Among the outstanding leaders in the Reformation Movement was John Calvin, who lived from 1509 to 1564. He was born in France, became well-educated, and, while a young man, sided with the "Protestant Movement." Due to his opposition to Roman Catholicism, he was forced to flee from France and took refuge in Geneva, Switzerland. There he developed what has since been appropriately called "Calvinism." Many denominations have embraced some of its tenets. It contained five cardinal points:

1. Hereditary Total Depravity. Calvin taught that, as a result of Adam's sin, all of Adam's descendants are born totally depraved, "opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil," unable to do anything toward being saved.

2. Unconditional Predestination. He taught that God, before the creation, unconditionally elected certain ones to be saved. In fact, he believed that everything that came to pass was according to God's unchangeable decrees.

3. Limited Atonement. Since only the elected ones could be saved, according to Calvin, then Jesus died only for those who were to be saved.

4. Irresistibility of Grace. He taught that when God in His own due time acted upon a sinner who was among the unconditionally elected that the sinner could not resist God's grace. He, of course, believed in a direct operation of the Holy Spirit.

5. Perseverance of the Saints. He taught that none of the elect, having received the grace of God, could fall away and be lost. NOT ONE OF THESE FIVE POINTS IS TAUGHT IN THE BIBLE: IN FACT, ALL OF THEM ARE REFUTED BY WHAT THE BIBLE DOES TEACH.

From the foundation laid by the work and teaching of John Calvin have come the various Presbyterian Denominations of today as well as other kindred denominations. The "Hugenots" of France, the "Puritans" of England, the "Covenanters" of Scotland and the "Dutch Reformed Church" of Holland were early allies in the movement called "Presbyterianism." The "Westminister Assembly," which convened in Westminister, England from 1643 to 1648 produced the "Westminister Confession of Faith" and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, which have long remained the creed of Presbyterianism. A meeting was conducted by a Southeast Texas Presbyterian Church. A leaflet advertising the meeting stated of the speaker: "His platform is that of the acceptance of the Bible as affording full and final authority in all matters of faith and practice." This is a wonderful platform, but the man-made creed of Presbyterianism and the Presbyterian Church itself are living demonstrations that deny this platform. The 178th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the USA, which convened in 1966, drafted a revised and updated confession of faith for the denomination. Some of the changes have aroused the ire of many Presbyterian members. The worst offender is this: "The Bible is to be interpreted in the light of its witness to God's work of reconcilation in Christ. The Scriptures, given under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, are nevertheless the words of men, conditioned by the language, thought forms, and literary fashions of the places and times at which they were written. They reflect views of life, history, and the cosmos which were then current."