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J. I. Packer on 'Calvinism'
An outstanding quotation from J. I. Packer (from his book ‘Quest for Godliness’ and his preface to John Owen’s classic work ‘The Death of Death in the Death of Christ’):
“Now the real nature of Calvinistic soteriology becomes plain. It is no artificial oddity, nor a product of overbold logic. Its central confession, that God saves sinners, that Christ redeemed us by his blood is the witness both of the Bible and of the believing heart.
The Calvinist is the Christian who confesses before men in his theology just what he believes in his heart before God when he prays. He thinks and speaks at all times of the sovereign grace of God in the way that every Christian does when he pleads for the souls of others, or when he obeys the impulse of worship which rises unbidden within him, prompting him to deny himself all praise and to give all the glory of his salvation to his Savior.
Calvinism is the natural theology written on the heart of the new man in Christ, whereas Arminianism is an intellectual sin of infirmity, natural only in the sense in which all such sins are natural, even to the regenerate. Calvinistic thinking is the Christian being himself on the intellectual level; Arminian thinking is the Christian failing to be himself through the weakness of the flesh.
Calvinism is what the Christian church has always held and taught when its mind has not been distracted by controversy and false traditions from attending to what Scripture actually says; that is the significance of the patristic testimonies to the teaching of the 'five points', which can be quoted in abundance. (Owen appends a few on redemption; a much larger collection may be seen in John Gill's The Cause of God and Truth.)
So that really it is most misleading to call this soteriology 'Calvinism' at all, for it is not a peculiarity of John Calvin and the divines of Dort, but a part of the revealed truth of God and the catholic Christian faith. 'Calvinism' is one of the 'odious names' by which down the centuries prejudice has been raised against it. But the thing itself is just the biblical gospel.â€
To read Packer's entire essay, go to http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/packer_intro.html
CRB
Comments
I am a bit confused. I respect J.I. Packer immensely. He states he is a Calvinist, but also says he believes what CS Lewis has stated about life being a series of choices which either lead us to Christ or away from Christ; that each of us by our own actions either chooses what we know to be right or choose what seems to benefit us in the moment. When asked if each person controls their own destiny he answers "I think it is a true statement, but we don't always know what we are choosing." (from the youtube video:Does Each Person Choose Their Own Destiny? J.I. Packer ) This seems to line up better with Arminian thought. Could someone please explain.
Posted by: Steve | May 26, 2010 01:06 PM
Personal or individual choices are never denied by any believers in the gospel of grace and biblical theology that I know. This includes those who bear or allow the label "Calvinist."
Posted by: John Pounders | October 3, 2010 12:08 AM
We believe freely and willingly the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ, through the enablement of the Spirit, of course. It is the Holy Spirit, who gives us spiritual life and power/ability in the new [spiritual] birth, who enables us to do what we must do to be saved (repent and believe) but cannot do in our natural unregenerate condition (1 Cor. 2:14; John 6:63) do because of our spiritual bondage and depravity in sin.
Posted by: Rayburne F. Winsor | February 20, 2013 01:28 PM
I have discovered from many years of sharing my faith with many Christians of different persuasion, usually by dealing directly with the scriptures themselves (not by arguing the beloved tenets of the doctrines of grace) and by reading the barrage of criticism and attacks on same, that many, when they are not confusing the doctrines of grace (Calvinism) with hyper-Calvinism, simply don’t understand the doctrines of grace. This is very obvious just by reading the posts of non-Calvinists on the topic of why some Christians hate Calvinists. Personally, having been of Arminian persuasion myself for years before I believed in the biblical doctrines of grace, I believe the reason many get upset, even angry, at Calvinists is that often. much to their surprise, they are able to show clearly that the doctrines of grace are plainly taught in scripture. I will not undertake to do that here, but please allow me to say that, unlike some of the posts I’ve read here, I don’t believe “universal atonement advocates are unregenerate”, no more than I believe a sinner needs to believe he/she is elect before he comes to Christ for salvation–the Calvinists I know believed they were elect after God brought them to Christ in genuine repentance and faith for salvation. In any case, this notwithstanding does not detract from the clear biblical teaching that the reason anyone believes is because he/she is chosen by God (see John 6:44, 65; Acts 13:48; 2 Thess. 2:13–14; John 1:13; John 6:37; 10:26; 17:2, 6,9, 11, 12, 20, 24; many more verses.
Posted by: Rayburne F. Winsor | April 17, 2013 01:06 AM