Index To All Sections Part 1: An Introduction to John Calvin and his Doctrines of Grace Part 2: Introduction to the acronym T.U.L.I.P - each letter stands for one of the five fundamental tenets of Calvinism.
2A. Total Inability
2B. Unconditional Election
2C. Limited Atonement
2D. Irresistible Grace
2E. Perseverance of The Saints Part 3: When the Gospel Becomes a Lie
Part 4: God’s Sovereignty and Character
Part 5: Hypocrisy Unlimited
Part 6: Conclusion You Are Here  Part 7: The Sins of Augustine. Part 8: Calvinism in the First 1500 Years Calvinism And The Book of Romans HERE
Augustine - The Original Source of Calvinism
(This introduction is included in Part I - An Introduction To Calvinism) Many leading Calvinists agree that the writings of Augustine were the actual source of most of what is known as Calvinism today. Although Augustine was Catholic to the core and wrong about any number of issues, John Calvin referred to him as "holy man" and "holy father" and accepted Augustine's fabrications in toto with disastrous and widespread consequences. As theopedia.com says Sometimes Calvinism is referred to by other names such as "Augustinianism" because Calvin followed Augustine (A.D. 354–430) in many areas of predestination and the sovereignty of God." and although the doctrine of "total depravity is commonly associated with John Calvin, this theological viewpoint is based on the theology of Augustine" [01]
In Calvin's words, In a word, Augustine is so wholly with me, that if I wished to write a confession of my faith, I could do so with all fulness and satisfaction to myself out of his writings. But that I may not, on the present occasion, be too prolix, I will be content with three or four instances of his testimony, from which it will be manifest that he does not differ from me one pin's point. And it would be more manifest still, could the whole line of his confession be adduced, how fully and solidly he agrees with me in every particular. [02]
In his Institutes Calvin quotes Augustine some 400 times, describing him as "the best and most faithful witness of all antiquity. Note the following examples drawn from the 11 positive references to Augustine in one chapter of Volume III. (All emphasis added) I at least hold with Augustine that when God makes sheep out of wolves, he forms them again by the powerful influence of grace, that their hardness may thus be subdued, and that he does not convert the obstinate, because he does not exert that more powerful grace, a grace which he has at command, if he were disposed to use it (August. de Prædest. Sanct., Lib. 1, c. 2). I say with Augustine, that the Lord has created those who, as he certainly foreknew, were to go to destruction, and he did so because he so willed. Why he willed it is not ours to ask, as we cannot comprehend, nor can it become us even to raise a controversy as to the justice of the divine will. Whenever we speak of it, we are speaking of the supreme standard of justice. If your mind is troubled, decline not to embrace the counsel of Augustine, This question, like others, is skillfully explained by Augustine. [03]
There are 19 references to Augustine in Chapter 5 of Book 2. [04]
Who Was Augustine?
Augustine, a prolific writer, skilled preacher and rhetorician was bishop of Hippo from 396 to 430 AD. His importance in the Catholic Church cannot be overstated. He was canonized by popular recognition and recognized as a Doctor of the Church by Pope Boniface VIII in 1303.
