I truly believe Calvinism is a doctrine of demons.   

Before you get your knickers in a knot, remember this.   Scripture says that even something as seemingly benign as forbidding people to marry or commanding them to abstain from certain foods qualifies as a doctrine of demons.   The bar is not high.   Anything that fundamentally distorts the character of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ, definitely belongs in that category.   

I grew up in Australia and had never even heard of John Calvin, Reformed theology, or Calvinism.   Not once.   It simply wasn’t on my radar.   About fifteen years ago, my family and I attended a Reformed church to help out with the worship, and that was my first real exposure.   Almost immediately I was told I needed to read certain books to get properly grounded.   

One of those books was Chosen by God by R.C.   Sproul.   That book didn’t ground me.   It unsettled me.   And it forced me to slow down and examine what I was being asked to accept.   

Before I get too far into this, I want to be clear that I’m not writing this to win arguments or tear people apart.   I’m writing this carefully, deliberately, and in love.   

Now, for those who genuinely don’t know what Calvinism teaches, here it is in plain terms.   Calvinism teaches that God has already determined, before anyone is born, who will be saved and who will be damned, not based on faith, repentance, or response, but solely on His hidden will.   It teaches that Christ did not die for all people, but only for a preselected group.   It teaches that grace cannot be resisted by those chosen and is never available to those not chosen.   In practical terms, this removes any meaningful human agency (free will).   People do not genuinely respond to God.   They act out what has already been decreed.   Repentance, faith, and even rejection are not real choices but inevitable outcomes.   Human beings are reduced to participants in a script they did not write and cannot alter.   

That system is then marketed to the Church as “the doctrines of grace.”

Now here is where everything shifted for me.   It was not digging into these doctrines that first convinced me something was deeply wrong.   It was examining the fruit of the life of the man who systematized them.   

When I began to understand what kind of man John Calvin actually was, everything shifted.   In plain and simple terms, he was a murderer.   He was not merely a theologian.   He approved, enabled, and oversaw the execution of those who opposed his theology, wielding both religious and civil power in Geneva.   His authority extended beyond the pulpit into the machinery of the state.   To oppose his teaching was not simply to disagree.   It was to put your life at risk.   

Can you imagine Jesus doing that?   Can you imagine Christ ordering the arrest and execution of those who challenged His teaching?   Can you imagine Peter, John, or Paul after his conversion burning detractors alive to preserve doctrinal purity?   

Of course you can’t.   And that alone should tell us something.   

Michael Servetus was once known to Calvin.   They worked together for a time and stood together in opposing Catholicism. They were not strangers.   They corresponded a lot, and Calvin even sent Servetus a copy of his book, eager for his review.   

Servetus was not impressed.   There were serious theological disagreements.   He sharply criticized Calvin’s doctrine and filled the margins of Calvin’s Institutes with rebuttals and sent it back to him.   Calvin did not take this lightly.   He was furious.   From the pulpit, he warned that anyone who persisted in opposing his teaching would face severe consequences.   

When Servetus later passed through Geneva, he showed up at church one Sunday morning.   While preaching, Calvin spotted him.   Servetus was arrested, tried for heresy, and burned alive in 1553.   Calvin approved the prosecution and later defended the execution.   

Calvin tried to lessen the blow by saying he convinced the executioners not to use green wood, which burns more slowly and prolongs death.   

Awww… what a nice friend.   

At this point people begin arguing numbers.   They debate how many people Calvin had arrested, condemned, or put to death (murdered), as if the body count somehow determines the moral weight of the actions.   Whether it was one or many is irrelevant.   A man who claims to follow Christ and yet uses the power of church and state to destroy those who disagree with him has already disqualified himself as a spiritual authority.   

Once that becomes clear, Calvin’s theology can no longer be approached as neutral or trustworthy.   That does not mean every sentence he wrote is automatically false.   Truth must always be weighed against the whole counsel of God’s Word.   But it does mean Calvin himself carries no authority.   His teachings must be handled with suspicion, tested rigorously, and never shielded from moral scrutiny.   

And when you read Calvinism through that lens, it fits.   A theology that strips people of real choice, redefines love, and portrays God as withholding grace from multitudes while still condemning them eternally did not arise from a heart shaped by Christ.   It arose from a worldview comfortable with control, coercion, and force in the name of righteousness.   

If you want to examine this subject further, Dave Hunt is a helpful place to start.   He explains Calvinism clearly, without theatrics, and compares its claims honestly with Scripture.   He is not the final authority.   Scripture is.   But he is a clear and accessible teacher for those willing to look closely.   Check out his video on You Tube called, “What Love Is This?”.   

Please hear my heart.   I am not writing this to create division.   I am writing this to show how easy it is to become deceived, even when you genuinely love the Lord.   Sincerity does not protect you from error.   Neither does intelligence, education, or tradition.   

So stay alert.   

Be cautious of institutional dogma that demands loyalty before truth.   Be a Berean and search the Scriptures for yourself.   Trust the Holy Spirit within you to guide you as you submit to the Word.   Do not be impressed by titles, platforms, eloquence, or credentials.   These carry no spiritual weight.   

Most of all, learn to connect what a man teaches with who a man is.   Jesus told us how to discern.   A good tree produces good fruit.   When someone claims to teach truth but walks in arrogance, contempt, pride, or a lack of love, take heed.   You may hear things that sound right, but do not entrust your understanding of God to someone whose life does not resemble the character of Christ.   

That is why John Calvin’s life matters.   That is why his actions matter.   And that is why his theology must be examined, not protected.