tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15388492.post1272639184462431856..comments2024-03-27T20:28:38.015-04:00Comments on Reasonable Christian: Calvinism Is the GospelCharlie J. Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18185331029930925967noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15388492.post-49340329852884942542012-05-08T07:38:10.104-04:002012-05-08T07:38:10.104-04:00Luther's definition of "free will" i...Luther's definition of "free will" is that not even angels have free will. The implication is clearly that Adam did not have "free will" prior to the fall and most especially after the fall. <br /><br />The Book of Concord, as I said earlier, is not Luther's theology. It is the work of Phillip Melanchthon. Would that Lutherans followed Luther rather than Charlie J. Rayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18185331029930925967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15388492.post-59970702521638879192012-05-08T07:33:02.733-04:002012-05-08T07:33:02.733-04:00Andrew, it would be very odd that Luther would rej...Andrew, it would be very odd that Luther would reject double predestination to election and reprobation since Augustine of Hippo taught that doctrine. Luther was an Augustinian monk. Furthermore, since Scripture is the final authority and it is Scripture that teaches reprobation and election, Lutherans ought to believe Scripture rather than Melanchthon's irrationalism. Luther himself Charlie J. Rayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18185331029930925967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15388492.post-54155449865446224092012-05-08T01:54:36.192-04:002012-05-08T01:54:36.192-04:00BTW, Confessional Lutherans reject free-will. You ...BTW, Confessional Lutherans reject free-will. You should read the Book of Concord sometime if you really want to understand what Lutheranism believes, teaches, and confesses. Luther's thought and the carrying out thereof did not begin or end with The Bondage of The Will. <br /><br />Cheers,<br />AndrewAndrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15056210915546208869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15388492.post-2357005938338617552012-05-08T01:52:24.956-04:002012-05-08T01:52:24.956-04:00Would that Calvinists would let Luther be Luther a...Would that Calvinists would let Luther be Luther and Calvin be Calvin. You may indeed have a point about reprobation. I'll look at it closely; but Luther didn't believe in any sort of double predestination, whether you are talking equal ultimacy or not. It's funny. Calvinists think that Lutherans are Arminian. Arminians think Lutherans are just Calvinists. Maybe we just realize that Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15056210915546208869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15388492.post-61548641170304385032012-05-08T00:58:14.452-04:002012-05-08T00:58:14.452-04:00Well, no, Scripture over and over speaks of both e...Well, no, Scripture over and over speaks of both election and reprobation. Romans 9:11-13, 18-21 is one clear example of that and 1 Peter 2:8 states explicitly that God predetermines that certain ones stumble.<br /><br />Also, the quotes from Luther shows that if God foreknows who is lost then God determined it. There is no such thing as "free will" as your view implies. In fact, Charlie J. Rayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18185331029930925967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15388492.post-44775486215222872802012-05-07T16:58:44.975-04:002012-05-07T16:58:44.975-04:00Luther wasn't particularly interested in logic...Luther wasn't particularly interested in logical implications when said implications weren't revealed by scripture. I understand that Luther held to predestination. What he did not hold to was Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and the Perseverance in Grace of all who truly believe. In other words, he held to predestination and the amissability of faith. This is surely a logical Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15056210915546208869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15388492.post-1066802534570464692012-05-07T10:49:04.691-04:002012-05-07T10:49:04.691-04:00Modern Lutherans, like the Reformed, have gone far...Modern Lutherans, like the Reformed, have gone far astray from classical Reformation theology. Most modern Reformed churches are corrupted by Arminian doctrines like "common grace", the "free offer of the gospel", and that Christ died "in some sense" for the reprobate. Lutherans have been affected by the move by Philip Melanchthon back in a semi-pelagian direction.Charlie J. Rayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18185331029930925967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15388492.post-88934601918186540852012-05-07T10:48:19.595-04:002012-05-07T10:48:19.595-04:00Andrew,
It is true that Luther did not fully dev...Andrew, <br /><br />It is true that Luther did not fully develop all the logical implications of his theology. However, it can be clearly demonstrated that Luther believed in absolute predestination/predetermination based on his comments in The Bondage of the Will. Luther clearly said that since God is omniscient and absolutely knows every detail of the future, then there is no such thing as &Charlie J. Rayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18185331029930925967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15388492.post-8098365060521727602012-05-06T22:52:04.498-04:002012-05-06T22:52:04.498-04:00Lutherans ended up being called Lutherans for the ...Lutherans ended up being called Lutherans for the same reason Calvinists ended up being called Calvinists. It isn't right to say that we chose, unlike the Reformed, to be named after a man. Lutherans wanted to be called "evangelical". Unfortunately the name "Lutheran" stuck. So we deal with it. Anyway the the name evangelical is becoming more and more meaningless by the Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15056210915546208869noreply@blogger.com