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| "Honey I Shrunk the Synod" is the campaign slogan for Matt the Fatt, Mirthless Mark Schroeder, and Pope John the Malefactor. |
Calvin’s Creative Dogmatics
Ever since Schleiermacher in
the 19th century, the best description for modern theology has remained
“faith without belief.” Many apostates do not write complete dogmatics books – where
they cover every topic from the Trinity to the End Times. However, they belong
to the same mind-set as Calvin, who was systematic in his production of Bible
commentaries and persistent in his revisions of Institutes of the Christian Religion. The former set includes a
commentary on every single book in the Bible. The second is his dogmatics book,
which taught double predestination – an early form of Objective Justification –
from the first edition to the last.
Today people are concerned with
the denial of Creation, the divinity of Christ, and the institution of
marriage, as they should be. But Calvin attacked Biblical doctrine in the 16th
century and stuck to his foundational error, separating the Holy Spirit’s work
from the Word and Sacraments, inventing his own version of Christianity. His
system is a pack of contradictions, which is why Calvinists have never agreed
on anything except their opposition to Lutheran Biblical insights.
Calvin’s dogma is often
condensed into TULIP – total depravity, unconditional election, limited
atonement, irresistible grace, the persistence of the saints. These topics are
discussed and eviscerated in detail in Laurence M. Vance’s The Other Side of Calvinism.
Total Depravity
Total depravity is not simply
man’s sinful nature, which remains as long as we live, but a total inability to
repent and believe in the Savior. This claim is a good example of Luther saying
that the Enthusiasts speak about Jesus all the time, but tear down the way in
which Christ comes to us – the Means of Grace.
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| Oh bless the name and bless the face that gave us irresistible grace. |
Unconditional Election
During my Purgatory of reading
modern theology at Notre Dame, one claim stood out among all the writers – forgiveness
of sin, grace, and salvation must be unconditional, seemingly what Calvin and
his ardent followers believe. In other words, there can be no “if” for the “if”
creates a condition. Grace is no longer grace, they claimed. But Paul stated
about counting or imputing righteousness, citing Genesis 15:6:
Romans
4:23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24
But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised
up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was
raised again for our justification.
“If we believe” is a powerful condition,
which is also found throughout Romans and stressed in Romans 1, 3, 4, and 10.
Calvinists claim unconditional
election as the perfect companion for total depravity, and each error does
require the other error. Together, they skip the Means of Grace, which is why
the Lutheran Calvinists avoid the Means of Grace term as well as Justification
by Faith.
Some hail CFW Walther as their
guru in theology, but he came from a rationalistic parsonage, thanks to the
Prussian Union, earning only a bachelor’s degree at Leipzig University, which
meant more rationalism. He associated with Pietists and found comfort in
Pietistic cell groups. He adopted the Objective Justification of his Pietistic
leader, Martin Stephan – to wit – God absolved the entire world of sin when
Jesus rose from the dead, though 1Timothy 3:16 makes no such claim. Walther propped
up his ridiculous claim by saying that faith could have no connection with
election, following Calvin. In stressing this fallacy, Walther divided the Synodical
Conference and made himself the sole judge of doctrine.
John Sparky Brenner worked on
this research for his doctoral dissertation at a Catholic university. He substitutes
“individual appropriation of forgiveness” for Justification by Faith, because
he has already misused Justification for the “Justification of the World,” his
favorite term for Objective Justification.
If anyone wonders where so
many errors begin in the LCMS, WELS, and ELS, they only need to look at Walther’s
Pietistic version of Calvinism. The polyps have all turned into cancer, so
swaths of the Synodical Conference are Pentecostal, Universalist, or
sinuflecting toward Rome.
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| How many shrines and statues for the Great Walther? |
