Richard Land attempted to answer a rather interesting question last week. A Roman Catholic asked Land why so many of those who were #NeverTrump also happened to be Calvinists. I thought it was an interesting enough question that I endured the 15 ad-popups to read the article and Land’s response. His answer, in a nutshell, was that the inherent determinism and fatalism of the Calvinistic system caused many to believe that their choice wasn’t really authentic anyways so they could just stay home or vote third party.
As one who likely fits the description of both a Calvinist and #NeverTrump I figure I might have a helpful perspective on this. I did have to wrestle a bit with why in the world I’d even write an article in response. I’m certainly not writing simply because I feel that someone is wrong on the internet. Nor do I really have much desire to continue talking politics—though I have several commentaries in my head that I doubt will ever see the light of day. I suppose I’m wanting to answer this question that Land posed because there is, I believe, something that we can and ought to learn from the Reformed tradition. And I believe Land’s answer is overly simplistic and misses the real reason why so many Calvinists were #NeverTrump to the very end.
First, I believe his target is in the wrong place. I don’t think it was Calvinism per se which was the common denominator with many evangelical Never Trumpers. Instead I think it was more the gospel-centered/YRR crowd that held more firm Never Trump convictions. It wasn’t Reformed theology which pushed many to their conclusions. Instead, I would argue, it was the heart of Reformed theology.
This is where I make people unnecessarily angry
Secondly, the heart of Reformed theology is not determinism or even the sovereignty of God. Really it is found in Luther’s speech before Charles V at the Diet of Worms:
Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures or by evident reason-for I can believe neither pope nor councils alone, as it is clear that they have erred repeatedly and contradicted themselves-I consider myself convicted by the testimony of Holy Scripture, which is my basis; my conscience is captive to the Word of God. Thus I cannot and will not recant, because acting against one’s conscience is neither safe nor sound. God help me. Amen.
Or this from Calvin:
If this thought prevails with us, that the Word of the Lord is the sole way that can lead us in our search for all that it is lawful to hold concerning him, and is the sole light to illumine our vision of all that we should see of him, it will readily keep and restrain us from all rashness. For we shall know that the moment we exceed the bounds of the Word, our course is outside the pathway and in darkness, and that there we must repeatedly wander, slip, and stumble. (Institutes, III.XXI.2)
The reason why many Calvinists were #NeverTrump is because this is foundational to everything we do and believe. We do not compromise on this point. Now, that will make many mad because it will seem that I am implying that those who didn’t hold a similar position, but I’m really only speaking of my tribe and not into other camps.
And I’m saying that the core of our convictions is that we must remain unmoving when God’s Word speaks on an issue. We believe that character and morality matters. Always. And that to move away from that position—when the Bible is clear—will put us in a position of slipping, stumbling, and wandering. Shackling ourselves (via vote) to an immoral leader was a step we were not willing to make. Our consciences were captive to the Word of God.
And this is where Land likely hits a bit of the truth. We are able to take such a position because we do believe in the sovereignty of God. But where I disagree with Land is that our strong belief in God’s sovereignty doesn’t lead to passivity, it leads to an unflinching resolve to be wholly biblical no matter the consequences. What I’m saying is this, if you want to know why Calvinists voted the way we did research things like the regulative principle and you’ll find an answer closer to the truth than you will find if you think it was passivity bred by fatalism.
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I’m not interested in arguing whether or not a #NeverTrump or a Trump or Hillary position is biblical. That ship has sailed. All I am attempting to do here is to say that there is a different reason than fatalism to explain why we voted how we did. And in my opinion it’s a position that we are going to have to learn to take more and more.
I readily understand that others voted differently than I did, and they did so while believing their position was consistent with Scripture. I’m not arguing that being tied to this Reformation principle would tell us all exactly who to vote for. My concern is that who and how we vote or don’t vote is held captive by the Word of God….even if we disagree. And that is what I believe we can learn from the Reformed tradition. Blaming it on fatalism is to misunderstand an entire movement.
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Photo source: here
Thank you for this article and the previous one about making the decision of who to vote for and agonizing and choosing “neither of them.” It helped me explain to myself why I could not justify voting for either of them. I am sure I will never have to explain it to other people, but I appreciate your explanations especially when I read the magazine articles in which Trump supporters call those who chose “none” in the past elections “an embarrassment” because the result was that Barak Obama was elected.
The election of Obama the second time WAS an embarrassment to the church at large.
BY refusing to vote for Romney many of the very confused “Christians”, whether Calvanists or not, gave us four more years of Obama – and one only need look at a newspaper to see the trail of ANTI-God policies he put into place in his second term; much if not all of which was preventable. HOW many abortions are they responsible for?
I thank God that his SOVERIGNTY in the affairs of men, gave us a chance to make changes in the corruption and godlessness put in place during that 4 years, that COULD have been avoided had Christians obeyed Jesus command to OCCUPY til I come. BE about your work, your nation and your family – that is what God commanded during the Babylonian years.
That also includes making you VOTE count.
Well said, Mike. I completely agree.
I feel like those who *did* vote for Trump could use this exact same explanation for their decision *to* vote for Trump. “…who and how we vote or don’t vote is held captive by the word of God.” So how does that conviction explain why Calvinists were especially likely to be #nevertrump?