The False Soteriology of Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Charles Spurgeon, called the “prince of preachers,” believed in Total Depravity, i.e., that no one could come to God for salvation by his or her own volition. Thus, with no redeeming qualities in humanity, on what basis can God choose one over the other? If Total Depravity is correct, there is no basis that a just and merciful God can base His choice on. Spurgeon would say the basis is that God foreknows who will remain saved and who will not. That defeats Total Depravity. If one will be faithful and another will not, then former cannot be as depraved as the latter. It’s not about magical and fantastical suppositions, but about God’s desire to be loved by choice—not force.
Spurgeon believed in Unconditional Election, that our will is utterly dead (will-less, see Irresistible Grace). Thus, God who is infinite in wisdom designed a flawed plan that would compel Him against His infinite love nature to consign horrific injustice to innumerable individuals. Nothing in the biblical depiction of God indicates that he could compel some of us whose wills are nonexistent to desire him and cast the rest of us into hell. Furthermore, with Total Depravity, there is no way to know who is truly chosen and who is Totally, Unconditionally, Lost, Irreversibly dead in sin, and Predestined for hell. Turn to you spouse, children, or grandchildren, smile and say, “I hope you make it to heaven, but you might go to hell and there is nothing you can do about it. By the way, do you feel compelled to serve God?”
He believed in Limited Atonement, that Christ died exclusively for those chosen by the father. All else was born to be sent to hell with any chance of redemption. Visit a maturity ward and realize that Spurgeon accuses God of being capable of consigning most of those babies to hell before they were born. Worse, He created humanity knowing that most would enter hell. Ever wonder how many aborted babies went from mutilation and torturous death to eternal hell? How does one pray with hope, which is necessary for faith, for a critically ill baby not knowing if God consigned that precious infant to hell. Washing all that away by saying, “For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” (Romans 9:15)
Individuals take Romans 9 concerning Israel out of context, dismiss all of the previous chapters that defy their conclusion, and misunderstand completely what Paul is positing. They also crush many other verses, such as John 3:16 and Romans 10:9-10. I will deal with this more fully in a dissertation I am currently writing.
Spurgeon believed in Irresistible Grace, i.e., that we can not resist God’s Sovereign Call. He claimed that we are not saved against our will, but are made willing by the Holy Spirit—which is in essence, forced by the Holy Spirit to be saved against our will. How does a Totally Depraved individual even have a will? A will is based on having a choice. Without the ability to make decisions, which involves involves choice, there is no will. A will-less person is simply an animal without a conscience and living by desires of the flesh. Further, one cannot be given a will without force because one has no will to decide to accept it. What a convoluted, discombobulated, mess such doctrine creates!
Spurgeon believed in Persevering Grace, that one could not possible lose his or her salvation. The logical conclusion of that doctrine is antinomianism. I believe it to be a major reason for the great apostasy. Detractors would say, “No, they don’t have to live wickedly.” However, if there are no eternal consequences, the responsibility to live right rest solely on willpower. That is the only weapon legalists have against sin. It no longer is God’s saving and keeping power—because since that doesn’t matter to one that believes he or she is eternal saved. Instead, one either obeys in fear, because the assuring of his or her salvation depends on performance, or one succumbs to apathy, because assurance of his or her salvation is dependent on the doctrine of a man who murdered those who disagreed with him, John Calvin.
There is not enough space to present how Calvinists/Lutherans force their assumptions and presumptions on God’s word. I will only state (albeit simplistically) that it is not even slightly a biblical doctrine, but is sourced from paganism.
It is a fact that (amazingly) people concede to that they do not get Calvinism/Reformed heresy from the Bible, but from men who perverted God’s word. Calvin and Luther got their doctrine from Augustine, who injected it into Roman Catholicism. As someone wrote, “Augustine set out to Christianize paganism, and ended up paganizing Christianity.”
Augustine was a Gnostic Manichaean before he converted to Christianity in 386 A.D.. He did not enter Christianity as a pupil or a novice, but as a vaunted sage. He was completely unqualified to become a leader in Christianity. However, while functioning as a teacher of rhetoric he was appointed as the Bishop of Hippo. His expertise was in metaphysics (metaphysical analysis of time), ethics (lethal analysis of evil), and politics, which involved his examination of the conditions for justified war.
