A couple days ago I read an article in CTQ (Concordia Theological Quarterly) that I think helpfully summarized the difference between a Protestant and Lutheran understand of sola fide. I will post it in two parts.
Part 1: The Protestant Understanding
Part 2: The Lutheran Understanding
The Protestant Syllogism of Salvation
Major Premise: Whoever believes in Jesus is saved.
Minor Premise: I believe in Jesus.
Conclusion: I am saved.
Result of Syllogism:
1. We must not only believe, but know that we believe. In other words, salvation means believing we believe in Jesus.
2. The Protestant need is “the assurance of faith.”
Calvin’s teaching:
Calvin distinguished between temporary faith and true saving faith (faith that perseveres). According to Calvin, we should be able to know if we have true saving faith. Those with temporary faith may think they have true saving faith, but are just wrong (a very disturbing thought). How are we to know? Calvin instructs us to look inward for evidence of true saving faith because true faith bears fruit in sanctification (which is 100% true according to Scripture), but the noticed growth in sanctification is supposed to assure us of our faith. In other words, our assurance of faith is supposed to come from our own heart (this is why Protestants often speak of the moment they were saved – it was the moment they believed they believed).
End result: sola fide is about faith in our faith alone or believing that we believe in Christ alone.
My next post will be on the Lutheran teaching.
3 comments:
Hmmm...I think your syllogism might need minor modification to go through. I'm worried that the original version leaves the possibility open that one can have faith and not know. You may not know that you have faith and therefore not know that you are saved, but you can be saved anyway.
So I stuck in a premise a modified your minor premise. Do you think this works?
Major Premise: Whoever believes in Jesus is saved.
Minor Premise 1: Whenever someone believes x, they know that they believe x.
Minor Premise 2: I know that I believe in Jesus, so therefore I believe in Jesus.
Conclusion: I am saved.
And both of your results should go through fine:
1. We must not only believe, but know that we believe. In other words, salvation means believing we believe in Jesus.
2. The Protestant need is “the assurance of faith.”
I think that you're absolutely right: it's ridiculous to think a person has to know that they believe something in order to believe it. The principle in minor premise one is simply false (though some philosophers and, apparently Calvin, have defended it).
Thanks for the adjustment.
Interestingly, the possibility you identified is more than a possibility. I’ve spoken with the Reformed pastors in town and it is actually possible for a person to be “elect” and therefore saved and not know it and not even know they have faith. (I know being “elect” and knowing one has faith are a little different, but it’s still revealing.) This is related to the double predestination thing (which isn’t held by all Reformed churches), but here’s the end result: 1) a person can make confession of faith and later reject that faith and still be saved because any confession of faith constitutes saving faith 2) a person can make confession of faith and think they have genuine saving faith and really not (a scary possibility) or even 3) a person might not claim to have faith or even know he has faith, but because he’s “elect,” he’s saved and must have saving faith.
Perhaps I’ll post sometime this week on election/predestination from a Lutheran perspective – really quite interesting.
Tell me if this is right. My impression is that faith is not all that important in Reformed theology. What is important is that you are in the covenant, and that happens because God elects you, not because you have faith.
Faith is one way that we know that we are in the covenant, but it is not the reason that we are in the covenant.
On a side note, what do you think of NT Write? I just got his book "The Resurrection of the Son of God."
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