PvFW: Calvanism View

The following paragraphs are taken from The Creeds of Christendom:The History of Creeds, Volume I, by Phillip Schaff. This book was published in 1877. You can find full versions of all three volumes of Schaff's work at Google Books or Archive.org

THE DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION.

All the Reformers of the sixteenth century, including even the gentle Melanchthon and the compromising Bucer, under a controlling sense of human depravity and saving grace, in extreme antagonism to Pelagianism and self-righteousness, and, as they sincerely believed, in full harmony not only with the greatest of the fathers, but also with the inspired St. Paul, came to the same doctrine of a double predestination which decides the eternal destiny of all men. Nor is it possible to evade this conclusion on the two acknowledged premises of Protestant orthodoxy—namely, the wholesale condemnation of men in Adam, and the limitation of saving grace to the present world. If the Lutheran theology, after the Formula of Concord (1577), rejected Synergism and Calvinism alike, and yet continued to teacli the total depravity of all men and the unconditional election of some, it could only be done at the expense of logical consistency

Yet there were some characteristic differences among the Reformers. Luther started from the servum arbitrium [man's enslaved will], Zwingli from the idea of an all-ruling providentia [the ability to foresee and make provision], Calvin from the timeless or eternal decretum absolutum. [absolute/eternal decree]Calvin elaborated the doctrine of predestination with greater care and precision, and avoided 'the paradoxes' of his predecessors. He made it, moreover, the corner-stone of his system, and gave it undue proportion. He set the absolute sovereignty of God over against the mock sovereignty of the Pope. It was for him the “article of the standing or falling Church ;” while Luther always assigned this position to the doctrine of justification by faith alone. In this estimate, both were mistaken, for the central place in the Christian system belongs only to the person and work of Christ — the incarnation and the atonement. Finally, the Augustinian and Lutheran predestinarianism is moderated by the sacramentarian principle of baptismal regeneration ; while the Calvinistic predestinarianism confines the sacramental efficacy to the elect, and turns the baptism of the non-elect into an empty form.

Predestination, according to Calvin, is the eternal and unchangeable decree of God by which he foreordained, for his own glory and the display of his attributes of mercy and justice, a part of the human race, without any merit of their own, to eternal salvation, and another part, in just punishment of their sin, to eternal damnation. The decree is, therefore, twofold — a decree of election to holiness and salvation, and a decree of reprobation on account of sin and guilt. The latter is the negative counterpart, which strict logic seems to demand, but against which our better feelings revolt, especially if it is made to include multitudes of innocent children, for their unconscious connection with Adam's fall. Calvin himself felt this, and characteristically called the decree of reprobation a “decree horrible, though nevertheless true.'” All he could say was that God's will is inscrutable, but always holy and unblamable. It is the ultimate ground of all things, and the highest rule of justice. Foreordination and foreknowledge are inseparable, and the former is not conditioned by the latter, but God foresees what he foreordains. If election were dependent on man's faith and good works, grace would not be free, and in fact would cease to be grace. Man's holiness is not the cause or condition, but the effect of God's election. The unequal distribution of gospel privileges can be traced only to the secret will of God. All men are alike corrupt and lost in Adam; some are saved by free grace, others, who are no worse by nature, reject the gospel. These are undeniable every-day facts, and admit of no other explanation within the limits of the present life; and as to the future world, we know nothing but what God has revealed to us in the Scriptures.

Calvin carried the doctrine of the divine decrees beyond the Augustinian infralapsarianism, which makes the fall of Adam the object of a permissive or passive decree, and teaches the pretention rather than the reprobation of the wicked, to the very verge of supralapsarianism, which traces even the first sin to an efficient or positive decree, analogous to that of election. But while his inexorable logic pointed to this abyss, his moral and religious sense shrunk from the last inference of making God the author of sin which would be blasphemous, and involve the absurdity that God abhors and justly punishes what he himself decreed. Hence his phrase, which vacillates between infralapsarianism and supralapsarianism : “ Adam fell, God's providence having so ordained it; yet he fell by his own guilt.”

PvFW: Arminian View

Below you will find the 5 articles of Arminianism, as set forth in 1610. Arminianism is the standard representation of the Free Will portion of the debate we've discussed.

The Five Arminian Articles. A.D. 1610

Article I.

That God, by an eternal, unchangeable purpose in Jesus Christ his Son, before the foundation of the world, hath determined, out of the fallen, sinful race of men, to save in Christ, for Christ's sake, and through Christ, those who, through the grace of the Holy Ghost, shall believe on this his Son Jesus, and shall persevere in this faith and obedience of faith, through this grace, even to the end; and, on the other hand, to leave the incorrigible and unbelieving in sin and under wrath, and to condemn them as alienate from Christ, according to the word of the gospel in John 3:36: 'He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him,' and according to other passages of Scripture also.

Article II.

That, agreeably thereto, Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, died for all men and for every man, so that he has obtained for them all, by his death on the cross, redemption and the forgiveness of sins; yet that no one actually enjoys this forgiveness of sins except the believer, according to the word of the Gospel of John 3:16: 'God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' And in the First Epistle of John 2:2: 'And he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.'

Article III.

