Calvinism teaches that good is evil, and evil is good!
According to Calvin’s hero and “mentor”, Augustine, evil is good and what is good is always evil. Therefore, Calvinists must believe that “bad” is simply “an evil good”, that evil is good and good is evil! In simple terms, this is Gnostic theology, where it is the obtaining of total knowledge (both good and evil) that saves you.
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil” Isaiah 5:20
Calvinists have to accept Augustine’s teachings or reject Calvin
Calvin placed Augustine on a pedestal above all other sources of teaching, writing that “all ancient theologians, with the exception of Augustine, are so confused, vacillating, and contradictory ….., that no certainty can be obtained from their writings.” (Institutes Bk 2; Ch.2; Section 4) To reject Augustine’s teachings would then to be reject Calvin’s teachings also.
Therefore Calvinists must accept Augustine’s Gnostic heresy
Therefore calvinists must believe, like Augustine, that evil and good are equivalent terms, that a balance must be always achieved between the two, must also believe in the Gnostic teaching: that salvation (transcendence) is to be found through perfect knowledge, both good and evil. To deny this would be to deny Augustine’s Gnostic teachings as heresy (and thus, by logical progression, to deny Calvin’s teachings also as heresy).
Gnosticism teaches that good cannot exist without evil
That is, one must know all things to become transcendent, all good and all evil; that it is impossible to know all good without also knowing all evil; that good cannot exist without a counter-balance of evil, and evil cannot exist independently of good. This is also the meaning behind the yin and yang teaching: that good and evil must exist in a balance between the two; and that some evil must exist in all good and some good must exist in all evil.
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil” Isaiah 5:20
Augustine taught that evil is good and good is evil
Augustine, whose teachings are the basis for Calvin’s teachings, said (in his “Enchiridion”) “that since every being, in so far as it is a being, is good, if we then say that a defective thing is bad, it would seem to mean that we are saying that what is evil is good, that only what is good is ever evil and that there is no evil apart from something good. ….. Now, if a man is something good because he is an entity, what then, is a bad man except an evil good? ….. if there were no good in what is evil, then the evil simply could not be, since it can have no mode in which to exist ….”
Can any calvinist please explain what Augustine is talking about? How is it biblical? Is Augustine rational? And if Augustine is irrational, then so is Calvin.
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20)
If Augustine teaches false doctrine, then calvinism is likewise false doctrine
This dualism of good and evil appears to be based on Augustine’s Manichean Gnostic roots where salvation depended upon man obtaining ultimate knowledge, both good and evil. It relates to occult yin and yang beliefs which teach that a necessary balance must exist between good and evil. Can any calvinists give any support for Augustine’s irrational thinking here (sola scriptura!)? Doesn’t it simply prove that in a calvinist world, evil has to be seen as good or else evil cannot exist??
Just note Calvin’s support for this Gnostic good-evil teaching in his “The Eternal Predestination of God” where he tries to explain that what God wills for good, when a man does what God wills, it is then evil. For example, if God ordains that man should commit murder, then God’s will is good, but when man does it, man’s will is evil, even if he does what God ordained that he should do. He writes: “I have shown that He wills the same as the criminal and the wicked, but in a different way.“
He goes on to say: “Augustine has a useful admonition, that, for all their agreement here, there is a great difference between God and man. For God wills for good what men will for evil; and He does not will for good what men do not will for evil. So too, in their disagreement, men and God are not quite incongruous. For men will for good what God does not will for good; and they do not will for good what God does will for good.“
According to yin and yang, gnosticism is an eastern religious view of Christianity
yinyanghouse.com says that “Without generalizing too much, the gnostic views provide an almost eastern edge, so to speak, to our judeo-christian western philosophy. ….. First and foremost is that, as a primarily Christian sect, Gnosticism can provide westerners an arguably more eastern view of their own traditions. …..”
According to Gnosticism, salvation comes from a knowledge of good and evil
yinyanghouse.com (quoting from The Gnostic Religion” by Hans Jonas) that salvation is found in the dualistic knowledge such as good and evil, life and death.
“…all of these currents have in some way to do with salvation… all of them exhibit an exceedingly transcendent conception of God and in connection with it an equally transcendent and other-worldly goal of salvation… they maintain a radial dualism of realms of being – God and the world, spirit and matter, soul and body, light and darkness, good and evil, life and death…”
It was the sin of Gnosticism that caused all mankind to be condemned
Gnosticism is the knowledge of good and evil, and as such is clearly defined as a sin against God. Adam was told that if he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (= gnosticism) then he would die. This defines Gnosticism as the sin that would condemn Adam (and all his descendants) to eternal death.
Genesis 2:17 – But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
When Eve saw that the tree was to be desired to make her wise (with the knowledge of good and evil), she ate it. She also gave some to Adam who also ate it.
Genesis 3:6 – And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Adam and Eve could have lived forever without sin, but they chose to know good and evil, and therefore were now forbidden to eat any more of the tree of life.
Genesis 3:22 – And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
It was Gnosticism that required Christ to die for the sins of all mankind
For all have sinned according to Adam’s sin, and that same “All” have been justified freely” by Christ.
Romans 3:23-24 – 23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
All may be justified by faith in Christ:
Romans 3:25-26 – 25Whom God hath set forth [to be] a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26To declare, [I say], at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
All, that is, who call by faith upon that name of the Lord to be saved
For whosoever (that is, everyone without exception) who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13).
All you calvinist and reformed believers, think very carefully indeed!
If calvinism is dependent upon Augustine’s teachings which were the Gnostic sin that condemned mankind through Adam’s sin, then calvinism is also that very same sin. Offload Augustine and his knowledge of good and evil, and your calvinism dies. Call upon the name of the Lord to be saved and you will live. Keep Augustine and you are condemned (as was Adam) for your sin of the knowledge of good and evil. When you stand before God in the judgment, will your knowledge of good and evil save you? No! Will Augustine or Calvin be your advocate to defend you before God? No! Will your religious leaders and teachers be able to save you from God’s wrath? No! You alone will stand before God and it is what you alone (not Augustine, Calvin or your church teachers) have done that will determine your eternal destiny. That is, have you called upon the name of the Lord to be saved, or have you been told that such a prayer opposes your God’s sovereignty? Check all things out for yourself; read the Bible for yourself; test all things; hold fast to that which is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21). And “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil” Isaiah 5:20
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