WACO, Texas (ABP) — Roger Olson, professor at Baylor University's Truett Theological Seminary, agreed to write a new book refuting Calvinism because he believes somebody needs to rescue God's reputation.
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"I am against any Calvinism — and any theology — that impugns the goodness of God in favor of absolute sovereignty, leading to the conclusion that evil, sin and every horror of human history are planned and rendered certain by God," he writes.
Olson doesn't particularly like the title of the book, Against Calvinism, but Zondervan publishing insisted on it. He admires Calvinist colleagues and students, and he makes it clear he respects their Christian commitment. It's radical Calvinism — generally held by those who identify themselves as "young, restless and Reformed" — he feels the need to oppose.
Olson believes Calvinist theology crosses the line into radical territory when it "makes assertions about God that necessarily, logically imply that God is less than perfectly good in the highest sense of goodness found in the New Testament and especially in Jesus Christ, the fullest revelation of God for us."
So, when it comes to the TULIP of so-called five-point Calvinist doctrine– total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace and perseverance of saints — Olson seeks to mow down at least the U, L and I, leaving just two petals blooming.
"In spite of their best efforts to avoid it, the 'good and necessary consequence' of their soteriology (doctrine of salvation) — TULIP — is that God is morally ambiguous if not a moral monster," he asserts.
In the companion volume, For Calvinism, Michael Horton of Westminster Seminary prefers the terms "particular redemption" to limited atonement and "effectual grace" to irresistible grace. But otherwise, he mounts a spirited defense of the five points he and other Calvinists refer to as the "doctrines of grace."
"Chosen in Christ from all eternity, we are called effectually to Christ in time," Horton writes. "Through faith, which itself is God's gracious gift, we receive Christ and all of his benefits."
Rather than defaming God, Horton insists, Reformed theology acknowledges God's rightful place as sovereign and offers a biblical and accurate assessment of humanity's inability to attain salvation apart from God's initiative.
"It is impossible to read the Bible without recognizing God's freedom to choose some and not others — and the fact that he does in fact exercise that right," he writes.
Unconditional election should remind Christians "God is always on the giving end and sinners are on the receiving end of grace," he adds.
Books and sermons on "how to be born again" miss the point, Horton asserts. Sinners do not choose to follow God until God chooses to draw sinners to himself.
"The new birth is a mysterious work of the Spirit in his sovereign freedom, not an event that we ourselves can bring about any more than our natural birth," he writes.
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Horton dismisses criticism that God's election of only some to salvation is unfair by insisting fairness would demand every sinner's eternal punishment.
"God is not arbitrarily choosing some and rejecting others," he writes. "Rather, he is choosing some of his enemies for salvation and leaving the rest to the destiny that all of us would have chosen for ourselves."
Olson doesn't accept that argument. "The issue is not fairness but love," he writes. "A God who could save everyone because he always saves unconditionally but chooses only some would not be a good or loving God."
Election rightly understood refers to the people of God in general — all those who freely respond to the invitation to be "in Christ" — not to specific individuals, he writes.
Reprobation– the idea that God has predestined some people for hell — follows logically if one believes God is absolutely sovereign and has chosen only some individuals for salvation, Olson insists.
Radical Calvinists' belief in the absolute sovereignty of God amounts to divine determinism, and it makes God responsible for evil, he asserts.
"The one main reason Arminians and other non-Calvinists believe in free will is to preserve and protect God's goodness so as not to make him the author of sin and evil," Olson writes. "Calvinism makes it difficult to recognize the difference between God and the devil except that the devil wants everyone to go to hell and God wants many to go to hell."
Horton rejects that assessment of Reformed theology. However, he acknowledges the excesses of some zealous converts to the "New Calvinism" movement.
"We have to distinguish between a God-centered perspective and thinking that you have God on your side — which implies that he's against fellow brothers and sisters," he writes.
"Unfortunately, we can turn God into a mascot for our team while extolling his sovereignty, glory and grace. … For all sorts of reasons, we can be misguided in our approach, and we can do all sorts of nasty things 'for the glory of God.'"
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Ken Camp is managing editor of the Baptist Standard.