In fact, Philip Schaff, Protestant theologian and a historian of the Christian church, called Augustine the "principal theological creator of the Latin-Catholic system. [05]. In an article entitled The Second Founder of the Faith Time Magazine quoted St. Jerome, the translator of the Latin Bible who wrote approvingly, "Catholics revere you and accept you as the second founder of the ancient faith, and -- which is a mark of greater fame -- all the heretics hate you." [5b] Pope John Paul II, in an anniversary pronouncement, terms Augustine the "common father of our Christian civilization." (This was the 1600th anniversary of Augustine's conversion) [06 ] Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, the Vatican's doctrinal overseer, says that through Augustine "I learned to believe, to know faith and to love the church." [07]
That's quite a who's who of the Catholic world. In view of the endorsements an examination of some of Augustine's beliefs and teachings should not really bring any surprises. For example Augustine believed that salvation is not to be found outside of a 'pure' Catholic church that, due to apostolic succession, was the supreme teaching authority. See Section on Catholicism
In His Words (All Emphasis Added)
Proofs of the Catholic Faith There are many other things which most justly keep me in [the Catholic Church's] bosom. The consent of peoples and nations keeps me in the Church; so does her authority, inaugurated by miracles, nourished by hope, enlarged by love, established by age. The succession of priests keeps me, beginning from the very seat of the Apostle Peter, to whom the Lord, after His resurrection, gave it in charge to feed His sheep (John 21:15-19), down to the present episcopate... Such then in number and importance are the precious ties belonging to the Christian name which keep a believer in the Catholic Church ... no one shall move me from the faith which binds my mind with ties so many and so strong to the Christian religion ... For my part I should not believe the gospel except the authority of the Catholic Church. [08]
Salvation Is Not To Be Found Outside Of The Catholic Church A man cannot have salvation except in the Catholic Church. Outside the Catholic Church he can have everything except salvation. He can have honor, he can have Sacraments, he can sing Allelulia, he can answer Amen, he can possess the Gospel, he can preach faith in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: but never except in the Catholic Church will he be able to find salvation. [09] "By the same word, by the same Sacrament you were born, but you will not come to the same inheritance of eternal life, unless you return to the Catholic Church." [Sermons, 3, 391 A.D. ] "[The Holy Roman Catholic Church] firmly believes, professes, and proclaims that those not living within the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics cannot become participants in eternal life, but will depart 'into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels' (Matt. 25:41), unless before the end of life the same have been added to the flock; and that the unity of the ecclesiastical body is so strong that only to those remaining in it are the sacraments of the Church of benefit for salvation, and do fastings, almsgiving, and other functions of piety and exercises of Christian service produce eternal reward, and that no one, whatever almsgiving he has practiced, even if he has shed blood for the name of Christ, can be saved, unless he has remained in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church." (Council of Florence, c. 1441 A.D.) [10]
The Catholic Church is Pure... It follows after commendation of the Trinity, The Holy Church. God is pointed out, and His temple. For the temple of God is holy, says the Apostle, which (temple) are you. This same is the holy Church, the one Church, the true Church, the catholic Church, fighting against all heresies: fight, it can: be fought down, it cannot. As for heresies, they went all out of it, like as unprofitable branches pruned from the vine: but itself abides in its root, in its Vine, in its charity. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. [11]
And The Supreme Teaching Authority Because Of Apostolic Succession...
"If the very order of Episcopal succession is to be considered, how much more surely, truly, and safely do we number them (the bishops of Rome) from Peter himself, to whom, as to one representing the whole Church, the Lord said, 'Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not conquer it.' Peter was succeeded by Linus, Linus by Clement . . . In this order of succession a Donatist bishop is not to be found" (Letters 53:1:2 (A.D. 412).) [12]. "The Catholic Church is the work of Divine Providence, achieved through the prophecies of the prophets, through the Incarnation and the teaching of Christ, through the journeys of the Apostles, through the suffering, the crosses, the blood and the death of the martyrs, through the admirable lives of the saints. When, then, we see so much help on God's part, so much progress and so much fruit, shall we hesitate to bury ourselves in the bosom of that Church? For starting from the Apostolic Chair down through successions of bishops, even unto the open confession of all mankind, it has possessed the crown of teaching authority." [13]
And Can Forgive Sins
