The Calvinism to Lutheranism thing
OK, here's my take on why so many Lutherans are "recovering Calvinists".
1. When God in His mercy reveals to you that salvation is His gift from first to last, and does not depend in the slightest on your decision, then (in most of the English-speaking world) Calvinism appears to be the only product on the market. One is prepared to swallow stuff like limited atonement and double predestination because the only alternative appears to be Arminianism.
2. Becoming a Calvinist introduces you to new depths of Christian teaching and tradition. For example, one learns to take the Sacraments far more seriously than is the norm in evangelicalism (eg by reading the Reformed confessions, or writers like Mike Horton and Doug Wilson).
One also learns (on the one hand) that Christianity was not invented in 1960 and (conversely) that if you wish to find a Christian tradition with roots that go back more than 35 years, the RCs and EOs are not the only available options.
But, crucially, having been taught by Calvinism to love the Sacraments and Church history, one then finds that in practice Calvinism can't deliver - because in practice there are very few Reformed churches (at least in the UK) that preserve these aspects of Calvinism.
3. Finally, one discovers that there is a church which still takes the Sacraments seriously and which (moreover) has an "explanation" of them which actually still makes sense half an hour after you read about it. And which has preserved the historic liturgy and a sense of connection with the church in all times and all places, while remaining truly evangelical. And which holds firmly to salvation by grace alone, without feeling the need to draw "logical" conclusions which the Bible not only declines to draw, but actually denies.
And so you end up becoming a Lutheran.
1. When God in His mercy reveals to you that salvation is His gift from first to last, and does not depend in the slightest on your decision, then (in most of the English-speaking world) Calvinism appears to be the only product on the market. One is prepared to swallow stuff like limited atonement and double predestination because the only alternative appears to be Arminianism.
2. Becoming a Calvinist introduces you to new depths of Christian teaching and tradition. For example, one learns to take the Sacraments far more seriously than is the norm in evangelicalism (eg by reading the Reformed confessions, or writers like Mike Horton and Doug Wilson).
One also learns (on the one hand) that Christianity was not invented in 1960 and (conversely) that if you wish to find a Christian tradition with roots that go back more than 35 years, the RCs and EOs are not the only available options.
But, crucially, having been taught by Calvinism to love the Sacraments and Church history, one then finds that in practice Calvinism can't deliver - because in practice there are very few Reformed churches (at least in the UK) that preserve these aspects of Calvinism.
3. Finally, one discovers that there is a church which still takes the Sacraments seriously and which (moreover) has an "explanation" of them which actually still makes sense half an hour after you read about it. And which has preserved the historic liturgy and a sense of connection with the church in all times and all places, while remaining truly evangelical. And which holds firmly to salvation by grace alone, without feeling the need to draw "logical" conclusions which the Bible not only declines to draw, but actually denies.
And so you end up becoming a Lutheran.
posted by John H | 1:32 PM
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