James Allen Moseley

Is Calvinism Biblical? James Allen Moseley

After some years of teaching Adult Bible Study, my father asked me what I thought of Calvinism. I was taken aback. My response was automatic. Calvinism was right doctrine, of course. On reflection, I realized that I had only reached that conclusion by assuming that what all of my pastors had taught me till then was true. I had never actually considered the matter with an open mind. I decided to make a systematic attempt to test the Biblical validity of Calvinism. I collected every Calvinist passage in the Bible that I could find (culled from my reading and listening) and asked this simple question: does the Bible verse unambiguously support the Calvinist Tenet, or might a reasonable theologian read the plain meaning of the verse in such a way that does not support the Calvinist Tenet? The purpose of this book is not primarily to disprove Calvinism, but mainly to ask whether the verses usually adduced to support Calvinism, given a fair and honest reading, inevitably and unambiguously support Calvinism. So, if a verse may be read in such a way to support Calvinism, but, fairly and honestly, it may be read in such a way that either does not support Calvinism or seems ambiguous, I conclude that such a verse leaves the Calvinist Tenet unproven. This does not necessarily mean that the Calvinist Tenet is false. It simply means that reasonable Christians are justified in believing that such a verse could go either way and is not a definitive proof text for Calvinism. I summed up the score of all verses and allowed the score to speak for itself in answering the question: Is Calvinism Biblical?