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The Terrible C's Part 3a - Calvinism

Here I am on the 3rd part of my post responding to the series of GodTube videos titled The Terrible C's and it was about Calvinism. They spent the most time on this particular subject so I will need to split my post into two posts so that this will not be too long. In this part I will focus on the facts that are wrong and my next post will focus on how scripture was used to show their points. Before I significantly make comments, here is the video



I have some serious concerns about some of the points raised in this discussion. There are some ideas brought up as facts that I know have been demonstrated as not true.
1. Edom is related to Ismael and thereby responsible for Islam.
2. In the Old Covenant you must be a Jew to be saved.
3. Ismael went to hell
4. John Calvin ran a police state.

It is a stretch to equate Esau (Edom) with Ismael. We know from Genesis that "Edom" was a kind of nickname for Isaac's son Esau and his descendants were known as the Edomites (Genesis 36). However Ismael would have been Esau's uncle because his father was Abraham. Although Ismael was not the son of Abraham through whom God had chosen to bring the Messiah it had nothing to do with Ismael himself anymore than Jacob had to do with himself being chosen over Esau. Recall that Abraham had sons after Isaac and there is reason to conclude that they or Ismael were condemned to Hell. Ismael became the father of great nations. That was something God did. Today's Arabs are descended from him, but one of his descendant about 3 millennia later founded Islam. He can't be held responsible. Recall in Genesis 21:17 God miraculously saved Ismael and Hagar from dying in the desert and verse 20 emphatically says that God was with him. Why would God be with Ismael? Abraham loved Ismael and Isaac. There is no evidence that he loved Ismael less or that he did not teach Ismael the ways of God. The last time we see Ismael mentioned in Genesis is where He and Isaac buried their father together (Genesis 25:9). How significant! This must mean Ismael must have not harbored any ill-will to his father or brother. They seemed to have "buried the hatchet" a long time prior to Abraham's death. How could anyone conclude that Ismael went to hell when God pulled that kind of reconciliation?

Jews have always played a special part in God's plan to save humanity, but we have many scriptures that show that just being a Jew is not enough. Two people that come to mind that we can point to who were not Jews and lived before Christ but were saved along with the patriarchs and prophets and all the other believing Jews are Rahab and Ruth. Not only are we told that they were not Jews, but we know that by faith they pleased God and ended up being in Jesus' genealogy. Of course one might want to suggest that you could be listed by name in Hebrews 11 and as one of Jesus' ancestors and yet end up in hell, but I don't know anyone who would want to do that. Remember also the lengths God went to to save the people of Nineveh in the Book of Jonah. If he did not care about non-Jewish people before Jesus then why did He send a prophet to do his will?

Unfortunately, not everyone in our society today know that much about Jean Calvin. He was just a man like any of us - flawed and a sinner. However God did use him to do many great things during the time God allotted to him about 500 years ago. Many of the points raised against Jean Calvin as a man and the things he did are raised to dispel and disparage Calvinism. There is a radio program that is also web casted out of the New York area that has dealt with Jean Calvin form a historical basis. In this light, Jean Calvin does not fit the caricature painted in this video. Calvin did not run a police state in Geneva. The radio show is called Iron Sharpens Iron and is broadcasted at 3 pm Eastern every weekday. Fortunately for us who don't live in that market, the show is recorded and archived everyday so you can listen on the Internet. Here is the show broadcasted October 4 and November 11, 2007 talking about the historical persons of Jean Calvin and Arminius both of whom are mentioned in this video. It's called THE EXPOSITORY GENIUS OF JOHN CALVIN.

If there is enough information out there directly contradicting what they have stated in this video, it would be wise to investigate further, weighing every single word and thought expressed.