- Mar 22, 2012
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Perhaps the biggest hang-up for me becoming Lutheran at this point is predestination. I think Lutherans are right to espouse justification by faith alone through Christ alone, the grace-giving nature of the sacraments, and the importance of scripture as the highest authority on Earth for determining theology.
However, this whole "single predestination" view seems very odd. I want to be clear, I understand why Lutherans hold this view, and I've read the passages of scripture that claim to disprove "double predestination," but could someone please address the following:
If faith comes through the Word and sacraments of the church (properly defined), then isn't it just a historical fact that God's plan for the world, including the spreading of the Gospel, Jesus' ministry, etc. inherently and obviously was limited to specific geographic areas and times? Doesn't this plainly show God has chosen, for whatever reason, for some to have faith and not others? If God wanted more people to have faith, God could have had Christ start in China, where he most certainly would have been able to bring more people to faith than Israel. If God didn't want to pass over some, then why did God limit the sacraments to specific means in the church, which is naturally going to be limited by human failures, etc.?
You may say that this is just another "logic" based argument that ignores scripture, but I'm actually just talking about history here. No logic is required. Historically, it's a fact God brought faith to a very limited part of the world in a specific way. More people could have been saved had God done something different. Doesn't this on its face prove God has chosen to pass over some? Or, said another way, isn't it a historical fact God passed over some by not bringing the Gospel to many people for years and years after Christ walked the Earth?
Where am I wrong on this? How do Lutherans explain the fact that some people have never been given the Gospel, even though God could have organized things so that occurred?
NOTE: Please note I'm not saying God doesn't want or will for all people to be saved. I'm simply saying history appears to show God wants something more than He wants all people to be saved: He wants people to be saved in a very limited way (the sacraments and church), which he instituted in the Middle East (not the most populated region by any means).
Thanks in advance for your time.
However, this whole "single predestination" view seems very odd. I want to be clear, I understand why Lutherans hold this view, and I've read the passages of scripture that claim to disprove "double predestination," but could someone please address the following:
If faith comes through the Word and sacraments of the church (properly defined), then isn't it just a historical fact that God's plan for the world, including the spreading of the Gospel, Jesus' ministry, etc. inherently and obviously was limited to specific geographic areas and times? Doesn't this plainly show God has chosen, for whatever reason, for some to have faith and not others? If God wanted more people to have faith, God could have had Christ start in China, where he most certainly would have been able to bring more people to faith than Israel. If God didn't want to pass over some, then why did God limit the sacraments to specific means in the church, which is naturally going to be limited by human failures, etc.?
You may say that this is just another "logic" based argument that ignores scripture, but I'm actually just talking about history here. No logic is required. Historically, it's a fact God brought faith to a very limited part of the world in a specific way. More people could have been saved had God done something different. Doesn't this on its face prove God has chosen to pass over some? Or, said another way, isn't it a historical fact God passed over some by not bringing the Gospel to many people for years and years after Christ walked the Earth?
Where am I wrong on this? How do Lutherans explain the fact that some people have never been given the Gospel, even though God could have organized things so that occurred?
NOTE: Please note I'm not saying God doesn't want or will for all people to be saved. I'm simply saying history appears to show God wants something more than He wants all people to be saved: He wants people to be saved in a very limited way (the sacraments and church), which he instituted in the Middle East (not the most populated region by any means).
Thanks in advance for your time.