Are Calvinists Worshiping a False God?

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A close friend of mine is a 5 point Calvinist. She’s been very talkative with me as I’m making my way to Rome. Through all the discussions I’ve been having with her, I’m becoming more and more resentful of the god/God she believes in. Sometimes I’ve even thought if the real God were the Calvinist one…I’d want to go to hell as a form of righteous protest. Now obviously, Calvinists don’t feel this way towards God, so maybe I’m missing something…

I’m just wondering if anyone else has felt this about the Calvinist god/God and if anyone thinks the Calvinist understanding of God is so off it would constitute a false god.
 
I don’t think Calvinists worship a false god. I’m still learning about Calvinism in a more in-depth manner. They make some very strong arguments to be honest and thinking about events and how people behave in general, I think there’s good external evidence backing a number of their views. Not fully convinced though.
I once felt the same way about TULIP. The Calvinist view does easily get perceived as emphasizing the wrath of God over God’s mercy. And the title of Jonathan Edwards’s most famous sermon (well, one of them at least), Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God doesn’t help with that perception. In fact, I’m told the vast majority of Edwards’s writings and sermons, don’t give that perception. When looking into it with a bit more detail, at least what I know so far, Calvinism is too easily dismissed as ‘angry’ and ‘mean’. There is more to Calvinism than TULIP.
 
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Same God. They follow a false teacher. And, there are virtually zero “Calvinists” today who still believe as Calvin did.
 
They are worshipping the same God as us, as shown by the fact that we generally accept the baptisms of those baptized into Calvinist churches such as Presbyterian.

They are just understanding God wrong.
 
I think they are worshipping the same God. Below I’ve linked a great article which is considering whether Muslims worship the same God, but it would apply here.

I actually think the Calvinist conception of God makes the same error the Muslims do. That is it wants to promote God’s omnipotence above all else. For the Muslims they go so far as to say God can go back on his promise. For Calvanists they ignore God’s mercy and humanity’s cooperation with salvation. Both do this to glorify God as being all powerful.

 
I’m in the same boat you are. As someone who was raised a Southern Baptist I had never really considered Calvinism. But as I’ve actually started to research the positions of Calvinism I have found answers to my objections. And some difficult passages in the Bible start to make a lot more sense when looked at from a Calvinist perspective.

The biggest thing that made me start seriously looking at Calvinism was finding out that some of the biggest “soul winners” (as we baptist tend to call evangelist who lead a lot of people to faith in Christ) were actually Calvinist. That did away with the biggest misconception I had, which was the because Calvinist believe in predestination they don’t believe in evangelism.
 
While they make several egregious errors, we shouldn’t go so far as to say they worship a false God.

Of course, when one has only their opinion on what Scripture says, errors will come about.
 
CampionTheChampion said:
the Calvinist understanding of God is so off it would constitute a false god.
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Calvanists worship the God of Abraham, as to the Jews and Muslims.

The Calvantist understanding of God seems warped to those of us who have received the Apostolic faith, but one has to remember that Calvin was a lawyer first, and has a primarily forensic concept of God. He was also passionate to differentiate his theology from Catholic faith (and Lutheran, for that matter) so some of the theology seems quite a vast departure.
 
I too doubt that Muslim’s worship the same God we do, simply because they have drastically different descriptions of what they understand as god vs what we understand as God.

Personally I’m more of the opinion that Lucifer or some other demon appeared to old Mo and presented a lie as truth to lead people away from the true God.
 
You may have misunderstood. I think Muslims do worship the same God. I don’t disagree that the religion itself may have a nefarious basis. If you haven’t read the article I posted then please consider doing so. It explains my position.
 
My bad, I assumed it was a similar one I’d read before. Mea Culpa
 
I agree. Their heresy is incredibly bothersome to me though.
 
JanSobieskiIII said:
too doubt that Muslim’s worship the same God we do, simply because they have drastically different descriptions of what they understand as god vs what we understand as God.
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it is the God of Abraham, they just have a drastically different perception. Their warped perception does not change the nature of the God of Abraham.
CampionTheChampion said:
Their heresy is incredibly bothersome to me though.
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That is a good thing.
 
JanSobieskiIII said:
According to them God is not a trinity, he’s not eternal, he condones lying, etc.
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Well, certainly for Calvanists, there is a Trinity.

Jews and Calvanists certainly believe in an eternal God. This is the first I have heard the Muslims do not?

God was a Trinity before the Trinity was revealed by Jesus, so the Jews, as Jesus said “worship what we know”. For those who have received more revelation, there is more to know.

As far as the condoning of lying embraced by Muslims trying to create a Muslim government/nation, I don’t think they subscribe to the Laws of Moses, because they separated from those who espoused the faith of Abraham before that time.
 
guanophore said:
believe in an eternal God. This is the first I have heard the Muslims do not?
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What I mean by this is in the Koran there are many things Mohammed claims as revealed by God that directly contradict previous teachings. So he is not eternal and unchanging as Christians understand it.

This should probably be a separate thread. I have no doubt calvinists worship the same God as Catholics.
 
Christians, Muslims, and Jews all worship the God of Abraham.

I wouldn’t over-analyze it. Worshiping the God of Abraham doesn’t mean that all is well. The people who stoned the prophets of the Old Testament worshiped the Abrahamic God also.

The more exalted of a status a person enjoys, the more severely they will be judged.

Very few Christians believe in 5-point Calvinism today. Yes, its teachings are immensely repugnant. They’re also not entirely novel. From as early as human history has been recorded & transmitted you can find various faith traditions that believed in some sort of “elect” system, such as a full afterlife being limited to noble or royal ancient dynasties. These beliefs have a tendency to re-emerge under the guise of something new after they’ve been dormant for X number of centuries.

The reason 5-point Calvinism has the potential to be attractive is because it provides a sense of relief for the person, i.e. “I’m one of the chosen ones. Phew.” Your friend might experience severe difficulty in stepping outside of that illusionary comfort zone. It’s not strictly a matter of “proving” them wrong. It’s a matter of the heart and soul.
 
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The Church infallibly teaches about Muslims:

The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all- powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth,(5) who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God. Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. They also honor Mary, His virgin Mother; at times they even call on her with devotion. In addition, they await the day of judgment when God will render their deserts to all those who have been raised up from the dead. Finally, they value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting.

Since in the course of centuries not a few quarrels and hostilities have arisen between Christians and Moslems, this sacred synod urges all to forget the past and to work sincerely for mutual understanding and to preserve as well as to promote together for the benefit of all mankind social justice and moral welfare, as well as peace and freedom.

Nostra Aetate paragraph 3, the Declaration of the Church in relation to non Christian religions, from the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council.
 
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What exactly is Calvinism? It isn’t the same as Lutheranism in that not one United belief system is incorporated. Yes it has it’s beliefs founded in John Calvin’s writings among other reformers however Calvinism is not specific but an umbrella term much like Protestantism. I know this is not exactly on topic but which modern church follows closest to Calvin? Isn’t it more of reformed Christianity and Congregational churches, Presbyterian etc?
 
Yeah I’ve read that. I’ve never heard it was infallible, merely pastoral.

Assuming it is infallible from here on out, why is it that if a Christian sect denies the divinity of Christ they’d be guilty of heresy but we wave it off for another group? Or am I misunderstanding something.
 
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