Book 2/Chapter 2 Two kinds of understanding (section 13) 1. What are the two kinds of understanding according to Calvin? 2. What is included in the former? 3. The latter? Understanding arts and science (section 14) 1. What does virtually every human being possess? 2. What do we learn from imbeciles? 3. What is a …
Three Fold Humility
Book 2/Chapter 2 Refusing to rob God (section 10) 1. When a man is utterly cast down in himself, what has he gained? 2. What is the problem with a man retaining to himself some of the honor found in “free will”? 3. Who may receive God’s blessings? True humility (section 11) 1. What did …
Paul Right Off the Grill and Still Hot
In the next section (pp. 185-190), I continue to be edified by what Wright affirms, and mystified by what he denies. This is the section where he discusses the surrounding context of Romans 3:28, which says, “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” Describing the run-up …
The Phrase “Free Will” As Stumbling Block
Cooperation with grace (section 6) 1. What is necessary before men can do good works truly? 2. What ambiguity does Calvin object to in the teaching of Lombard? Absence of compulsion (section 7) 1. What does Calvin think about “contentions about words”? 2. So why then does he reject the words free will so strongly? …
A Little Theological Stir Fry
I got some questions on this N.T. Wright business last night that made me think of a couple things, things that should be tossed into the theological hopper. So here goes. The first is that the theological criticisms I have made of the “union with Christ” model as a stand-alone model for imputation are criticisms …
The Fathers and Free Will
Book 2/Chapter 2 Church fathers on free will (section 4) 1. Does Calvin believe that the church fathers handled the idea of free will scripturally? 2. What was the reason for this? 3. What two things were they concerned to avoid? 4. Which of the fathers was an exception to this? Different kinds of freedom …
Tea Kettle Charges of Heresy
One of the things I appreciated about John Piper’s critique of Wright was that he didn’t go straight to tea-kettle charges of heresy just because he encountered something in Wright on the subject of justification that he thought was unclear, for whatever reason. And after looking at it closely, Piper concluded that Wright was a …
No Need to Replace the Furniture
The next section of Wright’s book (pp. 169-176) was glorious in what it affirmed, and weirdly disappointing in what it denied. He does a fantastic job in situating the point of the discussion that swirls around “let God be true, and every man a liar.” As Wright puts it, the problem with Israel’s sin is …
Natural and Unnatural Both
Book 2/Chapter 1 Definition of original sin (section 8) 1. How does Calvin define original sin? 2. Do infants bear the curse of original sin? 3. Is this original sin nothing more than the absence of righteousness? The whole man in sin (section 9) 1. How far does original sin extend in a man? 2. …
Original Sin
Book 2/Chapter 1 Original Sin (section 5) 1. How does Calvin define the “death of Adam’s soul”? 2. How does Calvin define “original sin”? 3. What was Pelagius’ “profane fiction”? Is Original Sin Imitative? (section 6) 1. When are children defiled by original sin? 2. What is Adam’s position with regard to the human race? …