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NASB | Psalm 51:5 ¶ Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Psalm 51:5 ¶ I was brought forth in [a state of] wickedness; In sin my mother conceived me [and from my beginning I, too, was sinful]. [John 3:6; Rom 5:12; Eph 2:3] |
Subject: inherit the sin of Adam |
Bible Note: Dear Victor, Welcome to the forum, Victor. Since you are new, I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt by taking your questions at face value. I trust that that assumption will be proven sound by your subsequent participation in the forum. You wrote, "Who are the 'old divines?', the fallible men who wrote the LBCF (a group of London Baptists?)" All men are fallible, son. Some men, however, deserve more attention than others. Even the simplest born-again believer can tell you things, that the most devout pope will fail to articulate. It is a simple matter to research via web the historical origins of the London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1644 and 1689. You would need to examine the history -- and more importantly the contents -- of the Canons of the Synods of Dort and the Heidelberg Confession of Faith. At the conclusion of this research you will know who the divines were, how they came to articulate their faith, and just how much it cost them to do so. You asked, "Is the Roman Catholic position on original sin, Pelagianism, semi-Pelagianism or Augustinianism, which I understand were the opposing positions." The mixture of question and statement is a bit confusing, but I'll do my best to answer. This depends on who you ask and what you mean. Historically the church affirmed what you call "Augustinianism" -- which was really nothing more than Pauline theology as articulated in his epistles, but a be better term might be Monergism -- in the Council of Ephesus. The Roman Catholic Church reaffirmed the position in the Council of Orange. However, most of the popes from that period on did what they could to shift back to a Pelagian or semi-Pelagian perspective. (Have you ever noticed how many popes were named Pelagius?) The Council of Trent, in a reaction to the Protestant Reformation, declared conclusively its semi-Pelagian stance That position has been pretty consistently espoused and vigorously taught by the Church of Rome ever since. The Roman Church has fought hard to eliminate any dissenting views that have arisen, even in its own ranks. All of this information is easily uncovered on the web. You asked, "Wasn't Augustine, a Roman Catholic bishop who affirmed the sacraments and even purgatory." Yes, Augustine was Bishop of Hippo. Although I would not call him a "Roman Catholic" bishop. Roman Catholicism didn't exist at the time. The Churches of the East and West were not divided until after his lifetime, although the Bishops of Rome had already begun the process of ceasing full political control. "Did the fifth century Catholic Church hold a non-Pelagian notion of grace and original sin which you agree with?" (sic) To the extent to which the Christians of the held to sound Biblical doctrine, that is the extent to which I would agree with them. Until the Pelagian controversy, to the best that I can determine, the notion of original sin had been pretty soundly Pauline. As you started out your post about "fallible men," I'd have to affirm that every one of us, no matter when we live, are subject to error. That is why we must continually search the Scriptures to root out the error to which we are so prone! It is no easy task, given the condition of the human heart. It has always impressed me that the divines were obviously also thinking of themselves when they wrote, "The supreme judge, by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be NO OTHER but the Holy Scripture delivered by the Spirit, into which Scripture so delivered, our faith is finally resolved. (Matthew 22:29, 31, 32; Ephesians 2:20; Acts 28:23)" (1689 LBCF, Chapter 1, Paragraph 10) That is what is meant in this forum when we affirm the "authority of the Scripture." In Him, Doc |