Paul's Passing Thoughts

Originally published February 5, 2013

I will keep saying it: people don’t get up one morning and decide to be spiritual abusers. The present-day spiritual abuse tsunami in the church wasn’t created from nothing. If you believe the neo-Calvinist resurgence of late is unrelated to the sharp increase of spiritual abuse in the church–I have some oceanfront property here in Xenia, Ohio that I would like to sell you.

For some time, I have sat typingless  in regard to anti-spiritual abuse bloggers who are Calvinists. Whatever. Does one really think that Calvin’s logic had no relationship to his behavior? And the one that just kills me is the Reformed pastor who is a hero among the anti-spiritual abuse crowd. The guy is a strong advocate of Jon Zens who was one of the core-four of the Australian Forum which launched the present-day New Calvinist movement.

He also brags about how much he enjoys reading the Puritans. The Puritans were Calvin’s ugly grandchildren and were responsible for wiping out the entire population of women in some European towns during the medieval Witch Wars. As fanatical political refugees, they fled Europe and brought their pandemic logic to American soil. Consequently, Americans have to claim part of their filth as our infant history; ie., the Salem Witch Trials and the executions of Quakers for being Quakers. The International Day of Religious Freedom (Oct. 27^th) is a spiritual Pearle Harbor Day, and the Puritans are the Japanese in that story. But yet, they are spiritual heroes among the Reformed; go figure.

This same pastor also idolizes John Piper who sits on the board of the Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood. Their magnum opus is the Danvers Statement which was compiled in Danvers, MA.–the very same location of the Salem Witch trials. This is absolutely no accident—it is an open mockery of women and the Enlightenment thought that had to save American Christianity from a wicked European foundation. This is often the case: God has to send in people with commonsense to save us from ourselves.

I was finally jolted into writing this after being referred to several “commendable” articles by fellow anti-spiritual abuse bloggers. Several of these messages were right out of Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation which is the core logic of the Reformation. Luther hated humanity, and believed God only works through us when we are brought to nothing. He believed the Christian life was a series of deaths and rebirths founded on perpetual justification through the “cross story.” To Luther, the joy of rebirth could only be experienced through the ravaging of our own personal story, or the “glory story.” When we suffer these deaths, a new birth or resurrection happens and our just standing before God is maintained. It’s truly salvation by a life of misery.

Calvin then took Luther’s principle (which he got from Auggie and Gregory who got it from Plato who was the inspiration for neo-Islamic thought and communism as well): all wisdom is the difference between God’s holiness and our wretchedness, and extrapolated that single principle into a full-orbed philosophical statement on life. The Calvin Institutes are built totally on the foundation of the first sentence thereof which states the essence of Luther’s Disputation. Calvin’s ability to take this simple dualist principle and build a full-orbed metaphysical statement speaks to his genius while escaping the Mass Murderers Hall of Fame.

Hence, we have pastors from coast to coast who don’t necessarily see rape as a bad thing. Rape leads to brokenness, and a wonderful opportunity to experience God’s resurrection life. Why do you think the pastorate is so indifferent to what’s going on? It’s not just cowardliness, they also share the logic of our Protestant roots.

I perceive a lot naïve young people, new to the ministry, who are latching on to these concepts unawares. They perceive biblical warnings about wolves in sheep’s clothing through the lens of their own arrogance; ie., “Because of how smart I am, it will look like a cheap costume.” Therefore, they don’t see the disconnect in logic.

But if they don’t, they will continue in their attempt to help people with the same logic that brought their misery.

Good luck with that one.

paul