For most of my life, the topic of Calvinism was not much of a concern to me. The arrogance of a Calvinist friend in High School had little influence on me, and certainly seemed to me not to be something I could attribute to God’s “glory.” Calvinist Harold Camping‘s false prophecies about the rapture and/or the return of Christ (dating back to 1984) didn’t help my impression of Calvinism, and I certainly saw no reason to glorify God for them. I was grieved by Camping’s deceptions, especially because it brought harm to Family Radio, the ministry my father Richard Palmquist began (which he was forced to leave in 1965, leaving Camping at the helm). The passion which characterized most of my father’s life was bringing glory to God, and he passed that passion along to me.

But the time that Calvinism really hit home for me — when I really began to see it as a poison — was in 2002, after meeting with local pastors Continue reading →