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Are Calvinists "Passionate" About Evangelism? Are Calvinists passionate about evangelism? Or are they generally more passionate about defending a system of theology? Some say Calvinists are passionate about evangelism. Others say that Calvinists are generally more passionate about defending theological system from which they gain their name. This article will examine the question of whether or not Calvinists are more passionate about evangelism or whether they are more passionate about defending a theological system of beliefs. In a thread on the BaptistLife.Com Discussion Forum, John Sneed of Minot, N.D. made a bold boast about the passion which Calvinists with whom he is personally familiar are about evangelism. JohnS's boast was: "Every single Calvinist with whom I am personally familiar are passionately committed to evangelism." In a later post, JohnS defended his comment and made another boast along the same line: "[O]ne can be doctrinally sound and also be evangelistic. This is the state of most Calvinists. I am personally associated with many (I said MANY) and all of them are committed evangelists and soul winners." From these two comments, he declares that Calvinists are passionately committed to evangelism. In a reply to JohnS's claim, Jon Estes of El Paso, TX wrote: "Amen. I think it could be better said, "A true Calvinist is evangelistic at heart." To think other wise means you know little about Calvinism." According to Jon, to declare that a Calvinist is not evangelistic at heart is to know little about Calvinism. I grew up knowing a good deal about Calvinism and the attitude that they have toward evangelism and doctrine. My grandfather on my mother's side was a Calvinist preacher in the Primitive Baptist tradition. Evangelism was unimportant to him and his church. Most important to him was the idea of knowing, understanding, and preaching the "Doctrines of Grace." The Doctrines of Grace are centered in the "TULIP" acrostic. ("T" = Total Depravity of Man "U" = Unconditional Election/Predestination, "L" = Limited Atonement, "I" = Irresistible Grace of God, "P" = Perseverance of the Saints). Essentially, there is nothing in the acrostic that relates to evangelism. Everything deals with Calvinist doctrine. The acrostic, TULIP, is a tool used by Calvinists to teach and defend a system of theology. The best way to examine whether or not Calvinists are "passionate" about evangelism is to go directly to the sources. The best available source for examining this question is to look at the Founders Ministries. Founders Ministries is headed by Thomas K. Ascol of Cape Coral, FL. Tom is pastor of the Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral. Surfing the Internet, I logged on to the Founders Ministries website and examined the articles listed found in the Founders Journal. I have been subscribing to the Founders Journal since 1995. The Journal has published fifty-six quarterlies. The FJ website shows the articles for sixty-three issues. I read all 289 editorials and articles in the 63 volumes of Founders Journal. [1] As I read them, some more closely than others, I counted the number of authors and the number of articles written by each author. [2] I arbitrarily assigned each article to one of the following categories: 1) editorials, 2) doctrine, 3) history, 4) testimony, 5) open letters 6) evangelism, 7) reprinted articles, and 8) miscellaneous. 1) Editorials: There was an editorial in each of the 63 issues. Almost all the editorials were written by Tom Ascol. A couple of the editorials were written by Tom Nettles. Tom wrote the editorial and two of the major articles in FJ # 44. The majority of the editorials dealt with Calvinism or the defense of the same. A few of the editorials dealt with pastoral concerns and/or current affairs which included a theological conclusion. 2) Doctrine: Of the 298 articles, not considering the editorials, 122 of them were articles related specifically to doctrine. The large majority of the doctrinal articles dealt with some form of defense of Calvinism or criticism of non-Calvinism. Many were strongly Calvinistic and a few touched mildly on the subject. Doctrine and Calvinist theology was the dominant theme of the articles in the 63 issues of the Journal. 3) History: Thirty (30) were historical or biographical in nature. Most of the articles attempted to prove that Southern Baptists were strongly Calvinistic at the beginning of the denomination. Many bemoaned the demise of Calvinism in modern history. Coincidentally, there was a measure of rejoicing that Calvinism is making a strong comeback over the past quarter-century. 4) Testimony: Six (6) of the articles were testimonial. The authors reflected pride and joy of being Calvinist in a time when Calvinism in gaining strength. The testimonies seemed to reflect an attitude of pride for being on the cutting edge of the rise of Calvinism in Southern Baptist life. 5) Open Letters: There were five (5) open letters: 1) An open letter About Spurgeon v. Hyper-Calvinism; 2) An open letter to Dr. William R. Estep; 3 & 4) Two open letters by anonymous missionaries; and 5) an open letter to Reformed Baptist pastors & churches. Each of the open letters promoted some aspect of Calvinism. The Open letter to William Estep was a stern criticism of an article which the Seminary professor had written. 6) Evangelism: Thirteen (13) of the articles touched on evangelism. Not one, however, dealt entirely with evangelism in the sense of promoting evangelism. Most of the articles dealt with some form of criticism of current evangelistic practices in Southern Baptist life and/or promoted the Calvinist understanding of the same. 7) Reprinted Articles: There were 18 articles which were reprints of famous Baptists or reprints from books & journals of the past and present. They include articles by: James P Boyce, Charles Spurgeon, A.W. Tozer, John Broadus, John Calvin, William Estep, W. T. Brantly, A. T. Robertson, Martin Luther, Iaian Murray. 8) Miscellaneous: Thirty-eight (38) of the articles dealt with some form of theology, scripture study, and/or pastoral concern not necessarily connected to Calvinism. Although one might locate some Calvinism in the articles, generally they were neutral concerning either evangelism or Reformation theology. Conclusion: Those who declare that Calvinists are "passionate" about evangelism are unaware of the truth. If anything, Calvinists are "passionate" about defending Reformation Theology and promoting the same. Using 289 articles found in 63 issues of the Founders Journal as my source, I found that evangelism was rarely discussed. I found the topic mentioned in only 13 of the articles. And not one of the 13 articles promoted evangelism as a primary Christian concern. For the sake of argument, let's say that the 13 articles which mentioned evangelism did in fact promote and encourage evangelism. If so, the percentage of articles dealing with the subject would compute to about 4.5%. Can one conclude that 4.5% is a number that represents a "passion" for evangelism? Hardly. Conversely, 178 of the Founders Journal articles and editorials dealt specifically with doctrinal issues. The percentage of doctrinal articles is about 62%. Most of the articles spoke in some manner to Calvinism. Most of them defended, promoted, and encouraged Calvinism. Many criticized the opponents of Calvinism.
According to my not so scientific study, the passion of Calvinists is firmly rooted in the doctrinal arena. There is very little passion in the heart of a Calvinist for promoting and encouraging evangelism. To say, as John Sneed and Jon Estes have declared, that "Calvinists are passionate about evangelism" is a myth. My study indicates that Calvinists are roughly 5% passionate about evangelism and 62% passionate about doctrine. Until someone can show otherwise, I'm not believing that Calvinists are "passionate" about evangelism. The evidence is pretty clear to me. --
July 16, 2003 (This article was written for BaptistLife.Com Discussion Forums) |
