however other Puritans such as Matthew Poole, Matthew Henry, and Thomas Manton (that I know of) wrote (or in sermon form in the case of Thomas Manton) extensive commentary on a majority of Scripture. Other Puritans like John Owen, wrote extensive commentary on one particular book of Scripture (Hebrews). I love reading the Puritans, I am humbled every time, and blown away by them in every way. I feel like a third grader trying to read twelfth grader material when reading well works by most of the giants of our faith.

 

[Don Maurer]

I hope its OK to go off topic.
I noticed the mention of John Owen and his commentary set on Hebrews. The unabridged version comes in a 4 volume set. I have 3 of the 4 volumes. I would recommend the abridged volume. I have read portions of the unabridged volumes, and cannot say it is easy reading. I have also read Owen's "Death of Death in the Death of Christ."

Owen's work on Hebrews raises questions in my mind on the non-reformed view of the high priestly ministry of Christ. I believe many non-reformed people would view the High Priestly ministry of Christ in Hebrews to be related to only believers. How can one then turn right around and say that the atonement is universal?

If I recall right, this issue is discussed in one of the chapters in "death of death in the death of Christ."

When I comes to reading, I find Calvin to be far easier to read than Owen, but I find Owen more beneficial.

 

[DeaconDean]

I hope its OK to go off topic.
I noticed the mention of John Owen and his commentary set on Hebrews. The unabridged version comes in a 4 volume set. I have 3 of the 4 volumes. I would recommend the abridged volume. I have read portions of the unabridged volumes, and cannot say it is easy reading. I have also read Owen's "Death of Death in the Death of Christ."

Owen's work on Hebrews raises questions in my mind on the non-reformed view of the high priestly ministry of Christ. I believe many non-reformed people would view the High Priestly ministry of Christ in Hebrews to be related to only believers. How can one then turn right around and say that the atonement is universal?

If I recall right, this issue is discussed in one of the chapters in "death of death in the death of Christ."

When I comes to reading, I find Calvin to be far easier to read than Owen, but I find Owen more beneficial.

While going through seminary, one of my Professors made sure I got a Reformed education.

Speaking of Hebrews, one of the men I was recommended to read was Arthur W. Pink.

I have read with great enjoyment his work "An Exposition of Hebrews".

pbministries.org has this work on-line for free.

Well worth the read.

God Bless

Till all are one.