Some Comments On Dave Hunt’s Book On Calvinism

Titled: What Love Is This

 
I had heard about Dave Hunt’s book “What Love Is This” that he wrote to debunk Calvinism, but I had not read it, and I have been aware of Hunt’s views on (against) Calvinism for a long time. In fact, I was following Hunt’s Berean Call ministry even before I knew what Calvinism was or what Arminianism was. Well, recently someone brought Dave Hunt’s book to my attention. The subtitle of the book is:
 
Calvinism’s Misrepresentation Of God
 
The person who brought this book to my attention stated that “I have yet to find a person asked about Calvinism who has researched its origins.”. Sadly, I would not only have to disagree with that statement, since I know many Christians (living and deceased) who are or were extremely well researched on Calvinism – and its biblical origins, but I would have to say that most people who debunk Calvinism misrepresent Calvinism… they either mistake hyper-Calvinism for Calvinism or they simple have been so indoctrinated in the free-will gospel that they can’t seem to accept any information to the contrary, even when that information is directly from the Scriptures. And some of these people assume their beloved free-will preachers and teachers are giving them the “gospel truth” when attacking Calvinism and the Doctrines of Grace, including election and predestination.
 
Since I don’t blindly trust everything that anyone says – including Dave Hunt or John Calvin – and since I try to be like the Bereans of Acts 17:11, I try to look at both sides of a story to see what a person’s “detractors” have to say, to see if they have any legitimate complaints about an author’s writings and teachings. Having said that, I found these two articles online that point out some serious problems with Hunt’s book on Calvinism. You might want to carefully examine what they say about Dave Hunt’s examples and arguments. The authors of these articles, give specific references to in Dave Hunt’s book…
 
What Theology is This? Dave Hunt’s Misrepresentation of God and Calvinism
 
REVIEW: Dave Hunt’s “What Love is This? Calvinism’s Misrepresentation of God”
 
Those 2 articles point out the common biases and misrepresentations of those who preach against Calvin and Calvinism. They are typically attacking a false version of Calvinism and a false history of John Calvin. I have been studying election and predestination for close to 30 years now. The results of those years of study can be found here, for those who are interested:
 
Articles About Predestination & Free-Will
 
Don’t be afraid to question what you have been taught. I was saved for close to 9 years before I realized that what I thought was the gospel was actually Arminianism.
 
I started my study of Calvinism many years ago by reading a book titled “Inside the TULIP”. It was a similar attempt (to Dave Hunt’s book) to debunk Calvinism and the book only served to create confusion. Once I abandoned that book and looked at what genuinely reformed, scholarly teachers of election and predestination had to say about Calvinism and the Doctrines of Grace, I was able to understand that God truly is completely sovereign in salvation… that salvation is truly “of the Lord” as noted in Jonah 2:9 and as highlighted by the Bible verses from Matthew chapter 20 quoted below. — RM Kane
 

“Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.” Matthew 20:15-16

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