pegasister
Puritan Board Freshman
I was talking to a friend about a semi-pelagian coworker of his, and reminding my friend of what Romans 3 says about there being "no one righteous, no not one." Then an acquaintance of ours chimed in with "One might argue that those texts (from Romans) do not claim that man cannot choose good on occasion, but rather simply that man is not righteous."
I told this person that it's not just a matter of those verses in isolation, but that the whole text of scripture speaks to man's fallen nature and inability to keep from sinning apart from God's grace, and moreover, that to argue for the ability of man on his own to do good is in defiance of what the church has taught historically. What more could I have said? I mean, the confessions I checked just pointed me to isolated verses. How does one make a cogent case for total depravity to someone who won't accept single verses? (It's hard for me to think the way he seems to because I've been Reformed several years now and I already understand that teaching as part of a system.)
Unfortunately I don't know this guy well enough yet to even know what position he holds on any major point of doctrine...
I told this person that it's not just a matter of those verses in isolation, but that the whole text of scripture speaks to man's fallen nature and inability to keep from sinning apart from God's grace, and moreover, that to argue for the ability of man on his own to do good is in defiance of what the church has taught historically. What more could I have said? I mean, the confessions I checked just pointed me to isolated verses. How does one make a cogent case for total depravity to someone who won't accept single verses? (It's hard for me to think the way he seems to because I've been Reformed several years now and I already understand that teaching as part of a system.)
Unfortunately I don't know this guy well enough yet to even know what position he holds on any major point of doctrine...