As the conclusion of our preceding article we were quoting from the article on free will as expressed in the Lutheran Confession of the Formula of Concord. We were quoting from the negative section of this article, and called attention to the strong language employed in this Lutheran creed. In this article we wish to quote two more articles from this negative section of this second article on free will.
In our preceding article, quoting from the creeds of the Reformed Churches, we quoted from the Second Helvetic Confession. In this article, our first quotation, in re the doctrine of sin, will be from the Gallican Confession, A.D. 1559. Concerning the history of this Confession, Schaff writes the following in his Creeds of Christendom, Vol. I, 429-492; and we quote:
Before we call attention to the doctrine of sin as set forth in our Reformed Creeds, our Three Forms of Unity, we wish to call attention to this doctrine as set forth by John Calvin, the Genevan Reformer. Calvin,although born, in 1509, in France, celebrated his triumphs in the city of. Geneva.
The First Period: 80-250 A.D. Hagenbach, writing on the “Effects of the Fall,” writes as follows:
The Second Period, 250-730 A.D.
We have already remarked that the doctrine of the providence of God is generally treated from the aspects of three elements which constitute the Lord’s providential control of all things: preservation, cooperation, and government. We now plan to call attention to these-three elements in particular.
We now continue our discussion of the first error of the Arminians as stated by the fathers of Dordt in Art. I of their rejection of errors in connection with the Arminian presentation of the atonement of Christ. The Arminians set forth the heresy of the universal atonement of the death of Christ. We concluded our previous article by calling attention to the fact that the fathers of Dordt declare that the Arminian position despises the merits of Christ’s death and also that the Arminians, in their conception of the cross of Calvary, are wiser than God.
The doctrine of the atonement, to which we will now call your attention, the Lord willing, is, of course, of the utmost importance. It is certainly of the greatest significance as following upon the doctrine of sin. Sin is guilt and it is also the power of corruption. And the extent of the guilt and power of sin is of such a nature that the sinner is helplessly and hopelessly lost in sin and evil. He can never save himself. He can never pay his guilt, and this payment of his debt is absolutely necessary if he is to return...
How important is the doctrine of Limited or Particular Atonement! How true it is that the doctrine of Particular Atonement and the doctrine of Sovereign Predestination are inseparably connected. The history of the development of doctrine verifies this. Gottschalk died in 868 or 869 A.D. while in prison after an imprisonment of twenty years.
In our discussion of the history of doctrines as set forth by the church during these early years of the New Dispensation, 80-250 A.D., we will now call attention to the doctrine of the resurrection of the flesh or of the body.