That man has not saving grace of himself, nor of the energy of his free will, inasmuch as he, in the state of apostasy and sin, can of and by himself neither think, will, nor do any thing that is truly good (such as saving Faith eminently is); but that it is needful that he be born again of God in Christ, through his Holy Spirit, and renewed in understanding, inclination, or will, and all his powers, in order that he may rightly understand, think, will, and effect what is truly good, according to the Word of Christ, John 15:5: 'Without me ye can do nothing.'

Article IV.

That this grace of God is the beginning, continuance, and accomplishment of all good, even to this extent, that the regenerate man himself, without prevenient or assisting, awakening, following and cooperative grace, can neither think, will, nor do good, nor withstand any temptations to evil; so that all good deeds or movements, that can be conceived, must be ascribed to the grace of God in Christ. But as respects the mode of the operation of this grace, it is not irresistible, inasmuch as it is written concerning many, that they have resisted the Holy Ghost. Acts 7, and elsewhere in many places.

Article V.

That those who are incorporated into Christ by a true faith, and have thereby become partakers of his life-giving Spirit, have thereby full power to strive against Satan, sin, the world, and their own flesh, and to win the victory; it being well understood that it is ever through the assisting grace of the Holy Ghost; and that Jesus Christ assists them through his Spirit in all temptations, extends to them his hand, and if only they are ready for the conflict, and desire his help, and are not inactive, keeps them from falling, so that they, by no craft or power of Satan, can be misled nor plucked out of Christ's hands, according to the Word of Christ, John 10:28: 'Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.' But whether they are capable, through negligence, of forsaking again the first beginnings of their life in Christ, of again returning to this present evil world, of turning away from the holy doctrine which was delivered them, of losing a good conscience, of becoming devoid of grace, that must be more particularly determined out of the Holy Scripture, before we ourselves can teach it with the full persuasion of our minds.

Conclusion

These Articles, thus set forth and taught, the Remonstrants deem agreeable to the Word of God, tending to edification, and, as regards this argument, sufficient for salvation, so that it is not necessary or edifying to rise higher or to descend deeper.

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SOURCE: Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom 3 Vols. 4th Ed. n.p.: David S. Schaff, 1919. 3:545-549.

In and Around the Book of Daniel

I appreciated David Pittman's teaching on the book of Daniel. He mentioned his main resource as the book, "In and Around the Book of Daniel" by Charles Boutflower. That book is actually available to read online for FREE! Here is the link to the book on archive.org: http://www.archive.org/stream/inaroundbookofda00boutuoft#page/n5/mode/2up . Now you too can check it out and read more information on the book of Daniel and the archaeology surrounding it.

PvFW: Tertullian and the need of a Savior

One of the first individuals mentioned Saturday night was Tertullian. Tertullian lived about 160-220 AD. He was from Carthage in North Africa, which is now a suburb of present day Tunis, Tunisia.

Tertullian wrote treatises in defense of the Christian faith. Thirty-one of his writings are extant. They cover topics regarding the defense of the Christian faith, orthodoxy of the church and Christian life. Within the orthodoxy of the church, one of the subjects Tertullian wrote about was the original condition of the human soul.

In his treatise on the origin, nature and destiny of the soul, De Censu Anima, Tertullian described the inherent attributes of the soul as being "immortality, rationality, sensibility, intelligence, and freedom of the will." In the very next section of his treatise Tertullian proclaimed, "All these endowments of the soul which are bestowed on it at birth are still obscured and depraved by the malignant being who, in the beginning, regarded them with envious eye, so that they are never seen in their spontaneous action, nor are they administered as they ought to be." Though he places the blame on "the malignant being," or the devil, Tertullian clearly believed that each human was sinful from birth. He underscored that reality by quoting the words of Jesus, "'Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God;' in other words, he cannot be holy." Again in the following chapter he stated "Every soul, then, by reason of its birth, has its nature in Adam until it is born again in Christ; moreover, it is unclean all the while that it remains without this regeneration; and because unclean, it is actively sinful, and suffuses even the flesh (by reason of their conjunction) with its own shame."

It was clear to Tertullian that the human soul was sinful from birth and was in need of a savior. The only way the human soul could change from an inclination toward evil was the divine act of being born again in Christ.

Predestination Vs. Free Will

Great group time on Saturday night! Sorry Paul and I went so long over time.

Some of you commented that you would like to spend more time on this subject than just one night. However, our next Bible Answer Night wouldn't be until May 7th at the earliest. So in the meantime, I will post further information here on this blog. I'll give you some of the information that Paul and I covered on Saturday night, as well as some new information as I come across it.

What is the point of this study of Predestination and Free Will? I think I will start by saying I do NOT want to tell you which theological view point is the correct one. I also do NOT want to pigeon hole you, your previous church or pastor into one group or the other. I do NOT want to give you a biased view on any one of the theological views.

I DO want to give you digestible information on both sides of this theological argument. Not only do I want to provide you with the extremes, but I also intend to give you the information on the stances which are more in the middle of the debate.

I DO want to help you intelligently work through the foundation, reasoning and implications of each view. To that end, I ask that as we delve into this subject that you try to understand your emotional responses to each viewpoint. Ask yourself why you are responding in such a manner. As we seek to understand each position we can also seek to understand our own position.

If you are ready, willing and able, let's jump into the Predestination and Free Will debate!