9 Marks of a Calvinist Cult #6 (fear, coercion)

[This series is "The 9 Marks of a Calvinist Cult" split up into smaller, individual posts.] 

6. Fear and Coercion

None of us wants to be an unhumble, divisive, God-dishonoring, glory-stealing Christian, do we?  These are fears of any good Christian.

Calvinist pastors know this and use it their advantage (even if it's not totally deliberate).

In that "10 things to know..." article I linked to above, the author points out this mark of a cult: "Cults maintain their power by promoting an 'us vs. them' mentality."

Calvinists will use flattery and shaming (forms of manipulation) to do just this: to create an "us vs. them" dichotomy, to coerce people into Calvinism.  They will talk in such a way that makes those who agree with them feel like good Christians and those who disagree feel like bad Christians.  

Calling Out High-and-Mighty, Holier-Than-Thou Judges in Defense of Kat Von D

I read a post from a Christian the other day that bugs me so much I've gotta address it.  It's a post from the Rapture Ready website called "An Artist's Testimony or Agenda?"  And it's basically a Christian calling a newly-born-again celebrity a "false convert."  

And the "proof" that this Christian uses to support their case are things like the celebrity said she wasn't planning on changing her goth looks, that she didn't burn her witchcraft books but merely threw them out, that she's "BFF's" with a satanist, that she thinks skulls are beautiful, that she recently released a song with some nasty lyrics (and yes, I agree they're nasty), and that she said she refuses to talk about her faith on her social media accounts anymore, etc. 

And because of things like these, this Christian "judge" (named Candy) declares the celebrity guilty - a "false convert" and possibly one of the "Satanists/Luciferians" who are "God-haters who use every chance they get to mock our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, even to the point of using 'Trojan Horse assimilation' into the church."

But do you know what I think?

9 Marks of a Calvinist Cult #5 (isolation, control)

[This series is "The 9 Marks of a Calvinist Cult" split up into smaller, individual posts.] 

Cults use isolation, control, fear, coercion, mind-control, and thought-reform to enslave the members to the cult.  The members' "inner voices" are suppressed.

5. Information Isolation and Control

Of course, Calvinists don't physically isolate members in a commune or anything like that, as more extreme cults have.  But Calvinist pastors do practice various forms of "mental" isolation by controlling the information and resources.  

From the very beginning, Calvinist pastors set out to carefully control the information we get, the resources we have access to, the verses we hear, who's in charge, etc.

Verses: Calvinists will ignore verses that contradict or disprove Calvinism, but highly favor those that can be twisted/interpreted to support it.  

For example: Calvinist pastors fill their sermons with verses that appear to fit their view that God preplans, causes, controls everything, such as Job 42:2 "... no plan of yours can be thwarted" and Proverbs 21:1 "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases".  [Notice that these verses record Job and Solomon's words about God.]

But they ignore verses that contradict their Calvinist views, such as Jeremiah 19:5 "They have built the high places to Baal to burn their sons in the fire as offerings to Baal - something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind" and 1 Kings 20:42 "He said to the king, 'This is what the Lord says: 'You have set free a man I had determined should die.''" [Their response to a verse like this would be the ridiculous - and possibly blasphemous - "God decrees that people break His decrees." (And notice that these verses record God's own words about Himself.)]

Celebrating with Rob Schneider!

"... there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."  (Luke 15:10)

I don't really pay attention to the personal lives of actors or actresses, because I don't really care what they do.

But I do pay attention when anyone comes to the faith in Jesus Christ, because I really care about people and want everyone to experience the forgiveness, healing, hope, and eternal life that can only be found in Jesus.  And I especially enjoy the testimonies of people who come to Christ as adults.  They usually have such rich stories to share, such thoughtful reasons for why they left the life they had to turn to Christ.

And so today I am writing this in honor of actor Rob Schneider who recently came to faith in Jesus.  

