The Puritans and the Doctrine of Election

Of all the important biblical doctrines, it is concerning the teaching of election that many Christians today diverge most from the Puritans.  Such is the studied conclusion of the astute and godly Iain Murray, one of my favorite contemporary authors.  Election, and other teachings often associated with “Calvinism” were adhered to by all of the most able Puritan teachers.  While today such doctrines are considered provocative by many, a great number of Christians are returning to the historic faith of the Reformation.  No less a figure than Charles H. Spurgeon predicted in 1874, in response to the abandonment of Calvinism he was witnessing in many churches, that it would live long after “the present phase of religious misbelief” was over.  Spurgeon predicted that Calvinism would regain the influence it had when its adherents included the best men of the age, and “Once again there shall be giants in theology.”  What saddens me is that today many Christians are either completely ignorant of teachings like election and God’s sovereignty, or hold erroneous conceptions of them.  Many contemporary Christians are not even aware that Spurgeon was a firm Calvinist all of his life.  Their ideas of Calvinism are so misguided that they cannot believe an ardent evangelist like Spurgeon could believe in doctrines like election!  Such ignorance is a tragedy.  Iain Murray has written, “The Puritans regarded a denial of the doctrine of election as an overthrow of the whole nature of the gospel.”  Those are strong words, but I believe that the biblical evidence justifies them.  The crucial point here is that Christians today will never rise to the spiritual stature of the Puritans without believing the doctrines that they believed.