Denominations
Every “denomination” seems to have its own special trademark, that is, their “Big Thing,” that identifies them as true Christians, as opposed to everyone else who is lost, and of course everyone else has to be lost, because if not, what would be the point of needing to join their special group?
- The Catholics have “The Church,” and of course the sacraments and Mary.
- The Church of Christ denomination has water baptism as their “Big Thing,” so that unless you are water baptized (and most importantly, by an approved member of their denomination), you cannot be saved.
- The Charismatic and Pentecostals have Tongues as their “Big Thing,” so that unless you speak in tongues too, you cannot be saved either.
Some denominations focus on pacifism. Some reject musical instruments in Church services.
Question: So what is the “Big Thing” with the Calvinists?
Answer: Election, as taught by Calvinism.
Just as with seemingly every other denomination, Calvinists are consumed with trying to Calvinize every Church and church-member they possibly can. This is called “Reformation,” and Calvinists coach each other on how to start their own church “Reformation,” which is nothing more than a strategy on how to stealthily turn a non-Calvinist Church into a Calvinist Church. As you might expect, some Calvinists, though perhaps in the minority, do teach that one cannot be saved unless they subscribe to their views on “Reformed Theology.” However, it should be noted that whereas the Reformation was about Justification by Faith, Calvinism is primarily about Justification by Election. So not only is Calvinism about pirating Churches, but also about pirating the Reformation as well.
The self-proclaimed “Reformers” are nearly authoritative in the eyes of Calvinists, and though Calvinists will certainly will deny this, the evidence of such a claim is the fact that many Calvinists often treat any competing Arminian literature with the same degree of skepticism that a Jehovah’s Witness would hold for non-Jehovah’s Witness literature, and which also explains why many Calvinists are so poorly informed as to the nature of Arminianism, including with such heavy-weights as James White.
Question: What is Calvinism’s special trademark?
Answer: TULIP. Every Denomination typically has a special trademark, and the special trademark that uniquely identifies Calvinism from all other theologies is the doctrine of Unconditional Election, as part of the TULIP series.
