False Doctrines of the Pope of Geneva Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance One must first study the man, John Calvin, in order to understand the theology that has come to be called Calvinism. Calvin was born July 10, 1509, in Picardy at Noyon, France, to devout Roman Catholic parents as Jean Chauvin and died at Geneva, May 27, 1564, at age 54. The family name, spelled in many ways, was Cauvin, latinized according to the custom of the age as Calvinus. For some unknown reason John is commonly called Maître Jean C. His mother, Jeanne Le Franc, born in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cambrai, is mentioned as beautiful and devout. She took her little son to various shrines and brought him up a good Catholic. John was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church as an infant. On the fathers side, his ancestors were seafaring men. His grandfather settled at Pont lEvêque near Paris and had two sons who became locksmiths. The third, Gerard, became procurator at Noyon and had four sons and two daughters. John Calvins father, Gerard, an attorney, had purchased the freedom of the City of Noyon where he practiced civil and canon law. Gerards four sons were made clerics and held benefices at a tender age. John was given one when a boy of twelve. He became Curé of Saint-Martin de Marteville in the Vermandois in 1527 and of Pont lEveque in 1529. Three of the boys attended the local Collège des Capettes, and there John proved himself an apt scholar. Calvins formal education was complete in 1527 when he was eighteen. According to the Catholics, he drifted from his Roman Catholic faith to become a humanist and a reformer. The sudden conversion to a spiritual life in 1529 could possibly be interpreted as his becoming saved, but throughout his life he counted on his Roman Catholic infant baptism as the basis of his regeneration. John Calvin studied the voluminous writings of Saint Augustine, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Hippo (354-430 AD), much more so than those of Martin Luther, his contemporary. Calvin is continually praising Augustines work with numerous references and quotations. Augustine was greatly influenced by the Gnostics, an early Christian sect, whose doctrine was heretical. Gnostics believed that mankind was wholly evil, and some sects even renounced marriage and procreation. They also believed in two gods, one evil and one good. Their teachings are believed to have influenced Saint Augustine in the development of his theology of the total depravity of mankind and his concept of God. For nine years Saint Augustine adhered to Manichaeism, a Persian dualistic philosophy proclaimed by Mani (216-276? AD) in southern Babylonia (Iraq) that taught a doctrine of total depravity and the claim that they were the elect. Augustine could not advance in his Manichaeism religion because of his sinful lifestyle. He had a reputation as a womanizer and a fornicator.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:45:55 +0000
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