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Cork Free Presbyterian Church, 10 Briarscourt (Annex) Shanakiel, Cork, Ireland
Pastor: Colin Maxwell. Email: colin.maxwell@fpcmission.org

SHOULD WE BELIEVE CLOUD'S STATEMENT?

Well, here's a few questions to help you answer for yourself.

1) Why should you? Cloud isn't noted for his supporting evidence when he comes off with his bombshell statements and he doesn't bother with such trivialities here. In fact, this trait inspired this little cartoon which I put together one evening, about 10 minutes before dinner. Just because David Cloud (or anyone, for that matter, says something) it doesn't mean that it is necessarily true.

2) How does David Cloud know? Calvinists occupy a pretty wide constituency and unless Cloud is developing the attribute of omniscience, he cannot possibly know what each and every professing Calvinist is up to. He is basing his allegations on something of which he knows very little about.

[i] Has he conducted a scientific poll among professing Calvinists to find out their views on the need to preach the gospel to every last creature, as required by the command of the Lord Jesus (Mark 16:15) and required by the Calvinist's own view that a Sovereign God generally uses human means to accomplish His divine will? In the above Friday News article, he makes extensive use of someone else's survey to lament the onward march of Calvinism among professing Fundamentalists, so he is familiar with the concept of being able to produce facts and figures.

[ii] Can he produce verifiable statements from present Calvinistic leaders which denounce the concept of evangelism, saying that it is unnecessary or of little use etc.? He makes mention of three modern leaders among the Calvinists in his article - John McArthur, John Piper and Peter Masters, but omits to tell us that these three men exercise and encourage evangelism. By the way, if you click on their names, you will see real, tangible, proof that what I am saying is true. It took me about 10 minutes on Google to supply this evidence. It can be done and I did it, because I feel I owe it to the readers of this article to substantiate what I am saying. And that is me defending, not attacking. Cloud's article (which he has also recently republished) on Calvinism - Who is the Enemy? has gone through several revisions. At one time (but no longer) he listed some Calvinists (including Masters) who engaged in evangelism, but his attitude hardened greatly and he dropped their names and examples, along with the good things he once said that he admired about about Calvinism. The contents of the old page is available here, along with my comments. The new page is available here, minus the more balancing features. I think Cloud's problem is that he is now starting to believe his own propaganda. It is one thing to say to a Calvinist: "I don't agree with your doctrine and I cannot see how you can consistently evangelise the lost" but it is another thing to blacken and deny their service for God, by saying that evangelising Calvinists are the exception rather the rule.

3) How accurate is Cloud's use of history? With no attempt to produce modern examples (which could be multiplied) of evangelising Calvinists, Cloud takes us into the past. He uses the well known example of John Ryland Senior rebuking Carey's desire to evangelise the lost. Of course, he doesn't bother telling his readers that Carey himself was a faithful 5 point Calvinist. I would ask my reader, Calvinistic or otherwise, is this honest? Is it not a strange omission? For a man who makes a point of telling us how many history books he has purchased and read, I think it inexcusable especially in the light of the whole tone of the article. He is evidently not on a confidence building exercise. We examine the Ryland case here and see how Calvinism fares in it.

Furthermore, Cloud makes the rather bold claim that a large a large number of Calvinists opposed Spurgeon and his free offer preaching. The English language (like any language) is wonderously elastic, and any man with his thinking cap on knows that the word "large" is a relative adjective. A thousand people or ten thousand people are a large number in themselves, but at the same time very small and insignificant if measured against (say) a million people. I don't know (and that's being honest) how many Strict and Particular Baptists there were in Spurgeon's day, but I know this...they were greatly outnumbered by Calvinists in other Baptist churches/associations and among the Presbyterians and Anglicans and others who supported Spurgeon 100%. Even though Cloud quotes from Iain Murray's little book, "Spurgeon vs Hyper Calvinists" Cloud is very slow to put any difference between Calvinists and hyper Calvinists. He just wants to tar us all with the same brush, because to do otherwise destroys the central plank of his whole thesis i.e. that Calvinism destroys evangelism and evangelising Calvinists are the exception rather than the rule. Of course, when people attack Cloud's pet doctrines like KJV Onlyism and lump him in with Gail Riplinger and Peter Ruckman, he howls with indignant protest, but this critic of Calvinism doesn't hesitate to play the same game himself when it suits. It is amazing what passes for ethics in some places.

