“Cause of the first sin” (Shedd)

“In respect to its having no sinful antecedent out of which it is made, sin is origination ex nihilo. Sin is the beginning of something from nothing, and there is this resemblance between it and creation proper. In holy Adam, there was no sinful inclination or corruption that prompted the first transgression. Adam started the [...]

Shedd on the probation of Adam

“The object of this probation was that Adam, by resisting Satan’s temptation and persevering in holiness, might secure by his own work indefectibility or immutable perfection. This was to be an infinite reward for standing the trial of his faith and obedience. God did not place Adam in a state of probation from mere curiosity [...]

Shedd on the doctrine of endless punishment

“The Christian gospel — the universal offer of pardon through the self-sacrifice of one of the divine persons — should silence every objection to the doctrine of endless punishment.” Shedd’s version of the “free offer” is inextricably connected to his version of a universal atonement. I recommend reading the entire article, but here is an [...]

“All religions not equally valuable” (W.G.T. Shedd)

Excerpted from Shedd’s “Orthodoxy & Heterodoxy”: “Such is St. Paul’s account of the Greek and Roman ethical systems, which were purer than those of Egypt, India, and China. He declares that the holiness and justice of God are plainly taught in them, but denies that his saving mercy is. “The wrath of God,” he says, [...]

“Boned Preaching” (W.G.T. Shedd)

Some comments by me interspersed: “For some years past it has been a discouraging characteristic, that large audiences have been drawn together and held by a style of preaching that disparaged and oftentimes ridiculed evangelical truth. A great congregation and a popular speaker have, too frequently, been equivalent to reckless teaching and reckless hearing. The [...]

One truth for all pulpits

From Shedd’s Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy: A Miscellany: “There are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all,” said St. Paul to the Corinthian church, and to the church universal. By this he teaches, among other things, that all Christian ministers ought to hold the same fundamental truth, though they [...]

Inclusivism: The Calvinist Consensus?

Inclusivism briefly defined is the position that states that while salvation by Christ is *ontologically necessary*, it is not *epistemologically* necessary. Of course, a simpler way to state the position is that a person who is saved *by Christ* can be saved *in ignorance of Christ.* As far as I know, those who hold this [...]

Shedd on Coleridge

From the preface of Shedd’s Calvinism: Pure & Mixed: “The distinction between doctrines and persons, projects and their advocates, is a valid one. One may have no confidence in a doctrine or project, and yet may have confidence in a particular advocate of it, because a person may be different in his spirit and intention [...]

Shedd on Doctrine and Church membership

The following are my comments on Shedd’s comments taken from W.G.T. Shedd’s, “Calvinism: Pure and Mixed,” pages 8-11. Here’s Shedd (my comments interspersed): ==Revision is inexpedient, because the Westminster Standards already make full provision for those exceptional cases, on account of which revision is claimed by its advocates to be needed. It is said that [...]

W.G.T. Shedd on WCF 10:3

The following is, of course, from the WCF Chapter 10, section 3 ”Of effectual calling”: III. Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated, and saved by Christ, through the Spirit,[12] who works when, and where, and how He pleases:[13] so also are all other elect persons who are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry [...]