#229 - How Calvinistic was Calvin? Dr. David Allen discusses Calvin's view of the atonement.

Calvinism has characteristically argued for limited atonement (the "L" in TULIP), but can they attribute that to John Calvin? Dr. Allen will prove from Calvin's original statements that he held to unlimited atonement without exception. Only later, through the revisions of Theodore Beza and the ecclesiastical councils of the Synod of Dort and the Westminster Assembly, was limited atonement adopted as representative of genuine Calvinism even though there was significant disagreement within those assemblies. Limited atonement is a theological extrapolation from a system based on a faulty understanding of total depravity. As Dr. Allen says limited atonement is a doctrine in search of a proof text.

Dr. Allen received his PhD from the University of Texas and now serves at Mid-America Seminary in Memphis. He is currently a candidate for the presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention. He also has a unique ministry coaching preachers in their preaching skills (see PreachingCoach.com). He has written extensively on the atonement in his lengthy book, The Extent of the Atonement, as well as a chapter in Calvinism: A Biblical and Theological Critique.

Share this episode with your Calvinist, and non-Calvinist, friends and leave a comment with your thoughts.