Name That Theologian from His Concepts about Grace

The scholar in his study

I.
God issued a decree (nota bene - we are not sure when) - either before Adam sinned or after Adam sinned - that some would be saved by grace but most would be damned to Hell for eternity.

God's election is without faith, because it is based purely on His own sovereign will. His Holy Spirit may attend the preaching of a sermon or not. If not, the sermon will have no effect.

Those who disagree with this system are always called Arminians, a pejorative term.

II.
God decreed (nota bene - we are not sure exactly when, since this decree was not recorded in Holy Writ) - that all people for all time were pronounced forgiven and saved. This took place at the death of Christ, at His resurrection, or possibly at the angelic announcement of His birth - "Peace on earth, good will to men."

God's election is without faith, because faith would reduce salvation to a work of man. Therefore, election without faith glorifies His grace.

Those who disagree with this system are accused of Intuitu Fidei (alternatively Inuitu (sic) Fidei, Fox Valley), Calvinism, and Arminianism.

 Calvin was reborn 200 years ago.

Test Answers - Do Not Peek
I. The first theologian is John Calvin.

II. The second theologian is CFW Walther, who argued ferociously for election without faith. He consistently taught what he learned from Halle-trained Bishop Martin Stephan -

• the Easter absolution of the world, 
• aka Objective Justification, 
• aka General Justification, 
• aka the Justification of the World, 
• aka Universal Objective Justification. All are extra-Biblical divine decrees divorced from the Word, the Spirit, and faith.

Both systems are taught apart from and against the Scriptures. Both systems can be explained without any mention of Justification by Faith and the Means of Grace. In fact, the classical terms from the Book of Concord, written above in a dignified blue font, are avoided the way mobsters avoid taxes.

Both men were influential and divisive at the same time. The saying about Calvinists is just as true about UOJists, because both argue from human wisdom and pure rationalism -

"Young Calvinist - Old Unitarian."

If the readers enjoy rationalism, consider the ways Missouri, WELS, and the Little Sect justify themselves for working with the pro-abortion, pro-ELCA Thrivent Insurance and Planned Giving Company.

 Carroll Herman Little (1872-1958),
Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, Ontario, now ELCA related.

Amnesty Program

Thus objective justification may be specifically defined, again, in the words of Dr. Little: “Objective justification is God’s declaration of amnesty to the world of sinners on the basis of the vicarious obedience of Christ, by which He secured a perfect righteousness for all mankind, which God accepted as a reconciliation of the world to Himself, imputing to mankind the merits of the Redeemer.” (Dr. C. H. Little in Disputed Doctrines, p. 60, quoted by E. W. A. Koehler in A Summary of Christian Doctrine, p. 147).

Quote contributed by a Junior Achiever