Do you have Calvin Derangement Syndrome?
I’ve been writing for Christian websites and publications for a long time. When I first started, I used to get angry when atheists and unbelievers would attack my articles, and would seethe inside, wishing I could somehow hurl their snark back at them.
But then I heard someone ask William Lane Craig a question on how he was able always to respond gently and kindly to unbelievers who were so abusive to him in debates and online. He said simply, “I don’t expect non-Christians to act like Christians.”
That changed the game for me, and now I can honestly say I’m fine with whatever peckish responses are fired at me from unbelievers. If you’re a non-Christian and reading this right now, I’m glad you’re here, even if you leave a negative comment.
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That said, what I do have a problem with are professing Christians who get ugly when they decide to disagree. A good example is the recent CP article talking about the retirement of Alistair Begg, who has been the pastor of Cleveland’s Parkside church for decades.
Although some of the article comments have been removed, others remain, some of which call Begg a false prophet and more. And what’s the primary beef they have with him?
He’s a (gasp!) Calvinist.
They’re those awful people who say we don’t have free will, that God sends some to Heaven and others to Hell, that He drags people kicking and screaming into His kingdom, and that we can sin however much we want and still be saved. Ew!
The misunderstandings of Calvinism (reformed theology) sure seem to provoke a lot of venom from some, to the point where it can manifest as its own disorder: Calvin Derangement Syndrome (CDS). Could you have it? Let’s find out.
Do you believe the misperceptions of reformed theology I mentioned above, and fume whenever you hear the word Calvinism brought up? Do you have an allergic reaction to the words “sovereign grace”? Does your blood pressure go up when you see ads for the hit series, The Chosen? Do you have strong urges to tear up copies of the Westminster Confession? Do pictures of John Calvin send you over the edge? Do you have an impulse to ransack a garden of TULIPs when you see them?
If so, you might have CDS.
The good news is, there’s treatment for CDS, which is fairly easy to administer and receive. Let me help point the way.
The cure for CDS
I suffered with CDS for a long time after becoming a Christian. I used to teach against Calvinism whenever given the opportunity, having been educated on Reformed theology only by its detractors.
When I went to seminary, my systematic theology professor, Norman Geisler, described himself as a “moderate Calvinist,” adhering to most of the TULIP points except the “T,” total depravity, arguing we still had free will to accept the Gospel message in and of ourselves. Geisler wrote a book that summed up his position, entitled Chosen But Free, which was a response to R. C. Sproul’s work Chosen By God.
When I started my Ph.D. studies, I chose as the focus of my dissertation the apologetics of the Apostle Paul. The topic forced me to do something I had never done in my Christian life up to that point: seriously study Reformed theology’s doctrines of grace on their own merit. The outcome of that biblical investigation was that I became convinced of reformed theology’s validity and thus was cured of my CDS.
Because I didn’t start out as a Reformed theology adherent, I get the pushback that non-Calvinist believers have to it and understand their arguments. I also freely admit that I could be wrong in my position and so am open to counterarguments against Reformed theology’s stance.
Where I draw the line, however, is when non-Reformed Christians accuse Reformed believers of being false prophets, not saved, etc. If that’s you, hear me out on a few things.
Reformed believers uphold all core Christian doctrines of God, Christ, creation, virgin birth, the fall, sin, the substitutionary death of Christ, the resurrection, salvation through faith alone, Jesus’ second coming, and the eternal state. Yeah, they really do.
The primary disagreement between reformed and non-Reformed thinking is in the domain of soteriology: how God has implemented His plan of salvation. And as C. S. Lewis says in Mere Christianity, these kinds of topics “are not Christianity: they are explanations about how it works.”
What that means is you are free to disagree with Reformed theology (or Arminianism), but please recognize that there’s no need to get deranged and abusive over the other side’s position. While, as William Lane Craig said, “I don’t expect non-Christians to act like Christians,” there is an expectation for Christians to act like Christians when we discuss these kinds of subjects.
This means that while you might feel “Zeal for Your house has consumed me” (Ps. 69:9) at times, instead, adhere to something else Scripture says, which is that we should be: “desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things” (Heb.13:18).
So, please, let’s have no more displays of CDS. And if you ever think that you’ve got things about the inscrutable God just perfectly nailed, that there’s no possibility the way you think and the way God thinks/acts could be different, just marinate for a little while on one simple thing God says in the Psalms that’s been a help to me:
“You thought that I was just like you” (Ps. 50:21).
Robin Schumacher is an accomplished software executive and Christian apologist who has written many articles, authored and contributed to several Christian books, appeared on nationally syndicated radio programs, and presented at apologetic events. He holds a BS in Business, Master's in Christian apologetics and a Ph.D. in New Testament. His latest book is, A Confident Faith: Winning people to Christ with the apologetics of the Apostle Paul.
