Featured Is Calvisnism Gnostic

Give me a break, even Calvinists admit Calvin's greatest influence was Augustine.

 

This statement is staggering in the ignorance it shows about Calvin. That Calvin was greatly influenced by Augustine is readily acknowledged by all, Calvinist or otherwise, who have any knowledge of Calvin and his belief system.

It is better than your opinion and that is all you have given.

There is no doubt that Augustine at one time in his life was a Gnostic. From Encyclopedia Britannica:

No one who has even a very elementary knowledge of Calvin denies that Calvin was greatly influenced by Augustine.

One area from the quote above, which I will put in a quote below, is classic Gnosticism:

The separation of the spiritual from the material is a lynch-pin of Gnosticism and fits well into Calvin's theology.

And another from the same passage is an idea that also is straight from Gnosticism and fits into Calvin's theology on the total depravity of man.

 

Direct line connecting the dots:

Gnostic belief that humans are totally depraved as the material is evil while the spirit is good.

Augustine, who was a Gnostic for a period of time, fits the idea into his theology. He had to make a few adjustments for it to fit into his Christian belief system.

Calvin, greatly influenced by Augustine, makes "total depravity" one of his five lynch-pins of his theology.

 

Your opinion refutes nothing You cite no sources. You give only your opinion.

Give us sources showing a disconnect between the three.

 

There were many groups with differing beliefs all of whom were called Gnostics. Of course Augustine preached against those Gnostics with whom he did not agree. But, as can be seen, in his total depravity of man, he did not jettison all of his Gnostic beliefs. Also, his separation of the material and spiritual is directly from Gnostic beliefs.

Yes, he jettisoned some Gnostic beliefs. But not all.

It is too late here tonight to respond to your "prove that is what he did". However you are 8 hours behind me, so surely you can research it for yourself in that time. It is all there if you will but look.

 

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Augustine is the source of most errors in the Western churches, Protestant and Catholic.

To deny that he was influenced by his pagan/Manichaen past is to ignore history and fact.

 

Agreed. :thumbsup:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo

Second paragraph confirms what we have been saying. Anyone familiar with Augustine knows this.

 

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That Augustine was influenced by his past of Manichaesm and Neoplatonism cannot be refuted, nor can his influence on Calvin or RC theology. People can deny all they want, but they can't change the facts.

 

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You have refuted nothing.

You have been given sources. If you want to deny the truth, you argue against historical evidence, not against me.

Everyone from interested laypeople to scholars knows that Augustine's theology was influenced by Manichaesm and Neoplatonism, and this in turn was highly influential in the RCC and in Calvinism.

Most of the errors in Western Christian thought can be traced to Augustine.