When many hear someone refer to themselves as a "Calvinist" they assume the person is against evangelism. It is taken as a already-proven truth that one cannot be evangelistic and a Calvinist at the same time. To question this is (it is believed) like questioning that the world is round.During the first month or so of my first pastorate I made an off-beat though favorable reference to Calvin during my Sunday morning sermon. Within the next few days an older gentleman in the congregation scheduled a meeting with me. He was 'shocked' that I would have spoken so favorably of a "heretic" who had "led thousands of people to hell". My powers of deduction eventually lead me to the conclusion that this person might not be a big fan of the Reformer from Geneva. :o)
Recently I came across an excellent article by Frank James, (professor of Historical & Systematic Theology at RTS) about the tremendous evangelistic and church-planting mission activity of John Calvin.
Read some of these extracts from the paper:
Calvin didn't just plant small fledgling churches; he planted mega-churches that in turn planted more churches.
The Genevan archives hold hundreds of letters containing Calvin's pastoral and practical advice on establishing underground churches. He did not just send missionaries; he invested himself in long-term relationships with them.
The data indicate that by 1555, there were five underground Protestant churches in France. By 1559, the number of these Protestant churches jumped to more than one hundred. And scholars estimate that by 1562 there were more than 2,150 churches established in France with approximately three-million Protestant souls in attendance.
The French government became so concerned about all these churches being planted that they sent a letter of protest to the Genevan city council.
Records indicate missionaries also were sent to Italy; the Netherlands, Hungary; Poland, and the free Imperial city-states in the Rhineland. The late Philip Edgcumbe Hughes, one of the few modern scholars aware of this extraordinary achievement, concluded that Calvin's Geneva was a "school of missions... [and] a dynamic centre of missionary concern and activity."
Calvin also sent missionaries across the Atlantic Ocean to South America.
If Calvin is taken as a model, Reformed theology ought to produce not only the best theologians. but also the best pastors and missionaries.
The Genevan archives hold hundreds of letters containing Calvin's pastoral and practical advice on establishing underground churches. He did not just send missionaries; he invested himself in long-term relationships with them.
The data indicate that by 1555, there were five underground Protestant churches in France. By 1559, the number of these Protestant churches jumped to more than one hundred. And scholars estimate that by 1562 there were more than 2,150 churches established in France with approximately three-million Protestant souls in attendance.
The French government became so concerned about all these churches being planted that they sent a letter of protest to the Genevan city council.
Records indicate missionaries also were sent to Italy; the Netherlands, Hungary; Poland, and the free Imperial city-states in the Rhineland. The late Philip Edgcumbe Hughes, one of the few modern scholars aware of this extraordinary achievement, concluded that Calvin's Geneva was a "school of missions... [and] a dynamic centre of missionary concern and activity."
Calvin also sent missionaries across the Atlantic Ocean to South America.
If Calvin is taken as a model, Reformed theology ought to produce not only the best theologians. but also the best pastors and missionaries.
I would guess that most people who claim the Calvinism destroys mission work could a) not name a single Calvinist besides Calvin and b) could not articulate the basic tenets of Reformed theology without resorting to caricatures.
ReplyDeleteI have always felt that Calvinism encourages missions and evangelism, or at least should. I would be terrified to proclaim the Gospel if it were up to my skills of persuasion to convince someone. Far better to let the Holy Spirit of God coupled with God’s Word do the work. We are poor vessels for such a task (with men such things are impossible) but He is a far greater God than we are sinners.
Of course I am not an unbiased observer…
I would agree with the previous commenter. I love to do evangelism, but trust in the sovereingty of God for the results. Grateful to be a servant in the kingdom, and inebriated by grace.
ReplyDeletePastor Chris
EvangelismCoach.org