What is Neo-Calvinism?

featuring Dr. Gray Sutanto #WisdomWednesday

[Shabeck]

Great piece on the importance of orthodoxy in a modern & post-modern world.

[mangs]

I watched this hoping for clarity. I got something that sounded like it could come out of any church.

[MarcosSoni]

I just finished Bavinck’s Wonderful Works of God and absolutely saw the orthodox yet modern approach in this succinct handbook of theology. Looking forward to reading more about these works.

[hesedjackd.alvarez]

Brilliant neocal scholar! Lucid explanation! Is Dr. Sutanto from Indonesia?

[TruthHasSpoken]

"seeing the creeds as resources ... need to keep learning from the past"

Agree 100%! This includes opening one's bible to the table of contents and asking who decided the New and Old Testament canons, and when did they do so? One finds that for the New Testament, one find that the late 4th century Catholic Church decided, 27 writings out of 300+ early Christian writings, Bishops meeting at Rome (382), Hippo (393), and Carthage (397). The very same Bishops said the Old Testament was 46 writings.

The Council of Rome below on the Old Testament:

_“The order of the Old Testament begins here: Genesis, one book; Exodus, one book; Leviticus, one book; Numbers, one book; Deuteronomy, one book; Joshua [Son of] Nave, one book; Judges, one book; Ruth, one book; Kings, four books [ie., 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings]; Paralipomenon [Chronicles], two books; Psalms, one book; Solomon, three books: Proverbs, one book; Ecclesiastes, one book; Canticle of Canticles, one book; likewise Wisdom, one book; Ecclesiasticus [Sirach], one book. Likewise the order of the Prophets. Isaias one book, Jeremias one book, …lamentations, Ezechiel one book, Daniel one book, Osee … Nahum … Habacuc … Sophonias … Aggeus … Zacharias … Malachias … Likewise the order of the historical [books]: Job, one book; Tobit, one book; Esdras, two books [Ezra and Nehemiah]; Esther, one book; Judith, one book; Maccabees, two books.”_ Council of Rome, Decree of Pope Damasus (A.D. 382).

The Synod of Hippo

*_“That nothing be read in church besides the Canonical Scripture._*_ Item, that besides the Canonical Scriptures nothing be read in church under the name of divine Scripture. But the Canonical Scriptures are as follows: Genesis. Exodus. Leviticus. Numbers. Deuteronomy. Joshua the Son of Nun. The Judges. Ruth. The Kings, four books. The Chronicles, two books. Job. The Psalter. The Five books of Solomon. The Twelve Books of the Prophets. Isaiah. Jeremiah. Ezechiel. Daniel. Tobit. Judith. Esther. Ezra, two books. Macchabees, two books.”_ Council of Hippo, Canon 36 (A.D. 393).

The Synod of Carthage

*_“[It has been decided] that nothing except the canonical Scriptures should be read in the Church under the name of the divine Scriptures._*_ But the canonical Scriptures are: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, four books of Kings, Paralipomenon, two books, Job, the Psalter of David, five books of Solomon [Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom, Sirach], twelve books of the Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Tobit, Judith, Esther, two books of Esdras, two books of the Maccabees.”_ Council of Carthage III, Canon 397 (A.D. 397).

So if one tacitly trusts in the authority of these men to have decided their New Testament, one should be consistent and defer to them for their Old Testament - and not heeding to the canon of Catholic men with no authority 1, 100 plus years later.

So too, one should read what else they professed and believed. As Catholic Bishops, they all believed that through their words of consecration, the bread and wine transformed into the resurrected body and blood of Christ, a means for receiving his grace. As St Athanasius - Catholic Bishop of Alexandria said, the very first person by whom we have a listing of the New Testament canon :

_“You will see the Levites bringing the loaves and a cup of wine, and placing them on the table. So long as the prayers and invocations have not yet been made, it is mere bread and a mere cup. But _*_when the great and wonderous prayers [consecration by the priest] have been recited, then the bread becomes the body and the cup the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ….When the great prayers and holy supplications are sent up, the Word descends on the bread and the cup, and it becomes His body.”_* Athanasius, Sermon to the Newly Baptized, PG 26, 1325 (ante A.D. 373).

[itlupe]

Calvinism (neo or otherwise) is blasphemy.