Shock: Bill Clinton says, “I’m a Calvinist”

This is not a typo.  Check out former President Bill Clinton on CNN:

“I’m too much of a Calvinist.  If I don’t work everyday I get nervous.”

Now, if there was ever a title that was universally misunderstood it is Calvinism.

In effort to serve you, the Irish Calvinist reader, I did a little research and found out that this is nothing new for Clinton.  Check him out a few years back flashin the solas without reserve.

This could mean big things for Calvinism though, just imagine the out flow of Clintonians that will now be rockin the John Calvin is my homeboy t-shirts complete with a tulip lid.  I wonder if the institutes will be in his presidential library.

Just a quick question in passing: How in the world can someone this smart, well read, and articulate say something like this that shows his thorough lack of understanding?

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23 Responses to “Shock: Bill Clinton says, “I’m a Calvinist””

1. kschaub says:

   February 18, 2009 at 7:56 pm

   L
   O
   L
   !
2. Steve D. says:

   February 18, 2009 at 8:21 pm

   Maybe he was talking about Calvin and Hobbes. Then again, maybe he meant chauvinist. Of course, he could have meant narcissist. That would be a natural fit, especially since Obama has been stealing away his spotlight as of late. Or, maybe, he meant ergomaniac, i.e. workaholic. But egomaniac would be more of a fit. I’m puzzled. Definitions are tricky with Clinton. Simple words like “is” are subject to interpretation.
3. Steve D. says:

   February 18, 2009 at 8:44 pm

   Of course, it would be nice if he were referring to the Calvinist work ethic or the importance of calling or vocation. Or, maybe even Piper’s view on retirement.
4. Bill Clinton: “I’m too much of a Calvinist.” | PhilGons.com says:

   February 18, 2009 at 10:54 pm

   [...] the question being discussed around the blogosphere is what Clinton meant by Calvinist in this statement. My theory is that [...]
5. Stan McCullars says:

   February 19, 2009 at 12:33 am

   What do you mean by the word “am”?
6. Mike W. says:

   February 19, 2009 at 8:07 am

   Our former president probably has as much understanding of Calvinism as many in our pulpits and pews today. Thanks to Irish Calvinist and others who are being used to inform people and correct the errors.
7. Brian Krieger says:

   February 19, 2009 at 9:19 am

   I think Phil Gons might have hit it. Driscoll has been in the news lately and is labeled a Calvinist. The reporting done (on Driscoll), however, invariably turns to his views of biblical marriage and that includes men working hard for their families, etc.

   Regardless, that is fuh-nee. So is Gons’ quote: “…I don’t think I’ve ever before been so tempted to consider becoming an Arminian. ”
8. joshua says:

   February 19, 2009 at 10:18 am

   Brian is right

   despite questionable stuff like:

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZkXoXf6jSs

   Driscoll has been labeled a calvinist.

   Now, I have some issues with Driscoll ( i.e. his language and sex-obsession talk and some of the stuff the Acts 29 Network which he created endorses

   but I think the name calvinist is getting blurred a bit if

   Driscoll and Clinton

   are saying they think like John MacArthur or John Calvin
9. Josh R says:

   February 19, 2009 at 10:32 am

   I have heard both Matt Chandler and Mark Driscoll say that it is their philosophy to “Work like an Armenian, Sleep like a Calvinist” (It is a joke)

   I can only hope Clinton is listening to/ watching these fellows preach..
10. Erik says:

    February 19, 2009 at 10:38 am

    Thanks for posting the link to the video Joshua…I enjoyed that interview and am thankful that he is getting more exposure. The only thing questionable about that interview is why you did not like it.
11. joshua says:

    February 19, 2009 at 11:32 am

    I have no problem with the interview

    I have a problem with Driscoll’s obsession with song of solomon and the sex sermons.

    I’ve seen interviews of him where he speaks about sex in a gutter manner and he’s very comfortable with it.

    There was a clip a year ago that showed him introducing his infamous Song of Solomon series. He actually used the words Jesus and fellatio in the same sentence.

    It was obscene

    Driscoll at times reminds me too much of

    Tadd Grandstaff and Ed Young Jr. and Perry Noble and Steven Furtick and Chris Sonksen

    (you might want to do research on those guys

    cause they too are getting more exposure and that is where we are in big trouble in the churches.
12. Seth McBee says:

    February 19, 2009 at 2:18 pm

    Joshua.
    I am guessing you don’t read your Bible? Am I right?

    Seems like from what I have read that 2 Timothy 3:16,17 tells us that all Scripture is God breathed.

    I wonder how you would take Song of Solomon or Ezekiel or Jeremiah.

    Oops…sorry…I am assuming you read your Bible again…sorry about that…those books all have some crazy stuff that we should never teach and preach on because they use naughty word pictures that aren’t right.
13. Gavin says:

    February 19, 2009 at 3:00 pm

    joshua is a troll
14. Marie says:

    February 19, 2009 at 3:33 pm

    Oh dear, I’m going to have to change theologies now.
15. Wiscarver says:

    February 19, 2009 at 4:02 pm

    Calvin would disagree with “works” if you know what I mean. Maybe he meant Arminian?
16. joshua says:

    February 19, 2009 at 5:11 pm

    I do read my bible.

