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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Child may go to hell | Acts 4:12 | DocTrinsograce | 176071 | ||
Dear John, Very well written, sir. We have another instance in Scripture in addition to the one you cited from 2 Samuel 12:23. The clear prenatal salvation of John the Baptist as evidenced in Luke 1:41. The persuasive weakness of these passages, however, is that neither is truly didactic, but both are statements couched within narratives. (Granted, from a certain perspective, the 2 Samuel verse might be argued to be didactic.) Consequently, they may give rise to interesting speculation, but they would, at best, give only a tenuous foundation for sound Biblical doctrine. That is why I didn't mention them in my post to Ron. But I did want to comment on your assertion that "this is not a position that seems to have been arrived at after a great deal of study and thought." A cursory study of Christian history will reveal that the belief mentioned by the preacher in Ron's post was held by men like Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, John Owen, Thomas Cranmer, Matthew Henry, Jonathan Edwards, Robert Lewis Dabney, A. A. Hodge, J. Gresham Machen, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and Francis Schafer. Modern proponents of this position -- if I properly understand it -- would include Doctors J. I. Packer, R. C. Sproul, Rod Rosenbladt, John Frame, and D. James Kennedy. (It is a doctrine that is held by Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Anglicans -- to name a few.) As an historic Baptist I do not fully share the covenantal position of my Reformed brethren. However, the amount of "study and thought" on Biblical matters by those mentioned in the previous paragraph is truly staggering -- and they are only the ones that came immediately to my mind as I wrote this post! We may not embrace their position on this issue, but we do exceedingly err in suggesting that such men, renowned for their scholarship and faith, had not arrived at their positions without a very great deal of careful deliberation! :-) In Him, Doc |
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2 | Child may go to hell | Acts 4:12 | BigJohnUkraine | 176078 | ||
You bring up a good point. I appreciate the clarification. There certainly are those who reach such a conclusion through careful and diligent study, and the do deserve my respect. However, I am wearied by many others in our day who loudly proclaim positions which they affirm from association rather than investigation. I jumped to a conclusion in assuming that the person being referred to in the post was in this genre. Thanks for calling me on that. |
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