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| John Calvin shared Zwingli's Enthusiasm but expressed it with more elegance. |
“We call predestination God’s eternal decree, by which he compacted with himself what he willed to become of each man. For all are not created in equal condition; rather, eternal life is fore-ordained for some, eternal damnation for others.” (John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 3, Chapter 21, Paragraph 5) Cited on this Calvinist blog.
The above statement is the famous double predestination decree found in all editions of Calvin's Institutes of Christian Religion. The style - a thesis statement - reminds me of JP Meyer, below.
The first time the Lutherans contended with Calvinistic justification pitted Polycarp Leyser and Hunnius against Samuel Huber, a former Calvinist who became Lutheran and taught at Wittenberg, until his dogma was revealed and his position vacated.
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| Webber argued the same position, parroting Jon Boy Buchholz. |
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| All the information is available on the Net. Why have Lutheran clergy passively accepted the demonic reign of UOJ? |
I knew quite a few LCMS clergy and laity in Midland, Michigan, during the 1980s. One layman was being trained in the official LCMS program for lay ministry. And whom did he quote all the time? R. C. Sproul.
I think that many people who call themselves “Calvinists” haven’t studied much about Calvinism. They probably heard a passionate sermon from Paul Washer (and YES, HE IS a Calvinist), read an article by Charles Spurgeon, read a book by John Piper, listened to a James White debate, watched an R.C. Sproul lecture or read a John MacArthur Commentary. Then they put their theological “stake in the ground” and say, “I’m a Calvinist”. Source
While Calvin is heavy-duty, industrial strength Enthusiasm, separating the Holy Spirit from the Word, Fuller and Trinity Divinity are the insta-answers of Enthusiasm that follows, easy on the brain and conscience. Thus the Calvinism behind the LCMS (via Stephan's and Walther's rationalistic Pietism) has become a bug-eyed devotion to the idiocies of Church Growth, now branded as Missional since the earlier label has worn thin from caressing.
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| This is too deep and too Biblical for today's crop of initiates in the LCMS-ELS-WELS. Besides, they may start thinking and studying on their own. Heaven forbid. |