Charles Spurgeon, called the “prince of preachers,” believed in Total Depravity, i.e., that no one could come to God for salvation by his or her own volition. Thus, with no redeeming qualities in humanity, on what basis can God choose one over the other? If Total Depravity is correct, there is no basis that a just and merciful God can base His choice on. Spurgeon would say the basis is that God foreknows who will remain saved and who will not. That defeats Total Depravity. If one will be faithful and another will not, then former cannot be as depraved as the latter. It’s not about magical and fantastical suppositions, but about God’s desire to be loved by choice—not force.
Spurgeon believed in Unconditional Election, that our will is utterly dead (will-less, see Irresistible Grace). Thus, God who is infinite in wisdom designed a flawed plan that would compel Him against His infinite love nature to consign horrific injustice to innumerable individuals. Nothing in the biblical depiction of God indicates that he could compel some of us whose wills are nonexistent to desire him and cast the rest of us into hell. Furthermore, with Total Depravity, there is no way to know who is truly chosen and who is Totally, Unconditionally, Lost, Irreversibly dead in sin, and Predestined for hell. Turn to you spouse, children, or grandchildren, smile and say, “I hope you make it to heaven, but you might go to hell and there is nothing you can do about it. By the way, do you feel compelled to serve God?”
He believed in Limited Atonement, that Christ died exclusively for those chosen by the father. All else was born to be sent to hell with any chance of redemption. Visit a maturity ward and realize that Spurgeon accuses God of being capable of consigning most of those babies to hell before they were born. Worse, He created humanity knowing that most would enter hell. Ever wonder how many aborted babies went from mutilation and torturous death to eternal hell? How does one pray with hope, which is necessary for faith, for a critically ill baby not knowing if God consigned that precious infant to hell. Washing all that away by saying, “For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” (Romans 9:15)
Individuals take Romans 9 concerning Israel out of context, dismiss all of the previous chapters that defy their conclusion, and misunderstand completely what Paul is positing. They also crush many other verses, such as John 3:16 and Romans 10:9-10. I will deal with this more fully in a dissertation I am currently writing.
Spurgeon believed in Irresistible Grace, i.e., that we can not resist God’s Sovereign Call. He claimed that we are not saved against our will, but are made willing by the Holy Spirit—which is in essence, forced by the Holy Spirit to be saved against our will. How does a Totally Depraved individual even have a will? A will is based on having a choice. Without the ability to make decisions, which involves involves choice, there is no will. A will-less person is simply an animal without a conscience and living by desires of the flesh. Further, one cannot be given a will without force because one has no will to decide to accept it. What a convoluted, discombobulated, mess such doctrine creates!
Spurgeon believed in Persevering Grace, that one could not possible lose his or her salvation. The logical conclusion of that doctrine is antinomianism. I believe it to be a major reason for the great apostasy. Detractors would say, “No, they don’t have to live wickedly.” However, if there are no eternal consequences, the responsibility to live right rest solely on willpower. That is the only weapon legalists have against sin. It no longer is God’s saving and keeping power—because since that doesn’t matter to one that believes he or she is eternal saved. Instead, one either obeys in fear, because the assuring of his or her salvation depends on performance, or one succumbs to apathy, because assurance of his or her salvation is dependent on the doctrine of a man who murdered those who disagreed with him, John Calvin.
There is not enough space to present how Calvinists/Lutherans force their assumptions and presumptions on God’s word. I will only state (albeit simplistically) that it is not even slightly a biblical doctrine, but is sourced from paganism.
It is a fact that (amazingly) people concede to that they do not get Calvinism/Reformed heresy from the Bible, but from men who perverted God’s word. Calvin and Luther got their doctrine from Augustine, who injected it into Roman Catholicism. As someone wrote, “Augustine set out to Christianize paganism, and ended up paganizing Christianity.”
Augustine was a Gnostic Manichaean before he converted to Christianity in 386 A.D.. He did not enter Christianity as a pupil or a novice, but as a vaunted sage. He was completely unqualified to become a leader in Christianity. However, while functioning as a teacher of rhetoric he was appointed as the Bishop of Hippo. His expertise was in metaphysics (metaphysical analysis of time), ethics (lethal analysis of evil), and politics, which involved his examination of the conditions for justified war.