The angels are celebrating his salvation right now, so let's celebrate it too!

(And I had no idea he had such deep thoughts about some really significant things until I read this message from him on X.  It's really good!  Thank you for sharing, Rob.)

Congratulations, Rob!  God bless you and guide you on your journey of faith.  And welcome to the family!

9 Marks of a Calvinist Cult #4 (strategic tactics)

[This series is "The 9 Marks of a Calvinist Cult" split up into smaller, individual posts.] 

4. The Fun Stuff (Strategic Tactics)

Besides their hidden "buts" and multiple layers, Calvinists employ a wide range of other tactics to hook, trick, trap, and reel us into Calvinism slowly, covertly.  (But they don't do it to just us.  They are victims of these tactics too, having allowed themselves to be tricked and trapped by them also.)  

The tactics they use (no matter how unintentional they might be) are things such as: 

... false dichotomies.  

      "Either God saves us, or else we save ourselves... Either God controls everything, or else He controls nothing... Either God is in charge, or else we are in charge."  It's super-polarized - and badly-polarized - on purpose, to force you to reject the ridiculous option and pick the Calvinist one.  See Calvinist Bad Logic #7: False Dichotomies. 

Healing your soul from Calvinism's damage

[updated April 2024]

For the 6 years that the new Calvinist pastor was at our church, subtly teaching his Calvinism, my soul was starving.  I'm not kidding; I could feel it starving.  Shriveling up dry.  It wasn't dying - because I have a very strong faith, and my faith is in God, not in some preacher - but it was starved for truth and encouragement and joy, etc.  (See "Why Is Calvinism So Dangerous?")

And it wasn't just because of what he was teaching, but it was also because of what he wasn't teaching.  He hardly talked about God's love for us, how God cares about us, how He helps us in the hard times, etc.  There was no real encouragement, compassion, grace, love, hope, etc.  At least not in my eyes.  

Instead, it was often lofty, academic knowledge for the head, hardly ever comfort for the heart.  (I think he was more "professor" than "shepherd," more "this is what I think and how I do things, and so should you" than "Let me come alongside you in this hard life and help you on your journey of faith."  But maybe that's just me.)  And it was often about how depraved we are, how much we don't deserve God's love, how much we deserve hell, how we should just ignore that God predestines people to hell and be thankful that He chose to save any of us wretched sinners (the lucky lottery winners!), and how God "ordains" every evil that happens and every tragedy we go through - including childhood abuse - for our good, for His glory, and to keep us humble.  

No wonder my heart was aching and my soul was starving!  

(See "Are we only here for God's glory?  What about God's love?" and "Is God only concerned about His glory and being famous?" and "Does God cause childhood abuse?" for more on this.)  

9 Marks of a Calvinist Cult #3 (multiple layers)

[This series is "The 9 Marks of a Calvinist Cult" split up into smaller, individual posts.] 

3. Multiple Layers for Maximum Deception

In Calvinism, there are always layers, at least two: the one they want you to see and the one they don't.  What they say and what they mean.  What they want you to think they really believe and what they really believe.

If you read Piper's article, you'll notice how somewhat sweet and humble he makes his hard-core Calvinism seem.  But do you notice what's missing?

The flipside.  The bad parts.  The parts that would raise most Christians' red flags.  The thing is, he's only sharing one layer of Calvinism, only telling the story from the side of the Calvinist elect and God's relationship to them.  But he hides the deeper, darker layer, completely ignoring how God relates to the non-elect.  

If Calvinist teachings sound like "good news," it's only because they're telling it from the perspective of "the elect."  And only the elect.  

9 Marks of a Calvinist Cult #2 (hidden agendas)

 [This series is "The 9 Marks of a Calvinist Cult" split up into smaller, individual posts.] 

(Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!)

2. Hidden Agendas

Not only do Stealth Calvinist pastors get into churches using deception, but they come in with the hidden agenda to reform the church, to slowly drag it into Calvinism without the awareness of the people.

