This chapter might not only be the most important chapter of the book but also the chapter Baptists of all stripes and persuasions will most likely be in agreement.
The chapter is divided into 12 subdivisions.
“Pelagius said man is good. Arminians say man is good and bad. Calvinists say man is bad, very bad. And God is mad, very mad. In this chapter we will explore the Bible’s teaching that sin infests all parts of us.”
What Total Depravity Is Not. It is not universal sinfulness. It also is not just culpable guilt. Total depravity is also more than extreme cases of sin. It is also not animalization. It is also not demonization. These are the sentences that begin each of the paragraphs in this subdivision.
Evil In All Parts. Five paragraphs. “By total depravity we mean the very nature of man has been so thoroughly affected by original sin that every part of his being is under the control of sin. Evil totally affects, infects, and defects man. There is not a single part of him that has not been fatally infested. He is infected with the disease of sin from head to toe (Isaiah 1:6), inside and out, top to bottom. James Henley Thornwell said, “He is morally ulcerated from head to foot; he is one universal mass of gangrenous matter.” In this subsection the author refers to First Corinthians 5:6, Second Timothy 2:17, Psalm 103:1, Mark 12:30, First Samuel 24:13, Matthew 7:11; 15:19; 7:16–19; 12:33, Romans 1:29; 7:18, as well as citing Abraham Kuyper, Robert Murray M’Cheyne, and John Calvin.
Sinful Bodies. One paragraph.
Sinful Hearts. Four paragraphs.
Sinful Minds. Four paragraphs.
Sinful Emotions. Three paragraphs.
Sinful Consciences. Two paragraphs.
Sinful Wills. One paragraph.
Blind Minds and Hard Hearts. Three paragraphs. “Pelagianism says man sees perfectly well. Arminianism says man needs eyeglasses. Calvinism says man is blind and needs an eye transplant.”
Totally Depraved All The Time. Five paragraphs. “Man’s total depravity not only extends to the totality of his being, but to the entirety of his lifetime, however short or long. He is always in sinful, always thinks sinful thoughts, always wills evil things.”
Is Man as Sinful as He Can Be? Four paragraphs. “John Calvin was absolutely right to say, ‘All works done before faith, whatever splendor of righteousness may appear in them, were nothing but mere sins, being defiled from their roots, and were offensive to the Lord, whom nothing can please without inward purity of heart.'”
Conclusion. “Total
depravity refers to the breadth of man’s sinfulness. In the next chapter we
will discuss its depth. If Calvinism has a far higher review of divine
sovereignty than all other theologies, is it also has a far lower view of human
sinfulness than all others.”
