In an era when the prosperity gospel’s ostentatious promises of wealth and health have drawn widespread condemnation for distorting Christian teaching, a quieter but arguably more insidious threat has entrenched itself within evangelical circles: Calvinism.

Rooted in the 16th-century theology of John Calvin and encapsulated in the acronym TULIP — Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints — this system employs partial truths and selective scriptural exegesis to construct a version of God, Christ, and salvation that diverges sharply from a plain reading of the Bible.

Unlike the prosperity gospel’s overt materialism, Calvinism’s subversion lies in its intellectual veneer and its claim to biblical fidelity, making it a more dangerous distortion of the faith. At its core, Calvinism presents a God who sovereignly elects a fixed number of individuals for salvation while consigning the rest to eternal damnation, a Christ whose atoning death is efficacious only for that pre-chosen group, and a gospel that is not genuinely offered to all.

This framework, when examined against the literal text of Scripture, relies on half-truths — acknowledging human sinfulness, for instance, while denying the capacity to respond to God’s universal call — and twists passages to fit a deterministic mold.

The Five Points, Dissected

Total Depravity, the doctrine’s foundation, asserts that humanity is so corrupted by original sin that no one can seek God or exercise faith without divine regeneration preceding belief. While Romans 3:10-12 correctly diagnoses universal sinfulness, Calvinism overreaches by claiming absolute inability. The lives of Enoch (Genesis 5:24), Noah (Genesis 6:8-9), Abraham (Genesis 12:1-4), Moses (Hebrews 11:24-27), Joshua (Joshua 24:15), Caleb (Numbers 14:24), and Joseph (Genesis 39:9) demonstrate voluntary obedience and faith in response to God’s initiative, without any textual indication that God first implanted faith.

Romans 10:17 — “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” — and John 12:32 — “I will draw all men unto me” — affirm a general enablement, not an exclusive gift to the elect. Unconditional Election teaches that God chooses individuals for salvation irrespective of foreseen faith or merit. Yet Deuteronomy 7:6-11, Psalm 105:6-11, and Romans 11:28-29 identify “the elect” primarily as national Israel, beloved “for the fathers’ sakes.”

New Testament election is corporate and conditional upon being “in Christ” through faith (Ephesians 1:4; Galatians 3:7). Calvinism’s arbitrary selection contradicts the open invitation of John 3:16 (“whosoever believeth”) and Romans 10:13. Limited Atonement, perhaps the most egregious deviation, insists that Christ died only for the elect. This directly opposes 1 Timothy 2:6 (“a ransom for all”), 1 John 2:2 (“the propitiation… for the whole world”), Hebrews 2:9 (“tasted death for every man”), and Romans 5:18 (“the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life”).

By restricting the scope of the cross, Calvinism undermines the universal love of God (John 3:16) and His desire that “all men” be saved (1 Timothy 2:4). Irresistible Grace claims that God’s call to the elect cannot be refused. Acts 7:51, however, records Stephen’s rebuke: “Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost.” The repeated biblical imperatives to “choose” (Deuteronomy 30:19; Joshua 24:15) and “believe” (John 3:16-18) presume genuine human responsibility.

Perseverance of the Saints claims the elect can’t lose salvation however, this only applies to who Calvinists call “The Elect,” so it is not true eternal security.

Calvin’s supersessionism — declaring that the church has replaced Israel and that Jews “deserve to be repudiated” for failing to reciprocate God’s covenant — further distorts Romans 11:28-29, which affirms Israel’s irrevocable election, and Ezekiel 37:11-14, which promises national restoration.

A More Subversive Threat Than Prosperity Theology

The prosperity gospel is easily identified by its crass materialism and proof-texting of health-and-wealth verses. Calvinism, by contrast, cloaks itself in scholastic rigor, appeals to divine sovereignty, and cites Scripture prolifically — albeit selectively. It does not ask congregants to sow financial seeds; it asks them to surrender intellectual autonomy to a system that redefines election, atonement, and grace.

Where prosperity preachers promise temporal reward, Calvinist teachers promise doctrinal purity, making dissent appear as rebellion against God Himself. This intellectual captivity is amplified by influential voices. Paul Washer, known for his fiery sermons on sin and repentance, frames depravity in absolutist terms that leave no room for human response.

John MacArthur, through his radio program Grace to You and the Master’s Seminary, has trained thousands of pastors in TULIP exegesis, embedding Calvinism in pulpits nationwide. Voddie Baucham, a sought-after conference speaker and author, weaves Reformed soteriology into cultural commentary, presenting Calvinism as the only bulwark against liberalism.

Their reach — via podcasts, books, and seminaries — normalizes a theology that, upon literal scrutiny, constructs a Christ who did not die for the world and a God who does not genuinely offer salvation to all.

The Ultimate Deception

By accepting TULIP, adherents place faith in a Christ whose blood is insufficient for the non-elect and a God whose love is partial — a portrait irreconcilable with the Jesus who wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41) and the Father who is “not willing that any should perish” (2 Peter 3:9). This is not mere error; it is, in the language of 2 Peter 2:1, a “damnable heresy” that risks leading souls to trust in a false savior.

The church’s greatest threat is not the loud heresy that repels but the subtle one that seduces with half-truths. Calvinism, dressed in the garb of orthodoxy, twists the Scriptures to forge a gospel that is no gospel at all. Until congregations demand a return to the plain text — where Christ dies for all, election is in Him through faith, and the call is to whosoever will — the danger persists, quiet but corrosive.

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