A post called "The Church Infected with Calvinism" shares this: 

"This third scenario [of how Calvinism infects a church] is all too common.  There are websites that instruct Calvinistic preachers who accept calls to non-Calvinistic churches on how to gradually 'acclimate' the church to Calvinism.  I saw one website with a two-year, month-by-month plan for the stealth Calvinist to take a non-Calvinistic church into 'Reformed Theology' land.  It's almost cult-like and certainly deceptive... While the Calvinistic pastor is crafting pulpit content to fortify his philosophical arguments, he will simultaneously be about the business of looking for and mentoring members of the congregation who are now open to Calvinistic logic.  He'll slowly but surely transform as many of these folks as possible into full-blown Calvinists and, when possible, put them in places of church leadership, especially teaching positions... With the leadership of the church and a majority of the congregation now in league with him, the plan of transition is complete. The objectors, who are now in the minority, are powerless to reverse the Calvinistic course."  [Yep, we've seen it happen.]

As that said, Calvinists have published plans for how to take over a church, such as the one I mentioned earlier from Founders Ministries ("Walking without Slipping") and this one from 9Marks ("A Roadmap for Church Reform"), both very Calvinist.  (And FYI, I'm not picking on 9Marks with the title of my post.  I'm picking on 9Marks and all other Calvinist organizations and Stealth Calvinists, too.)

9 Marks of a Calvinist Cult: Intro and #1 (deception)

[This series is "The 9 Marks of a Calvinist Cult" broken up into smaller posts.]

A Psychology Today article - Understanding Cults: The Basics - shares some characteristics of cults and how they operate (I've condensed some of them here to three main points): 

1. No one knowingly, voluntarily joins a cult, but they are "recruited" into it by cult leaders who take advantage of the vulnerabilities of the recruits, using deception and manipulation to suck them in.

2. Cults use isolation, control, fear, coercion, mind-control, and thought-reform to enslave the members to the cult.  The members' "inner voices" are suppressed.

3. Cults are authoritarian (disagreeing with or opposing the leader is not allowed), and cult leaders are malignant narcissists.

And I think this kinda fits Calvinism, especially Stealth Calvinism.  And so, based on these, I came up with 9 marks that I think identify Calvinism as a cult.  Or more accurately, "cult-ish."  You decide if you agree or disagree.  

But don't take my word about any of this.  Who am I?  I'm nobody.  Don't trust me.  Dig into the research and Bible for yourself before forming your conclusions.  Be a good Berean!

“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11)

The 9 Marks of a Calvinist Cult

(For the shortened version of this post, click here.  And here are links to the individual long chapters: #1 deception ... #2 hidden agendas ... #3 multiple layers ... #4 strategic tactics ... #5 isolation and control ... #6 fear/coercion ... #7 mind-control/thought-reform ... #8 gaslighting ... #9 authoritarian narcissists ... conclusion and links)

A Psychology Today article - Understanding Cults: The Basics - shares some characteristics of cults and how they operate (I've condensed some of them here to three main points): 

1. No one knowingly, voluntarily joins a cult, but they are "recruited" into it by cult leaders who take advantage of the vulnerabilities of the recruits, using deception and manipulation to suck them in.

2. Cults use isolation, control, fear, coercion, mind-control, and thought-reform to enslave the members to the cult.  The members' "inner voices" are suppressed.

3. Cults are authoritarian (disagreeing with or opposing the leader is not allowed), and cult leaders are malignant narcissists.

And I think this kinda fits Calvinism, especially Stealth Calvinism.  And so, based on these, I came up with 9 marks that I think identify Calvinism as a cult.  Or more accurately, "cult-ish."  You decide if you agree or disagree.  

But don't take my word about any of this.  Who am I?  I'm nobody.  Don't trust me.  Dig into the research and Bible for yourself before forming your conclusions.  Be a good Berean!

“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11)