We all do it. But we don’t all publish it in national newspapers. We all speak of things we don’t fully understand. We all draw conclusions based on a straw-man approach, a lack of information, or worse, both. Garrison Keillor, host of the program A Prairie Home Companion recently aired his ignorance of Calvinism in an Op-Ed piece, “Tiptoeing through the TULIPs” which ran in the Thursday, April 26, 2007 Fort Worth Star Telegram (thanks to the anonymous one who slipped this under my office door).

Keillor discusses a friend’s recent defection from the Republican Party because, as Keillor says, the Republican Party “has become the Calvinist party,” and his friend is Episcopalian. Keillor then offers: “In his church, faith and doubt sit side by side: It’s fear that we must cast out. But in the Republican Party, fear is the fuel that runs the car.” Then Keillor offers the key paragraph, which is his interpretation of Calvinism:

Calvinism is based on five points of doctrine that spell out the word TULIP: Total Depravity (everybody is sinful), Unconditional Election (God chooses who’ll be saved - it’s not up to you), Limited Atonement (Jesus didn’t die for everybody - just for the chosen), Irresistible Grace (if God chooses you, you’re saved - you can’t resist) and Perseverance of the Saints (once saved, always saved, no matter what you do).

Listeners of Keillor’s radio program are accustomed to his broadstroke approach to religious satire. He works with strawmen for the sake of humor, which is one thing. But it is entirely another to work with strawmen arguments in a political commentary, but that is exactly what he does. Though much could be said of Keillor’s simplistic presentation, I want to focus on “Perseverance of the Saints” because that’s what he uses to fuel his attack on President Bush. Keillor says:

Undoubtedly it’s an excellent thing to be Chosen from the depraved and to be Atoned for exclusively and be able to do dreadfully dumb things - burn down the house, start a war, appoint dopes - with no danger of ever losing your Chosenness. Clearly the Current Occupant sees himself as a Chosen President.”

Keillor applies his misunderstanding of Calvinism to Bush’s political strategy, chalking up moves he disagrees with to Bush’s belief that he will be saved, in Keillor’s words “no matter what you do.” But is this truly what the fifth point of TULIP teaches? No it is not and it’s sad that Keillor would simply use a stereotype rather than dig to the truth himself. Had he done a little homework, he would have saved us all some embarrassment.

Keillor’s basic assertion is that because George Bush believes himself to be chosen, he also believes that it doesn’t matter how he lives (or rules). But Keillor’s argument hinges on an underdeveloped and faulty understanding of the doctrine of the Perseverance/Preseveration of the Saints (the P in “TULIP”). Keillor adopts a stereotype rather than dealing with the doctrine itself. Keillor’s assertion is that belief that one is chosen will lead some to become licentious. Edwin Palmer, in his book The Five Points of Calvinism addresses this objection by saying that the doctrine does not

mean only being saved from the guilt of sin, so that the saved will escape the wrath of hell. It means also to be saved from the power of sin. Salvation is never simply salvation from the guilt of sin but from the power of sin. It is both. It is impossible for anyone to be saved from the guilt of sin without being saved from the power of Sin.

Perseverance of the saints means that the saints will persevere in their faith. And that faith is composed of sorrow and repentance from sin. If anyone is not sorry for his sins and abandons himself to them, then he never had faith in the first place and is not saved (p78-79).

Louis Berkhof, in his Systematic Theology, says that Keillor’s is a “mistaken notion” because

although the Bible tells us that we are kept by the grace of God, it does not encourage the idea that God keeps us without constant watchfulness, diligence, and prayer on our part. It is hard to see how a doctrine which assures the believer of a perseverance in holiness can be an incentive for sin. It would seem that the certainty of success in the active striving for sanctification would be the best possibile stimulus to ever greater exertion.

In other words, as Berkhof points out, the doctrine truly teaches not that we can do whatever we want, but that believers will actually persevere in holiness. This matches 1 John 3:9’s teaching that:

No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God

James 1:12 reminds us that it is the one who perseveres under trial that will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him. Jesus Himself says that it is the one who has and keeps His commandments that loves Him (John 14:21). The true understanding is that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2) and that “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6), but that it is actually a work of leaving sin behind rather than wallowing in it.

The doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints teaches that true believers will persevere to the end. That is the evidence that they are true believers. It teaches that they will undergo continual sanctification. Yes, there may be periods of sin, but the notion that one would view their salvation as a license to sin is clearly addressed throughout Scripture. Think of Romans 6:1, where Paul specifically asks: “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” I pray that we all know the answer given in the next verse: “By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”

While Keillor’s broad brushstrokes may make for good radio (which they do) and good political criticism (which is questionable), they do not make good theology. We all do it and we all need to be told when we’ve misrepresented a position. Mr. Keillor, I’m afraid you got it wrong. Next time, please do us all a favor and push past the stereotypes.

That’s the news from colossiansthreesixteen.com where the women are strong, the men are good-looking and all the children are above average.

• Read Keillor’s article “Tiptoeing Through the TULIPs”
• Read The Five Points of Calvinism by Edwin Palmer
• Read Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof
• Read Debating Calvinism: Five Points, Two Views by Dave Hunt and James R. White
• Visit the official Prairie Home Companion website
• Browse Garrison Keillor stuff