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The Catholic doctrine of justification by faith is really a works-based recognition that somehow the individual is going to do enough to get himself to heaven. Calvin did little more than tweak this position: Instead of justification by a combination of works and faith, we now have both justification and sanctification by not only works and faith, but also knowledge. We do, however, get a continual reminder that this is all by God's grace (provided, of course, that you're one of the lucky ones), but a close reading will show his words are not much different than the Jehovah Witness or Mormon position which puts Jesus death as only that which makes possible your salvation.
Conclusion
Agree or disagree with Calvin, these are a necessary read for anyone who desires an understanding of the development of Western thought, literature and theology. They are not only great theology; they represent excellent writing and development...
They are also highly pastoral and devotional. They are not like reading a modern systematic theology. Calvin understood doctrine to be more than theory, but something to mold our understanding of God, ourselves and the world in which we live. Carefully working through the Institutes is a journey worth taking!
My recommendation is that you purchase the book and read as much as you can; it has been interesting to me and will continue to provide much entertainment in my household, and I think it will for you also. But when you put it on your shelf, do not put it next to the Bible; put it next to Walter Martin, Jean Jacques Rousseau, or perhaps your New World Translation. This paper served as a book critique and detailed summary of John Calvin's book entitled The Institutes of the Christian Religion. This paper explored the doctrines and opinions of the greater reformer and offered a modern view of the works.
This once again brings the reader back to the tight framework that Calvin wants the reader to remember. Calvin does not want to voice an opinion as to the state of man's fall from Eden. In other words, he does not want to impose a pessimistic view in an optimistic world of man. The real question posed by Chapter Five is what man is in the presence of God
Doctrine of the Holy Trinity The Doctrine of the Trinity and Anti-Trinitarian Theologies: Servetus, Milton, Newton The Doctrine of the Trinity The Arian Heresy Anti-Trinitarianism Part I: Michael Servetus Anti-Trinitarianism Part II: John Milton Sir Isaac Newton The Arian heresy -- or rejection of the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity -- is actually relatively uncommon among contemporary Christian denominations; to pick one particular national example, Post-Reformation England would tolerate a broad array of theological stances -- from
" It caused missionaries to deal with peoples of other cultures and even Christian traditions -- including the Orthodox -- as inferior. God's mission was understood to have depended upon human efforts, and this is why we came to hold unrealistic universalistic assumptions. Christians became so optimistic that they believed to be able to correct all the ills of the world." (Vassiliadis, 2010) Missiology has been undergoing changes in recent years
role of a prophet in society has often been questioned and misunderstood. Prophets are often seen as peculiar people who receive divine inspiration. The purpose of this paper is to discuss whether a prophet is always inspired. We will begin our discussion by defining prophetic inspiration and the function of a prophet. Our discussion will then focus on how to distinguish between prophecy that is inspired and prophecy that
The Crusades The Crusades would shape Islamic attitudes toward the West for centuries, so much so that it was noted that George Bush should never have used the term with reference to the War on Terror because of the bad feelings involved. In the eleventh century, much of the Moslem world was under siege from the Seljuk Turks. The Moslems were in control of the Holy Lands, the seat of Christianity,
According to Elwell this group of fourteen works, all of which have been translated into many languages including English form "the most monumental evangelical theological project of this century." (151) Elwell goes on to describe the works as, "written in an almost conversational style, these volumes deal with topics of theological concern, such as divine election, faith and sanctification, Holy Scripture, and the church, rather than presenting a tightly