"Let us not listen to those who deny that the Church of God is able to forgive all sins. They are wretched indeed, because they do not recognize in Peter the rock and they refuse to believe that the keys of the kingdom of heaven, lost from their own hands, have been given to the Church." (Christian Combat, 31:33 , in JUR, 3:51. A.D. 397). [14]
Tradition is on Par With The Authority Of The Scriptures
"But in regard to those observances which we carefully attend and which the whole world keeps, and which derive not from Scripture but from tradition, we are given to understand that they are recommended and ordained to be kept either by the Apostles themselves or by plenary Councils, the authority of which is quite vital to the Church." (Letter to Januarius 54,1,1, 400 A.D.) [15] "I believe that this practice comes from apostolic tradition, just as so many other practices not found in their writings nor in the councils of their successors, but which, because they are kept by the whole Church everywhere, are believed to have been commended and handed down by the Apostles themselves." (Baptism 1,12,20, 400 A.D.) [16]
See Section on The Papacy on THIS Page (Scroll down slightly)
Baptism and the Lord's Supper Are Necessary for Salvation
"(According to) Apostolic Tradition . . . the Churches of Christ hold inherently that without baptism and participation at the table of the Lord it is impossible for any man to attain either to the kingdom of God or to salvation and life eternal. This is the witness of Scripture too" (Forgiveness and the Just Deserts of Sin, and the Baptism of Infants 1:24:34 A.D. 412) [17] "Baptism washes away all, absolutely all, our sins, whether of deed, word, or thought, whether sins original or added, whether knowingly or unknowingly contracted" (Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 3:3:5 [A.D. 420]) [18]. "There are three ways in which sins are forgiven: in baptism, in prayer, and in the greater humility of penance; yet God does not forgive sins except to the baptized" (Sermons to Catechumens, on the Creed 7:15 [A.D. 395]). [19]
See Baptism
Mary's Perpetual Virginity
Mary "gave birth to Him who became visible for our sake and by whom she herself was created. A virgin conceives, yet remains a virgin; a virgin is heavy with child; a virgin brings forth her child, yet she is always a virgin." [20] A Virgin conceiving, a Virgin bearing, a Virgin pregnant, a Virgin bringing forth, a Virgin perpetual. Why do you wonder at this, O man?” [21] Heretics called Antidicomarites are those who contradict the perpetual virginity of Mary and affirm that after Christ was born she was joined as one with her husband" [22 ].
See The Real Mary of The Bible
The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist
"I promised you (new Christians), who have now been baptized, a sermon in which I would explain the sacrament of the Lord's Table, which you now look upon and of which you last night were made participants. You ought to know that you have received, what you are going to receive, and what you ought to receive daily. That bread which you see on the altar, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the Body of Christ. That chalice, or rather, what is in that chalice, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the Blood of Christ" [23] "What you see is the bread and the chalice; that is what your own eyes report to you. But what your faith obliges you to accept is that the bread is the body of Christ and the chalice is the blood of Christ" [24].
Purgatory and Praying for the Departed In the books of the Maccabees we read of sacrifice offered for the dead. Howbeit even if it were no where at all read in the Old Scriptures, not small is the authority, which in this usage is clear, of the whole Church, namely, that in the prayers of the priest which are offered to the Lord God at His altar, the Commendation of the dead hath also its place.[25].
See Four Articles on Transubstantiation
The Apocrypha
Augustine believed in the inspiration of the Apocrypha. Chapter 8 of Augustine's On Christian Doctrine (Book II) is entitled The Canonical Books. He wrote
"Now, in regard to the canonical Scriptures, he must follow the judgment of the greater number of Catholic churches; and among these, of course, a high place must be given to such as have been thought worthy to be the seat of an apostle and to receive epistles. Accordingly, among the canonical Scriptures he will judge according to the following standard: to prefer those that are received by all the Catholic churches to those which some do not receive."
He then went on to list the Canonical books saying "Now the whole canon of Scripture on which we say this judgment is to be exercised, is contained in the following books"
His list of the books of the Old Testament included "Tobias, and Esther, and Judith, and the two books of Maccabees" [26] See The Apocrypha
And finally this little gem
For my part, I should not believe the gospel except as moved by the authority of the Catholic Church. [27]
Continue On To Part VI - Early Christian Theologians HERE
Apparently, apart from Augustine, the first 1500 years of church history was filled with ignoramuses who, in spite of their deep devotion to the Word of God, never managed to figure out that predestination was a basic tenet of the Bible. Somehow this foundational and critical doctrine managed to elude the grasp and understanding of men like Justin Martyr, Irenaeus of Gaul, Clement of Alexandria and countless others. And I am certainly not saying that these men had all their ducks in a row. They didn't. But they certainly all believed in free will.
