Jim Scott Orrick [Orrick - Mere Calvinism

1. Calvinism
More Than the Five Points

2. Total Depravity
We Have Received a Bleak Diagnosis

3. Unconditional Election
The Father Planned for the Success of the Gospel

4. Limited Atonement
The Son Secured the Salvation of His People

5. Irresistible Grace
The Holy Spirit Supernaturally Calls the Elect

6. Perseverance of the Saints
God Brings All His Children to Heaven

7. What If?
Less Than the Five Points

Early in the 1990s, I was reading a book of literary criticism by C. S. Lewis whenI came across an entire page on which Lewis discusses the influence of Calvinismin the sixteenth century. The sentence that caught my attention was this one: Unlesswe can imagine the freshness, the audacity, and (soon) the fashionableness of Calvinism,we shall get our whole picture wrong. I was amazed that there had been a time whenCalvinism was fashionable. I had been a Calvinist for virtually all my life, andI assure you that in the late twentieth century it was not fashionable to be a Calvinist.I knew a few older men who were Calvinists, but virtually no young people. Yet Lewisobserved that in the writings of the sixteenth century, Youth is the taunt commonlybrought against the puritan leaders by their opponents: youth and cocksureness.When I first read Lewiss words, I could barely have imagined that within twentyyears I would see the time return when, in some circles, Calvinism would again becomefashionable. Like before, many of the new Calvinists are young and cocksure. In manycases, however, their brash confidence is unfounded. Just because someone calls himselfa Calvinist does not mean that he knows what Calvinism is.

For years I have preached in churches and taught in schools where many in my congregationsand classrooms would have asserted that they were Calvinists. Or they might havesaid, We are Reformed or We believe in the doctrines of grace. In many of thosesame congregations and classrooms, I have preached and taught through the materialfound in this book, and here is what I have observed: most of those persons who callthemselves Calvinists do not really know much about Calvinism, and most of them areconscious of their ignorance. I tell my students that they are not going to be testedover the lectures, but they furiously take notes as if they have never before heardwhat I am saying. They ask intelligent but basic questions that reveal that someof them are working through these ideas and these Scriptures for the first time.Perhaps most revealing are the comments that I often get afterward: I have beenin this church/college for years, and I have never understood these doctrines untilnow. At the conclusion of the semester, I will sometimes poll my students, askingthem, If there has been a book, a lecture, or a discussion that has been especiallyhelpful to you, I would like to hear about it. Far and away the most common responsehas been The lectures on the Five Points of Calvinism.

When we first see the fundamental ideas of Calvinistic theology and recognize thatthe Bible is founded on the principle that God does as he pleases, we may rush todeclare ourselves to be Calvinists, but we desperately hope that no one questionsus carefully about what we believe. Worse, we get into arguments about the sovereigntyof God, and we reveal our insecurity and immaturity by becoming angry with the peoplewho disagree with us. I fear that we pastors and teachers are making a serious mistakewhen we assume that our people and students understand Calvinism just because theycall themselves Calvinists.

I have attempted to write a simple, easy-to-understand explanation of the Five Pointsof Calvinism. I have tried to write a book that you might hand to a young Calvinist,or to someone who just wants to understand what Calvinism is, with the confidencethat he or she will be able to understand the book. I have deliberately used a lotof illustrations that have helped me to understand these truths myself and explainthem to others.

Several years ago, I announced to my classes that the following week I planned tolecture on the Five Points of Calvinism. Before the lectures, a student met me oncampus, and with a concerned expression she asked, Dr. Orrick, when you lectureon Calvinism, you are going to use the Bible, arent you? She went on to explainher question, observing that most of the discussions she had heard about Calvinismwere more philosophical than biblical. I assured her that I would indeed use theBible as the basis for everything I said, and I assure you of the same. You mightread this book and think that I am misinterpreting the Bible, but if you are fair-minded,you will have to admit that I am trying to recognize and interpret what the Biblesays. At least, that has been my goal.

Dr. Tom Nettles read the manuscript of this book and made several excellent suggestions,which I incorporated. Thank you. Years ago you told me to stop calling you Dr. Nettlesand to call you by your first name, so I have. But I want you to know that, on theinside, I still call you Dr. Nettles.

My wife Carol read the manuscript, and she too made valuable suggestions; and I incorporatednearly all of them. Thank you.

C. S. Lewis, English Literature in the Sixteenth Century Excluding Drama , TheOxford History of English Literature 3 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1954), 43.