The Flower Falls: A Careful Examination of Calvinism’s TULIP

A paradigm-shifting examination of Calvinism’s TULIP. John Calvin’s ideas about predestination have divided the church since his Institutes was published almost 500 years ago, and the New Calvinism movement of recent years has only added to the problem. John Piper, John MacArthur, and other influential pastors hold to Calvinism as gospel truth. Yet, in doing so, they apply passages to themselves that the context does not allow, define words outside of their grammatical and historical contexts, add to some passages, and take away from others. In The Flower Falls, Patti Tilton briefly outlines the history of Calvinism and how it has influenced leading pastors today, then examines the “proof texts” of Calvinism’s TULIP in their grammatical and historical contexts. In doing so, she shows how applying basic interpretation guidelines we learned as children exposes the errors of Calvinism’s claims. Along the way, she provides glimpses into some of her interactions with Calvinist scholars and gently turns the reader’s attention back to the simple beauty of the gospel revealed in the pages of the Scriptures. This book is a must-read for anyone who has been influenced by Calvinism.