Nathaniel William Taylor - "Old Calvinist" Objections To Taylor's Teachings

"Old Calvinist" Objections To Taylor's Teachings

Hodge and others felt that Taylor's teachings were so seriously wrong that they were not so much Arminian, but Pelagian in character. In practical terms, traditional Calvinists have not only rejected Taylor's teachings as erroneous, but also heretical. Even today, many Calvinists, when confronted with Taylor's teachings, will conclude that he had departed from the true Christian faith. Those who held to Taylor's beliefs, including, most notably, Charles Finney, were similarly heterodox.

Taylor's New England Theology was put on trial in Albert Barnes and Lyman Beecher, who were both accused of heresy by Old School Calvinists. Albert Barnes was acquitted of heresy charges and found orthodox by the Synod of Philadelphia. Lyman Beecher was acquitted of heresy charges and found orthodox by the Synod of Cincinnatti. Thus, Taylor's New Haven Theology, New School Theology, or New Divinity was declared an orthodox Christian theology.

At the heart of this objection is Taylor's view of the atonement. Many Christians believe that Christ's death upon the cross was as a sin-substitute, whereby the sins of mankind were imputed to Christ, who was punished for our sins in our place. Martin Luther went as far as to say that Christ became the worse sinner in the universe. Christ's righteousness, or his perfection, was then imputed to all believers. Consequently, God no longer sees believers as they really are but is blinded by imputed righteousness. For many Christians, this belief is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. Yet Taylor explicitly denied this view.

Within the Congregational church at the time, a theological split occurred between those who advocated New Haven theology and those who adhered to more conservative beliefs. Bennett Tyler led this split against Taylor and set up The East Windsor Theological Seminary in opposition to the New Haven theology espoused by Taylor at Yale. Though less in disagreement with the teachings of Samuel Hopkins, Tyler and his followers vigorously opposed what they perceived to be serious errors in New Haven thinking.

At the time, such objections to Taylor's theology were considered an attack upon a part of the revivalist movement. Thus the "enemy" of revivalism was understood to be the established churches, especially those that embraced and taught strict Calvinism. It was perhaps this situation that led to many revivalist movements (and later Fundamentalist movements) being separated from confessional and Calvinist churches - thus solidifying Arminian belief.