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Manphibian
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I’m getting emails from an independant baptist friend of mine that are blaming the calvinist heresy on St. Augustine. I have been unable to find much info about this online. I KNOW you guys have answers!!! Help!
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guanophore
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No, but if you cherry pick some of his writings, and interpret quite a bit (if not ALL) scripture out of context, you can see where they get that. I just read a Sola Scriptura person using the same method. If you cut the passages off just so,then you can piece them together to support “another gospel”.
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brycelaliberte
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As far as I can tell (from reading Augustine’s wiki) Augustine’s ideas regarding pre-destination and original sin are similar to those of John Calvin’s; or rather, John Calvin’s are similar to Augustine’s, considering Augustine came first.
I don’t know for sure, whether you could classify him strictly as a Calvinist.
Currently reading his Confessions, maybe I’ll find out in there.
I don’t know for sure, whether you could classify him strictly as a Calvinist.
Currently reading his Confessions, maybe I’ll find out in there.
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Ignatius
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St. Augustine of Hippo was born at Tagaste on 13 November, 354. Calvin was born some 1,200 years later. Calvin, instead of following the constant teaching of the Church (including Augustin) decided his on private misinterpretation was better. That is the source of his Heresy.
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RevDrNorth
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I have a Baptist pastor friend who is Reformed in his theology and is also a fan of St. Augustine (quotes him in sermons frequently). So there may be an affinity. FYI…there is a battle in Baptist circles between an increasing number of youth graduating from seminaries with a Reformed theological bent (such as Southern Baptist Seminary headed by Dr. Al Mohler) and they are increasingly clashing with older pastors who are more Arminian leaning. This has been discussed in Christianity Today.
FYI, I might have phrased your question a little differently in terms of Chronology (ie was Calvin an Augustinian)
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itsjustdave1988
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I spent some time at a Protestant forum debating this very issue.
Calvin is quoted as saying, “Augustine is so completely of our persuasion, that if I should have to make written profession, it would be quite enough to present a composition made up entirely of excerpts from his writings.”
Calvin would have done much better if he actually had presented ONLY excerpts from Augustine.
Some claim that Calvin’s teaching must have been a “development” from Augustine’s teaching since Calvin quoted from him. I don’t find that very convincing, however, since Thomas Jefferson quoted even more extensively from the Bible than Calvin did from Augustine, but few would claim that Jefferson’s Deism was a “development” from the Bible.
It seems to me that Calvin took a little bit from Augustine and goofed it all up, contradicting Augustine’s teachings. That’s not “development” but distortion. Calvin opposed Augustine’s teachings just as certainly as Jefferson’s Deism opposed Christianity.
See more here:
** Did Augustine teach eternal security?
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Catholic_Dude
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No Augustine was not a Calvinist, that is a common misconception among Protestants trying desperately to find some historical testimony for their doctrines. St Augustine taught significant doctrines regarding salvation that are flatly incompatible/contradictory with Calvinism, most especially St Augustine believed that justification is by infused grace, Baptism justifies, we can fail to persevere (lose our salvation), purgatory, etc
This page quotes multiple doctrines that Augustine taught that are against Calvinist and Protestant doctrine in general:
socrates58.blogspot.com/2007/11/st-augustine-was-catholic-not-proto.html
This page quotes multiple doctrines that Augustine taught that are against Calvinist and Protestant doctrine in general:
socrates58.blogspot.com/2007/11/st-augustine-was-catholic-not-proto.html
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Teflon93
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St Augustine is a Doctor of the Catholic Church and a saint.
Jean Calvin is a heretic.
Those who claim Augustine of Hippo was a Calvinist are guilty of both inaccuracy and anachronism. What is interesting, of course, is that they feel compelled to claim some earlier Christian authority for their own—Calvin clearly isn’t sufficient.
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Catholic_Dude
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LOL, night and day.
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Westfall
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St Augustine’s Enchiridion, written when he was in his sixties, reprises his thinking on the subject of predestination. His understanding of unconditional election (monergism) and the inability of the natural human will to choose spiritual good, do not differ substantially from Calvin’s. St A’s interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:4 and Romans 9 are especially revealing. Even more surprisingly, his passage on “Love” seems to imply that Christ died only to save his elect (“the kingdom of death will not hold one for whom [Christ] laid down his life.”). St A’s views seem to accord with Martin Luther’s, which are explained in detail in his work, “Bondage of the Will.” Therein he claims that justification is based on God’s unconditional election, which, in turn, always leads to faith (and faith produces love). Interestingly, Fr Richard Neuhaus (now deceased) reported in his periodical, “First Things” that Pope Benedict XVI had recently said in one of his homilies that “Luther’s view on justification by grace through faith was correct.” And let’s remember that Luther’s view informed that of Calvin’s on the same issue. Sounds like the Pope himself may have some “Augustinian” leanings in his understanding of soteriology. The majority of Christians today are Semi-Pelagian, so most Catholics, Anglicans, Protestants, and probably all Orthodox believers would generally recoil at the thought that more than just a few “heroes of the faith” were predestinarians. Nevertheless, it is a doctrine of long-standing in the Church. My limited understanding of the Catholic position leads me to understand that belief in predestination (in the sense of unconditional election) is not considered a heresy as long as “double predestination” is not in view (God acting with equal force to save the elect and reprobate the rest). These are tough issues, but since predestination is a topic God addresses in His Word, it is worthy of our study–as long as it is done out of love for our Savior.
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CentralFLJames
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This would be in the same league as Catholics trying to blame the Protestant Uprising on Pope Damascus for developing and canonizing the bible and publishing it a convenient form that could easily by hijacked by anyone who could lay their hands on all the Christian writings ever known to exist in one easy to steal book.
We should have published the catechism first…Of course we have no one but ourselves to blame for teaching naughty peasants and scrupulous German commoners how to read Latin in the first place.
James
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