… But neither were the Calvinists … Who is a Calvinist anyway…? argues Richard Muller in this fascinating article.
As part of the 2009 Calvinpalooza of events, Richard Muller gave this address at Calvin Theological Seminary in the States.
It is an absolutely superb discussion of the following types of things:
- Is it anachronistic to describe Calvin as adhering to TULIP?
- Did Calvin teach Limited Atonement?
- Why have we moved on since the Calvin vs. the Calvinists thesis?
- How do Humanism and Scholasticism relate to Calvin’s teaching?
- What does it really mean that Calvin moved around the locus of Predestination in his Institutes?
- Is anyone really a “Calvinist”?
- Why pitting the 16th and 17th century Reformed theologians is ridiculous.
All these questions and more by arguably the world’s leading Reformation scholar. Download the PDF! Here’s a snippet:
“By way of addressing these issues, we should note first and foremost the problem of TULIP itself — an acrostic that has caused much trouble for the Reformed tradition and has contributed greatly to the confusion about Calvin and Calvinism. (I don’t plan to tiptoe through this issue.) It is really quite odd and a-historical to associate a particular document written in the Netherlands in 1618-19 with the whole of Calvinism and then to reduce its meaning to TULIP. Many of you here know that the word is actually “tulp.” “Tulip” isn’t Dutch — sometimes I wonder whether Arminius was just trying to correct someone’s spelling when he was accused of omitting that “i” for irresistible grace. More seriously, there is no historical association between the acrostic TULIP and the Canons of Dort. As far as we know, both the acrostic and the phrase “five points of Calvinism” are of Anglo-American origin and do not date back before the nineteenth century. It is remarkable how quickly bad ideas catch on.”
And if you’re really keen to dig deeper, check out his Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics (picture above – it looks nice on the bookshelf!). This has proved to be one of my best purchases whilst at college – I’ve found it an invaluable resource for doing a whole bunch of my college assignments!
PS – Just in case you’re wondering, Muller’s argument isn’t a negative neo-orthodox position, but quite a nuanced take on the Reformed tradition.
November 5, 2009
Richard Muller’s stuff is great; I found it immensely useful when I was working on my thesis. I’d say he’ll be defining the landscape for a few decades.