I have decided that I’m going to devote my Ministerial Musings to a chapter by chapter review of the history and theology of Calvinism by Curt Daniel. My main focus at this point as I begin the book will be to relate information included by the author that I did not previously know about either John Calvin or the history and theology of Calvinism.
First, let me point out that there are three
endorsements on the back of the hardback edition. The endorsements are from
John MacArthur, Steven J. Lawson, and Phil Johnson. The book has two forwards,
written by the prolific authors, pastors, seminary presidents, Joel Beeke and
John MacArthur. I have met both men several times, have read books written by
both men, and am aware that despite their agreement on matters of soteriology,
they differ on matters of eschatology.
Chapter 1 is titled Pre-Calvinism. The author
deals with the Early Church, Augustine, the Pelagian Controversy, Augustine’s Reply,
Semi-Pelagianism, The Dark Ages, Gottschalk, and concludes the chapter with Medieval
Debates.
Under Augustine’s Reply's subheading, the
author touches ever so slightly (a single sentence) on Augustine’s view of
justification through infused righteousness rather than by imputation. What the
author does not point out, but which I have learned from other sources, is that
Augustine’s error on this point (which was a common mistake in his day made by
those who had no facility with Greek) was related to a misunderstanding of the Koine
Greek word dikaioo. Though the Greeks, without exception, used
the word to refer to declaring righteous, Augustine and others mistakenly
believed the term to mean to make righteous. That error resulted in
catastrophic consequences.
New to me in the prehistory of Calvinism, or
what Daniel calls Pre-Calvinism, was a ninth-century German monk and poet named
Gottschalk of Orbias (c.804-c. 869). He was a strong advocate of Augustine’s theology
of grace. The author identifies him as the most explicit and emphatic
pre-Calvinist between Paul and the Reformation. The Roman Catholic hierarchy
came down hard on him, burn his writings, and imprisoned him for the rest of
his life in a dungeon.
In the last paragraph of the chapter before
his conclusion, the author mentions John Wycliffe (c.1330-84), who I knew translated
the Latin Vulgate Bible into English before the invention of the printing
press. I was unaware that John Wycliffe held to what the author describes as an
“emphatic Augustinian view of grace,” that paved the way for the Reformation.
The next installment of ministerial musings is
anticipated to be a review of the things I have learned in chapter 2.