I accept that this method is more of a straw poll approach rather than an accurate survey, but if you want to go into history, consider the overwhelming evidence in favour of famous evangelists being Calvinistic rather than otherwise. Think of the "big names" (for the dire need of another way of putting it) who were noted Calvinists and yet at the same time great soulwinners. Calvin and Luther and many of the famous Reformers all held to the doctrines of sovereign grace, and yet saw many won to Christ through their efforts. Read this article on Calvin the Soulwinner and look me straight in the ye and tell me that Calvin's views prevented him from reaching out and winning souls. Time fails us to write about John Knox and his Reforming and later Covenanting brethren in Scotland. The English Evangelicals were mostly Calvinistic, including George Whitefield (whose Calvinistic views are available here in his famous letter to Welsey) Their names are legion for they are many: Jonathan Edwards, Gilbert Tennent, McCheyne, Bonar brothers, Spurgeon etc., It is not my desire to denigrate the evangelistic endeavours of those who were non Calvinists, because I do not believe that I have to blacken any man's efforts to promote my own or those of my camp. Cursed be such an attack! I salute John Wesley's evangelistic efforts and those of his associates in the Methodist church. I repudiate their Arminianism, but I rejoice that the gospel was preached, yea and will rejoice. If we thus count heads and consider the not unreasonable idea that for every "big name" who became "famous" there were many who laboured relatively unknown and unsung (among men) then it is safe to conclude that history will be kind to the evangelistic efforts of the Calvinists.

There is much more that could be said, but time runs against me. This article of Cloud's is a week old, but unfortunately I am playing catch up because my Calvinistic denomination had an evangelistic outreach to the many tens of thousands who attended the World Ploughing Championships at the end of September 2006. For those of you who like to see evangelistic endeavours from whatever source, then click here for the report and here for the photographs and here for the report which the Farmer's Journal ran on our witness. Please note that our Free Presbyterian witness had a core band of 12 men, all of whom (pastors and laymen alike) are committed to the 5 points of Calvinism. It is only the circumstances which necessitated the writing of this article makes me draw attention to it. There were two other Evangelistic groups in the field also, which included Calvinists in their midst also. I must leave it there, because this afternoon, the plan is to leaflet the homes around the RC Cathedral here in Cork city with gospel tracts. These are tracts written by the Prince of Tract Writers, Bishop JC Ryle who, incidentally, was another Calvinist, albeit of the 4 point variety. However, he was solid on the doctrine of Unconditional election and another great soulwinner.

If you want to read more, then do browse in our Calvinistic Index page and also our Evangelism Index page where you will find much to encourage and edify you.

Is Cloud right when he says, "Those who protest that it [Calvinism] doesn't hinder evangelism point to EXCEPTIONS rather than to the rule."? I leave it to your own judgement. As for me, I reject the statement outright as sheer, untrue propaganda.

THE END

P/s I must add that Cloud's article also records the visit which he paid to Peter Master's in the Metropolitan Tabernacle. The little cup of tea and charming smile of Brother Masters, evidently had some impact, because we get a rare admission: "I admire a great many things about Spurgeon and the Puritans and many modern-day Calvinists, as well, but I vehemently disagree with Reformed theology." It would be nice to know what they were. Unfortunately most, if not all, we seem to get hit with from Cloud's quarter is the negative stuff, the content of which is at best extremely doubtful and in the proposition above, totally unwarranted.