Baptist, Lutheran, Calvinist, Arminian, Catholic.......What would I call myself? Many individuals have told me they don't want to have a label or name applied to them because they don't agree with everything associated with that label. But Jonathan Edwards expresses the utility of the assignment of names in his preface to Freedom of the Will: Individuals assign names "to improve the benefit of language, in the proper use and design of names, given to things which they have often occasion to speak of, or signify their minds about; which is to enable them to express their ideas with ease and expedition, without being encumbered with an obscure and difficult circumlocution." So a lot of information can be imparted by the assignment of a one word name.
So what name could be assigned to me? My first quote in this blog is from a Puritan-so maybe. But not so quick. The title Lutheran would fit in that most of what I have read by Martin Luther related to the Gospel, though admittedly a small sample, I believ
e is a wonderful lesson in God's Word. This quote from Bondage of the Will is one of my favorites and may summarize everything I hold as true: "God has surely promised His grace to the humbled: that is, to those who mourn over and despair of themselves. But a man cannot be thoroughly humbled till he realises that his salvation is utterly beyond his own powers, counsels, efforts, will and works, and depends absolutely on the will, counsel, pleasure and work of Another-God alone."The only problem is, the name Lutheran has been taken by many individuals so wrapped up in their soft gospel, that they can in no way grasp this quote. Salvation can be earned with the washing away of their sin as a baby when baptized and "accepting Jesus into their heart" and being a good person. God only assists in their salvation. The rest is up to them. Lutheran also does not fit in that I differ greatly in his beliefs on paedobaptism (he's for it) and the Lord's Supper.
Lutheran isn't a perfect fit, but there is some Luther in my beliefs. And I'm part German. As a disclaimer, the above was not an indictment on the Lutheran Church in general or any particular synod. I'll wait to offend larger groups of people in future posts. For now we'll just try to find a label for me. Puritan? Lutheran? As I like to tell my wife, "We'll see."
1 comment:
How about Heinrichian or Craigarian?
Then you could define exactly what that means.
I heard an interesting thing on NPR the other day concerning muslims. "It doesn't matter what the Koran says, it only matters what the particular muslum thinks it means and how they understand it."
Is this same thing true with Scripture? At some level, I think it is... which is why we must have names for things, creeds, and confessions of faith. Most people say they believe the bible, but by names and terms, we help define what we believe the bible to teach.
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