    Look I dont have a problem with Driscoll talking about the song of solomon.

    I have a problem with him being obsessed with it and I have problems with Driscoll

    obsessed with doing sex sermons.

    also Driscoll’s smutty language is another problem.

    same with ed Young Jr. and Steven Furtick and Tadd Grandstaff

    even John MacArthur has taken Driscoll to taks for some of his behavior and obsessions on certain topics.

    http://thechristianworldview.com/tcwblog/archives/tag/john-macarthur
17. Marty Stacy says:

    February 20, 2009 at 2:37 am

    Bill Clinton per some research done quite awhile ago by I think is was Southwest Radio Church, was greatlly influenced by an Arkansas church and pastor connected to pastor RB Thieme of Houston who among other things believes (per the Talmud) that life does not begin until the fetus breathes. Having listened to Colonel RB many years ago, I would have to say he was never involved teaching the doctrine of the cultural mandate which originated in Calvinism. Perhaps that was his reference or perhaps he recognizes the so-called Protestant Work Ethic’s origin in Calvinism’s paradigms.

    FWIW, I’m under the impression that ancient Israelites were not allowed to read the Song of Solomon until complete adulthood. Not everything is sermonic is it? I have yet to hear any pastor from the pulpit translate Paul’s “I count all things as dung” accurately. (Hint: the Greek word for dung is not a technical term.)
18. Will Adair says:

    February 22, 2009 at 5:56 pm

    Marty, I actually referenced that verse today in my sermon on the joy of God.

    ” Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord…. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish (actually the Greek word here means crap, dung, it’s what the dog does in the back yard), in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

    For Paul joy is found in the mercy of God that He sent his Son that we might know God’s mercy and grace! Everything else comparably speaking is crap. Not rubbish, not trash, but filthy excrement that is good for nothing but burial. God’s mercy is shown in that he saves people in the first place. His grace is shown in that we are counted righteous by what his son has done. Our message title is the joy of God in the midst of rainy days. Paul wrote long ago the section of Romans and to him it was a rainy day. Depression had set in. He had experienced more than once in his life that the people he loved most rejected him and the message of Christ that he held most dear.
19. Shane Vander Hart says:

    February 23, 2009 at 1:14 am

    Yeah I’d say he’s referring to the “Protestant work ethic.”
20. Twenty Items of Interest (v.47) | Caffeinated Thoughts says:

    February 23, 2009 at 4:52 pm

    [...] HT: Irish Calvinist [...]
21. Jon says:

    February 24, 2009 at 5:32 pm

    That is hilarious. Come to think of it, I saw Pres. Obama flashing the solas recently.
22. Marty Stacy says:

    March 2, 2009 at 6:21 pm

    Will, after your comment I searched the web for the Greek word in question, “skubalon” and it fascinating to see all the web listings. There is even a “skubalon happens” T shirt. I’m thinking I’d have to agree with how I think Mark Driscoll translates it (and how Martin Luther would translate it). Dung, IMHO, is too tame as is Rubbish. Crap originates from the last name of Thomas Crapper who invented the flush toilet, and seems to me too light a term. Maybe “offal”. But regardless, the work is only used once in the NT and means more than a polite term for excrement.

    I have been interested lately in the using a hyphen for a vowel in holy words or vulgar words. Is that coincidental? Personally, while I understand the Jewish superstition regarding YHWH, hyphenating doesn’t make any sense to me. Would God be less offended if people misused his name by leaving out a vowel? Since when are vowels related to sin? I don’t get it.

    And I also have never understood why the Victorians had to put skirts on piano legs so as not to arouse sexual excitement. Excuse me! We live in a society where anger and loudspeaking are generally not tolerated in “polite” company. Jesus was angry frequently with his disciples, as was David with the wicked. It seems to me loudness was a great part of biblical communication and I can’t imagine some arguments not proceeding without vocal volume. It seems to me that the worldlings running the current culture are trying to deprive us of strong emotions and plainspeaking, in a word, our humanness. You can be as “spiritual” as you want to be, but don’t be to earthy–in the church or the workplace.

    In the Song of Solomon 7:2 the word “navel” should have been translated “vulva”. In wordly drama the “F” word is very prominent. (In the movie “Boondock Saints” there is a soliloquy on how many things the F word can be used for. My question for whoever is reading is if we evangelicals have gone along with Victorianizing and marginalizing of our subculture and as a result the secular humanist is taking over the permitted emotions and vocabulary? I notice in most movies a profane use of the name of Jesus in included but seldom a positive or real reference to Christ in the life of a believer. And there are a whole lot of us out there! I think portraying us as weirdohs or not at all is a lot of cr-p.
23. Bill Clinton is a Calvinist « less is more says:

    March 13, 2009 at 9:43 am

    [...] Bill Clinton is a Calvinist 2009 February 19 by gavinbrown See for yourself. [...]