Cebu Bible Baptist church Katipunan is conducting a two day “Dangers of Calvinism” Bible Conference with Dr. Phil Stringer as its speaker.
With all due respect. If the speaker really has a “doctorate” as advertised, he would not be committing blunders that is not even committed by freshmen seminary graduate school students. Now some people say that credentials are not an issue because after all we are all nobody in Christ. That is true but that is not the point why I am raising this. If you have done graduate school studies you are trained to do proper research, use only materials from reputable source, think logically and critically. Unfortunately you do not see any of these on this “seminar.” Why do I say so, let me prove my point.
I listened to several minutes of the first session but I decided to just turn it off because I could not believe the falsity that is being said. The propagation of of lies, half-truths, historical inaccuracies and misrepresentations and straw man arguments is not befitting of a mammoth an influential institution like Cebu Bible Baptist Church Katipunan. Take note that these are the errors for the first 5 to 6 minutes only. Below are my counter arguments. (There are so much more but this will do for now. Dr. Stringer’s arguments is enclosed in quotes. While these are not verbatim, the one in quotes more or less captures what he said)
1.) “Calvinism is a doctrine that is named after a man”
A MISREPRESENTATION. Calvin was even buried in an unmarked grave obviously to prevent people from giving undue reverence to him. Do you think he would allow that a doctrine be named after him ? “Calvinism” was initially a derogatory term given by enemies of the doctrines of grace. It was a name given in the mid-1500s by those who opposed it. Many who hold on to the doctrines of grace find it nondescriptive and considered it an inappropriate term.
Overtime the term evolved as language evolves and certain terms take on accepted meanings. Those who adhered to the doctrines of grace have come to somehow accept the term for brevity. As C.H Spurgeon said, it is just a mere “nickname” (Calvinism) for the doctrine.1,2,3
2.) “Reformation leaders approached a 26 year old young man to write a comprehensive doctrines book for the whole movement” –
WRONG ! Calvin wrote the Institutes to “to be a statement of French Protestant beliefs that would refute the king, who was persecuting French Protestants and incorrectly calling them Anabaptists (radical Reformers who wished to separate the church from the state).” Further Calvin wrote the work to encourage Christians towards piety, godliness. Which is why Calvin in his 1536 describes his intention as: “to furnish a king of rudiments, by which those who feel some interest in religion might be trained to true godliness.” Take note further that Calvin revised the Institutes several times during his lifetime. (ponder the implications of this with what he said) So where did he get this nonsense ? 4,5
3.) “Calvinism teaches that some people are predestined by God to go to hell”
WRONG ! The official stand of the Canons of the Synod of Dort which somehow provides the standard definition of what “Calvinism” teaches reads as follows:
“Moreover, Holy Scripture most especially highlights this eternal and undeserved grace of our election and brings it out more clearly for us, in that it further bears witness that not all people have been chosen but that some have not been chosen or have been passed by in God’s eternal election—those, that is, concerning whom God, on the basis of his entirely free, most just, irreproachable, and unchangeable good pleasure, made the following decree: to leave them in the common misery into which, by their own fault, they have plunged themselves; not to grant them saving faith and the grace of conversion; but finally to condemn and eternally punish those who have been left in their own ways and under God’s just judgment, not only for their unbelief but also for all their other sins, in order to display his justice.” (First main point of doctrine, Article 15)
NOWHERE in the Canons of the Synod of Dort does it say that God predestined people to go to hell. This is clearly a deliberate misrepresentation.6
Once again, this is just the first 5 to 6 minutes. If you go any further you will unmask much more blunders. So go ahead, listen to the conference if you don’t believe me. Please do use your God given brain.
Respectfully, this conference is nothing more but a dissemination of half lies, misrepresentations and full blown lies that does not contribute anything good to the body of Christ as a whole but instead fan the flames of this already contentious issue and further provides ammunition to the ignorant rabid anti-calvinist among their ranks who further promote ignorance and discourages the use of our God given mental faculties or the utilization of the tools he has given us to make better judgements.
Source:
1 https://www.desiringgod.org/art…/hero-in-an-unmarked-grave
2 Muller, Richard A. (2004). “John Calvin and later Calvinism”. In Bagchi, David; Steinmetz, David C (eds.). See http://www.cambridge.org/…/CBC3161E72D21E6F2CAFDB014B08…
3 https://www.apuritansmind.com/…/a-defense-of-calvinism…/
4 https://www.britannica.com/…/Institutes-of-the…
5 https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/…/why-did-john…/
6 https://www.crcna.org/wel…/beliefs/confessions/canons-dort
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