The Legacy of John Calvin

The great Reformer John Calvin was on Luther's side against the Catholics, but he had a very different idea than Luther about the relationship between church and state.

—

Dinesh D'Souza is an author and filmmaker. A graduate of Dartmouth College, he was a senior domestic policy analyst in the Reagan administration. He also served as a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

He is the author of many bestselling books, including "Illiberal Education," "What's So Great About Christianity," "America: Imagine a World Without Her," "The Roots of Obama's Rage," "Death of a Nation," and "United States of Socialism."

His documentary films "2016: Obama's America," "America," "Hillary's America," "Death of a Nation," and "Trump Card" are among the highest-grossing political documentaries of all time. He and his wife Debbie are also executive producers of the acclaimed feature film "Infidel."

—

Want to connect with Dinesh D'Souza online for more hard-hitting analysis of current events in America? Here’s how:

[MatthewFloor]

Scripture always is the final authority. These reformers tried as best they could to follow it.

[dennisokada]

Very clearly stated and can’t wait to hear your next video 😁

[mikemcnamara]

Calvin was a narcissist. Wrong headed.

[alexlenz]

Dinesh, absolutely fantastic, as always… God bless you.

[mrnoedahl]

Correction. Calvin’s master work is called, The Institutes of The Calvin Religion. We already have the Institutes of The Christian Religion and it’s called the Infallible, inerrant Word of the living God. The Bible.

[readyplayer]

Protestantism, as expressed theologically and politically in these two individuals, ironically was purportedly founded in order to defend the freedom of conscience and of the individual to be freed from "oppressive" doctrines, (Just like Marxism railed against the "oppression" and "slavery" of capitalism), although it quickly became apparent that these new "doctrines" and ideas were not actually based in truth, but were just recycled ancient heresies that the Church had anathematized for good reason - shortly after they were implemented, it very quickly became apparent that these men were not holy men, true prophets, or saints, but power-lusting, dangerous and petty tyrants, with Luther in particular having the temper, psychological maturity, and irascible temperament of a rebellious teenager with severe issues with genuine forms of authority, who paid lip-service to scripture to justify his sins and many, many evils while pursuing a life which was anything but godly. His so-called "reformation", (It was not, as he did not reform the church - it is actually a revolution) while sold as a rebellion against the "control" of the pope, very quickly became the most tyrannical, autocratic, and blood-soaked theocratic political system in western history - one historian suggested that at the time, there was more freedom of expression and religion among the Turks than there were in the Lutheran states. There is a reason that the founding fathers, while mainly protestant, were more deists and freethinkers than they were hard-line protestant theologians, and were very, very skeptical of institutionalizing religious doctrine into the state - protestant theology is so irrational, inconsistent, and impossible to actually live by, that it has to actually be ignored or just given lip-service to in order to actually live in a free, rational society. The only way to actually "institutionalize" it would be through theocratic fascism, a la Luther and Calvin, and enforce its moral "codes" through bloodshed, executions, and slavery, just like communism. That is true of all religious and political doctrines based upon falsehood - if they are irrational and hostile to reason, the only way for them to be institutionalized is through the implementation of brute force, the destruction of freedom, and violence.

So much for Luther and Calvin.

[GunRock]

If you take Calvin's doctrine of predestination (not to be confused with omniscience) seriously and to its ultimate conclusion, he turned God into the worst homicidal maniac in world history, one who made Stalin, Hitler and Mao (combined) seem tame by comparison. The aforementioned trio condemned 100 million of their own people, or thereabouts, to physical death. Calvin's god (small g) OTHO has condemned billions, maybe trillions of people since the beginning of mankind to "eternal" damnation. Again and to be clear, Calvin was not simply suggesting that God, in His omniscience, knew from the foundations of the world who would and wouldn't worship Him and His Son, Jesus Christ, as well as the Holy Spirit. NO, Calvin was suggesting something entirely different. Calvin was suggesting that God gives man no "free will" where it pertains to worshipping Christ, but that GOD HIMSELF predetermined who would worship or reject Jesus Christ, which of course would make evangelism a fools endeavor. The Bible tell us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing from the Word of God (Bible). But Calvin rejected that idea and believed it was boastful to suggest you came to Christ thru faith. To imply that faith was established by knocking (so to speak), and God in turn answering (so to speak), as Jesus Christ preached, is a lie. The fact is, God either chose you from the beginning, since before you were born, regardless of anything else, lest you should boast, because Calvin equates the sinners prayer (so to speak) with attributing your salvation to "works". So again, if you take Calvinism to its final conclusion, if you go to hell its only because that was GOD'S PLAN FOR YOU since before you were conceived. When you consider how many people we're discussing here, who GOD HIMSELF allowed to be born in the first place, even knowing He Himself was sentencing them to eternity in hell, I repeat: That kind of God would make Stalin, Hitler and Mao seem like Mother Teresa.

