The Romanizing Oxford Movement and the true history of the role of Jesuits in promoting Arminianism over Calvinism, also Preterism.

More historical stuff I'd never hear if it weren't for Chris Pinto. The link is to yesterday's radio show on the Oxford Movement in England, which was a Jesuit-inspired movement to return England back to Catholicism.

A reference he gives: Walter Walsh, the Secret History of the Oxford Movement.

Pinto also gets into the history of Arminianism versus Calvinism (from about 5:15 on the counter), Calvinism representing the Protestant Reformation and Arminianism being a Roman Catholic attempt, again through Jesuits, to undermine Protestantism in the churches by reintroducing some Catholic doctrines in a supposedly evangelical context.

The hatred of Calvinism often encountered in the churches has struck me as very odd ever since I read Calvin's Institutes for myself, some twenty years ago now, and discovered that he seemed to be saying the same things I'd read earlier in Luther. Standard Protestant doctrine. Which is something that Pinto also points out. So the attack on it by Arminius was an attack on Protestantism itself. And there is even some idea that Arminius was a Jesuit although apparently that can't be proved, and all that can be said is that the Romanizers certainly love what Armninianism does to Protestantism.

Arminianism as Pinto reports was a very aggressive, even violent, even Inquisitional, movement against Protestantism. William Laud, a High Church Anglican who was really a closet Romanist, is paraphrased as saying something like: We have sown the sovereign drug Arminianism into the churches to correct their errors.

The Five Points of Calvinism were developed in order to answer this Romanizing movement through Arminianism.

The attacks on Calvin derive ultimately from Romanist propaganda, which would no doubt come as a huge surprise to someone like Dave Hunt who spent much effort in exposing the Roman Catholic Antichrist, but also vehemently attacked Calvinism.

Pinto also says the "neo-Calvinists" aren't the same as true Calvinists. Main difference is apparently their view of prophecy, as the Reformers did believe in a future destiny for the Jewish people. He references a book, The Puritan Hope, Ian H. Murray. that shows that the Puritans believed in a future for Israel. But today's Calvinists have been "subverted" by Preterism, which sees most prophecy as fulfilled in the past. (Since so much of prophecy identifies Rome as the Antichrist the source of Preterism may be easily enough guessed.)

Good stuff. Again, I wish Pinto would write a book or that somebody would, that would sketch out this whole history of Romanist plots against Protestantism, which apparently have had a lot more success than most "Protestants" have any idea.

Pinto does have lots of articles on these things at his site though.

It must make the Jesuits very happy to hear how many supposedly Protestant Christians denounce Calvin and support the romanizing doctrine of Arminianism.