Stuff Calvinists Like

#15 Heidelberg Catechism

(4 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)

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The Heidelberg Catechism is a teaching tool that much of Reformed Theology relies upon when attempting to clarify its theology. Think of a Catechism as a FAQ for teaching doctrine.

http://reformedarsenal.tumblr.com
St Paul, Minnesota

Tagged as: Heidelberg Catechism, Reformed Theology, St Paul Minnesota, Teaching Tool, Tumblr No Comments

#14 The Westminster Confession of Faith

(5 votes, average: 4.60 out of 5)

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The WCF or Westminster Standards is an unofficial subordinate doctrinal standard that underpines much of Presbyterianism, Reformed Theology as a whole, and is still officially a subordinate standard for the Church of Scotland.

http://reformedarsenal.tumblr.com
St Paul, MN

Tagged as: Church Of Scotland, Confession Of Faith, Presbyterianism, Reformed Theology, St Paul Mn, Tumblr, Wcf, Westminster Confession Of Faith, Westminster Standards No Comments

#13 T.U.L.I.P.

(6 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)

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This easy acronym helps Calvinists to remember the primary tenants of Calvinist Theology. Each letter stands for a significant teaching of Calvin or his immediate followers. Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints. Often you'll hear someone say "I'm a 5 point Calvinist," meaning that they ascent to all 5 points of the TULIP acronym. You also commonly find 4 point Calvinists who object to Limited Atonement (the idea that Christ only died for the elect).

Tony Arsenal
http://reformedarsenal.tumblr.com

St Paul, Minnesota

#12 Pilgrim’s Progress

(5 votes, average: 4.80 out of 5)

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Next to the Bible, the book I value most is John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. --Charles Spurgeon

Pilgrim's Progress is an allegory of a Christian's journey (here represented by a character called 'Christian') from the "City of Destruction" to the "Celestial City". Along the way he visits such locations as the Slough of Despond, Vanity Fair, the Doubting Castle, and the Valley of the Shadow of Death.

Bunyan, the author, had very little formal education and a humble background. Nonetheless Pilgrim's Progress is considered one of the masterpieces of English literature, and is required reading for Christians who are on the spritual path in a world of temptations.*

Pilgrim's Progress is a right of passage for Calvinist. If you are going to try to make it on to Owen, Luther and others you should master Bunyan first. It is not argued that he loves the lord any less than these men but he leaves behind the technical nature of their writings and gives us a story easy enough to call a children's book but so well crafted it can be studied for years by adults. The original language can be cumbersome to us now and yet amazingly poetic.

#11 Al Mohler

(6 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)

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Albert Mohler is a modern reformer in many ways and is quite popular in Calvinist circles. His ability to say exactly what he thinks in the face of adversity and his regular speaking have made him a household name. His story leading up to, becoming, and his service as the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky has almost a sense of folklore to it. He has a regular blog and radio program and it is always easy to find new material that he has created.

Southern, the seminary he presides over is seen by many as a leader in the reformed church movement with it's graduates taking a leading role in reforming our churches. Al has been a big inspiration to these people and towards the direction of the seminary as a whole.

#10 Latin

(4 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)

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Even John Calvin himself published his greatest work, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, in Latin five years before publishing it in his native French. Calvinist ideas are much older than graphic design and thus were unable to be recognized as easily as, for instance , recycling is recognized by the triangle of arrows. What were Calvinist to do? Latin was the most universal language at the time of the reformation and for some years after. The Five Solas are five Latin phrases that emerged during the Protestant Reformation and summarize the Reformers' basic theological beliefs in contradistinction to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church of the day.

If you name you blog using a Latin title you also may receive Calvinist bonus points.

Though Latin has ceased to be a spoken language, it is now used to represent ideas that are bigger than even the words themselves. Something that can be hard to do using common languages. This does not mean that Calvinist deem Latin of some particular importance above the words but they can convey common ideas such as "by scripture alone" in a way that is singularly focused in meaning by using the Latin, "Sola scriptura."

#9 Buying Books Online

(6 votes, average: 4.83 out of 5)

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How else are Calvinist supposed to get their books? Unless they travel all the time or go to a lot of conventions most just don't have access to the books of choice. This goes hand in hand with "my Christian bookstore has no good books" and "there is this one church in this small town reprinting out of print reformer books." The modern Christian bookstore accepts the book list of their distributors without question. The discerning palate of the Calvinist requires access to a vast measure of out of print, limited print and just simply hard to find books. The liking dead people thing also affects this as most local bookstores carry only new material or secular classics. A Calvinist might venture to a local bookstore to find a quick copy of Pilgrim's Progress when they wear out their old one but "The Bondage of the Will" by Luther might be out of stock.

#8 Homeschooling

(6 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)

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Where else will the children learn about all the reformers? Homeschool gives Calvinist the opportunity to focus their children's minds and allow them to meet other Calvinist at homeschool conventions and sporting events. Also, this provides the opportunity to form pseudo private schools as home school academies which is just one more way to get to name something after a reformer, classic educational theory or academy.

Homeschooling also provides the opportunity to read far more books by dead people and the annual acting out of Pilgrims Progress.

Please submit your favorite homeschool academy names and links to the comment section of this post!

Tagged as: Academy, Calvinist, Educational Theory, Homeschool Conventions, Homeschooling, Pilgrims Progress, Private Schools, Reformers, School Academies, Sporting Events 3 Comments

#7 Dead People

(9 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)

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If you are old you may be wise but your wisdom has not yet been able to stand the test of time. Calvinist like that dead people have this advantage. The longer they have been dead the longer their wisdom has been able to stand. Spurgeon, Edwards, Bunyan, Owen, Luther, Knox, Tyndale and even Calvin among many others have this unique advantage and get tons of Calvinist love.

Want to one up a simple dead man? Make it harder to read. The more difficult it is to extract the meaning through the grammar the better. Our puritan brothers are wise but way to easy to understand compared to John Owen.

Tagged as: Advantage, Bunyan, Calvinist, Dead Man, Dead People, Edwards, Grammar, John Owen, Test Of Time, Tyndale, Wisdom 1 Comment

#6 Grace

(7 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Need I say more?

Tony Arsenal
http://ReformedArsenal.tumblr.com
Minnesota

SCL additions:

Calvinist stand firmly on the belief that Grace from God is freely given and not earned. It gets it's own Sola, Sola Gratia, Grace Alone. Calvinist love seeing Grace in the titles to churches, books, and just about everything you can name.

Also, Calvinist theology long tied to Tulip has now taken the less controversial moniker "The Doctrines of Grace" to be the prevailing title to the 5 points of Calvinism.