[stevengarland]

I really think Calvin needed to often. He just does not seem to be user friendly. Off the Christmas card list.

[bestpossibleworld]

On this issue of church and state, I believe Calvin was continuing the Catholic and Orthodox conception of the good Commonwealth which stands under the oversight of Christ, the King of kings. So, his view was not innovative. However, it was nearly impossible to implement when there are many different competing churches (denominations). He, though, was correct rather than Luther. Under the Lutheran view, inevitably, the secular state will seek to dominate the church--as is happening in the West today.

[faytheabraham]

I like you Dinesh, but you need to do your homework on John Calvin and his “legacy.”
The city of Geneva under Calvin was a police state worse than any communist country you’ve mentioned in politics.

[robertaccornero]

Calvin's doctrine about predestination is in serious error.

[arthur]

"CALVIN'S **notorious** doctrine of predestination", Dinesh?!?

[Romans 8:29-30 VUL] "[29] nam quos praescivit et **praedestinavit** conformes fieri imaginis Filii eius ut sit ipse primogenitus in multis fratribus [30] quos autem **praedestinavit** hos et vocavit et quos vocavit hos et iustificavit quos autem iustificavit illos et glorificavit"
[Romans 8:29-30 NASB95] "[29] For those whom He foreknew, He also **predestined** [to become] conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; [30] and these whom He **predestined**, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified."

[Ephesians 1:5 VUL] "[5] qui **praedestinavit** nos in adoptionem filiorum per Iesum Christum in ipsum secundum propositum voluntatis suae"
[Ephesians 1:5 NASB20] "[5] He (the Father) **predestined** us to adoption as sons [and daughters] through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, "

It kinda looks like it is the Father and Jesus' "notorious doctrine of predestination", Dinesh. And from the Latin Vulgate, it looks like it ought to be the Roman Catholic Church's "notorious doctrine of predestination" as well as the "notorious doctrine of predestination" of every orthodox Christian Church.

TLDR <><

[russellkeene]

Calvin had Michael Servetus burned at the stake for teaching that there is one God which from the time the Hebrews or a people that was the first doctrine that they learned here oh Israel the Lord our God is one not three the father the son and the Holy Ghost are not separate and distinctPersons in The godhead Matthew 123 now shout called his name Emmanuel which is God with us his name was Jesus John 543 I have come in my fathers name if another word come and his name you would believe him The name of the father is Jesus John 1426 whom the father will send in my name he will teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance the name of the Holy Ghost is Jesus it came in Jesus name so if we baptize in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy GhostYou baptize exactly how Peter preached in act 238 repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost that my friends is the gospel that was preach to the very first sinners And since Peter had the keys to the kingdom given to him by Jesus this is a method for salvation according to the unadulterated word of God

[xpusostomos]

Calvin ignored everything that great Christian thinkers and churchmen had written through the centuries and said, "no, I know better than all of them, don't listen to them, listen only to me", and thus he launched on Christendom the splintering into thousands of denominations, where even their members can't agree on doctrine.

[amichiganblackman]

3:58
Luther was a monk but before he was in Law, Dinesh.

[eufrosniad]

Yea, all the garbage we have today can mostly be traced back to the reformation. Calvin’s and Luther’s legacy is that they laid the seeds of destruction in the faith of many, and fostered the growing philosophical melt down that was happening at the time.

[FreedomSD]

Luther and Calvin hated the Jews ….do some study