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Anti-Calvinist quotations and formulations

This file collects the most useful lines from the critics — the ones worth memorizing, with their sources and their limits.

A warning first. A memorable quotation is not an argument. The strongest critics in this book win by exegesis, not by rhetoric. Use these lines to open a conversation or to name a problem, not to replace the work.

Verified quotations

John Wesley, "Free Grace" (1739)

"This is the blasphemy clearly contained in the horrible decree of predestination! And here I fix my foot. On this I join issue with every assertor of it. You represent God as worse than the devil; more false, more cruel, more unjust." — John Wesley, "Free Grace," Sermon 128, §26.

And, on the sincerity of the offer:

"You describe him as saying one thing, and meaning another; as pretending the love which he had not. Him, in 'whose mouth was no guile,' you make full of deceit, void of common sincerity... if you say, they would, but he would not, you represent him... as weeping crocodiles' tears, weeping over the prey which himself had doomed to destruction!" — Ibid., §24.

Use: Wesley is the great pastoral critic. The "crocodile tears" image is devastating because it is aimed at the sincerity problem, not at the doctrine's logic. Use it when the issue is the free offer, not when the issue is Romans 9.

Caution: Wesley's rhetoric is strong ("worse than the devil"). In a conversation with a Reformed friend, quote the argument, not the invective. The casebook does not endorse the "worse than the devil" formulation; it endorses the question underneath it.

A. T. Robertson on Acts 13:48

"This verse does not solve the vexed problem of divine sovereignty and human free agency. There is no evidence that Luke had in mind an absolutum decretum of personal salvation. Paul had shown that God's plan extended to and included Gentiles. Certainly the Spirit of God does move upon the human heart to which some respond, as here, while others push him away." — A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, on Acts 13:48.

Use: a scholarly, non-polemical voice saying that the "obvious" Calvinist reading is not required by the text. Especially useful with someone who trusts Greek scholarship.

R. J. Knowling, The Expositor's Greek Testament

"There is no countenance here for the absolutum decretum of the Calvinists, since verse 46 had already shown that the Jews had acted through their own choice." — R. J. Knowling, The Expositor's Greek Testament, vol. 2, on Acts 13:48.

Status: verified through a reliable secondary source; check the printed edition before publishing.

Henry Alford

Alford renders Acts 13:48 as "as many as were disposed to eternal life believed."

Status: reported in secondary sources; verify the printed edition before quoting.

Formulations worth memorizing (paraphrase, not quotation)

These are the arguments of the critics in portable form. They are paraphrases; do not put quotation marks around them.

Leighton Flowers on John 6:44: The verse says no one can come without the Father's drawing; it does not say that everyone drawn will come, and John 6:45 identifies the drawing as teaching.

Leighton Flowers on Romans 9: The chapter is about national Israel and the inclusion of the Gentiles; "Jacob I loved, Esau I hated" is a quotation from Malachi about two nations, and Romans 11 leaves the hardened room to return.

Kevin Thompson on method: Before you argue about a proof text, ask what the text would have to say for the Calvinist reading to be true, and whether it says that. The Calvinist often supplies the decisive words ("eternal," "individual," "irresistible") from the system.

Ken Wilson on Augustine: The later Augustine's doctrine of unilateral election was a development, not the apostolic deposit; the pre-Augustinian fathers taught election according to foreknown faith.

Jerry Walls on the "no good news" problem: If God has decreed that some cannot be saved, the gospel is not good news for them, and the church cannot know to whom she is speaking.

Roger Olson on the definition: Calvinism is not a vague "high view of God"; it is the specific system of Dort, and it should be evaluated at its strongest, not at its most popular.

Robert Shank on election: Election is corporate and "in Christ"; individuals are elect by union with him, not by a pre-creation list.

I. Howard Marshall on perseverance: The warning passages are addressed to believers and describe a real danger; security is "through faith," not apart from it.

Dave Hunt on the love of God: A God who creates people for the purpose of damnation is not the God revealed in Jesus Christ.

Greg Boyd on the problem of evil: If God decrees every event, the free-will defense is unavailable, and the problem of evil becomes a problem about God's character.

David Allen on the atonement: The extent of the atonement is a question about God's intent, and the New Testament's universal language is the church's own evangelistic grammar.

The strongest single lines, by use case

Use case Line
The free offer "You cannot sincerely offer what you have not provided."
Assurance "Assurance is grounded in the promise, not in the decree."
Romans 9 "Paul is answering a question about Israel, not about a pre-creation list."
John 6 "'Can come' is not 'will come.'"
Acts 13:48 "Who ordained them, and when? The text does not say."
Faith and works "Faith is the empty hand, not the payment."
Total depravity "Dead in sin means alienated, not incapable of hearing."
Perseverance "Kept through faith is not kept apart from faith."
History "Double predestination is a development, not the deposit."
Tone "State it so well that they say, 'Yes, that is what I believe.'"

Quotations to avoid

  1. "Calvin was a murderer" (Servetus). True that Servetus was executed in Geneva, but the casebook is about exegesis, and the guilt-by-association move hardens the other person.
  2. "Calvinism is a cult." It is not; it is a Christian tradition with serious scholars.
  3. "Calvinists worship a monster." This attacks the person's love for God, not the argument.
  4. Spurious Spurgeon one-liners. Many circulating "Spurgeon quotes" are misattributed or paraphrased. If you cannot source it, do not use it.
  5. "God is a monster" / "cosmic child abuse." The phrase (associated with Steve Chalke) is a polemical slogan about penal substitution, not about Calvinism, and it alienates people who hold a high view of the cross.
  6. Any quotation whose only source is a meme. The verification notes explain why.

How to use a quotation well

  1. Give the source in the sentence. "Calvin says in Institutes III.23.7..." — not "Calvin said somewhere..."
  2. Say what it proves and what it does not. An admission of difficulty is not a concession.
  3. Prefer the argument to the zinger. The quotation opens the door; the exegesis walks through it.
  4. Be willing to quote the other side's best line. A person who can quote Owen with respect is harder to dismiss than one who only quotes Wesley.

See also