End Notes
[01] Calvinism. http://www.theopedia.com/Calvinism [02] Calvin's Calvinism. Treatises on the Eternal Predestination of God.
https://moodle.ets.ac.uk/Reformation/RB7/FREE%20BOOKS/Calvin%27s%20Calvinism.pdf [03] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion. Translated by Henry Beveridge (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans), reprinted 1983. Vol. III. Chapter 23... Refutation Of The Calumnies By Which This Doctrine Is Always Unjustly Assailed. Pgs. 2226-2238.
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.v.xxiv.html [04] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, translated by Henry Beveridge (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans), reprinted 1983, vol. II, Chapter 5. The Arguments Usually Alleged In Support Of Free Will Refuted.Pg. 273. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.iv.vi.html [05] History of the Christian Church, Volume III: CHAPTER V. The Influence of St. Augustine upon Posterity,
and his Relation to Catholicism and Protestantism. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc3.iii.xiii.xx.html [5b] Richard N. Ostling. Religion: The Second Founder of the Faith. Sep. 29, 1986
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,962430,00.html. Page 2 [06] Richard N. Ostling. Religion: The Second Founder of the Faith. Sep. 29, 1986
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,962430,00.html. Page 2 [07] ibid. [08] Augustine. Against the Fundamental Epistle of Manichaeus, Chapter 4 (Proofs of the Catholic Faith) and 5. 396 AD.
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1405.htm [09] Saint John Of The Cross Academy. http://tinyurl.com/2p9frx6f [10] MyCatholicSource.com https://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/qt/coming_home_reflections__heretics_schismatics.htm [11] Sermon to Catechumens, on the Creed, http://tinyurl.com/2den48ne [12] https://www.catholic.com/qa/how-can-you-say-peter-is-the-rock [13] The Advantage of Believing, 391 A.D. https://www.thebiblecatholic.com. Scripture to Support The Catholic Faith [14] Michael Snellen. Proof of the Papacy From St. Augustine to the Council of Milevis
https://www.iamcatholic.co/article/proof-of-the-papacy-from-st-augustine-to-the-council-of-milevis-a-d-400-420 [15] https://www.catholic.com/tract/apostolic-tradition [16] https://beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com/2008/07/alleged-magisterial-perspicuity.html [17] What the Early Church Believed: The Necessity of Baptism. https://www.catholic.com/tract/the-necessity-of-baptism [18] Church Fathers. Baptismal Grace https://www.churchfathers.org/baptismal-grace [19] Church Fathers. Necessity of Baptism. https://www.churchfathers.org/necessity-of-baptism [20] Mary in the Writings of St. Augustine Sermon 186. http://tinyurl.com/yfh4xw2v [21] What the Early Church Believed: The Perpetual Virginity of Mary Sermon 186:1. https://www.catholic.com/tract/mary-ever-virgin [22] ibid. [23] Augustine. Sermons 227 (A.D. 411) http://tinyurl.com/mt45pcj9 [24] ibid., 272 [25] Augustine. The Care to be Had for the Dead. Fordham University.
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/augustine-onthecareofthgedeadnpnf1-03-39.asp [26] New Advent. Augustine, On Christian Doctrine (Book II) http://tinyurl.com/58y5x322 [27] Against the Fundamental Epistle of Manichaeus. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1405.htm
Continue On To Part VIII - Calvinism and The First 1500 Years
Apparently, apart from Augustine, the first 1500 years of church history was filled with ignoramuses who, in spite of their deep devotion to the Word of God, never managed to figure out that predestination was a basic tenet of the Bible. Somehow this foundational and critical doctrine managed to elude the grasp and understanding of men like Justin Martyr, Irenaeus of Gaul, Clement of Alexandria and countless others. And I am certainly not saying that these men had all their ducks in a row. However, they all believed in free will. HERE
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