Martin Luther's doctrinal heresy.
1. That man has no free will.
2. Therefore, that God works evil in man.
"COMMENTS ON ERASMUS' TREATMENT OF PASSAGES DENYING FREE WILL
"Evil in Man
"...Perhaps it will be asked how God can be said to work evil in us, in the same way He is said to harden us, to give us up to our desires, to cause us to err, etc.?
"We should indeed be content with the words of God and simply believe what they say, for the works of God are utterly indescribable. However, to humor Reason, i.e., human folly, I will just act the fool and the stupid fellow for once, and try by a little babbling, if I can make any impression upon it ...
"Now then, Satan and man, being fallen and abandoned by God, cannot will good things, i.e. things which please God or which God wills, but are ever turned in the direction of their own desires, so that they cannot but seek out their own ... So that which we call the remnant of nature in Satan and wicked man, as being the creatures and work of God, is not less subject to divine omnipotence and action than all the rest of the creatures and works of God. Since God moves and works all in all, He necessarily moves and works even in Satan and wicked man. But he works according to what they are and what He finds them to be, i.e,, since they are perverted and evil, being carried along by that motion of Divine Omnipotence, they cannot but do what is perverse and evil. Just as it is with a ma riding a horse lame on one foot or on two feet. His riding corresponds to what the horse is. That is, the horse moves badly. But what can the man do? He is riding this horse together with sound horses. This one goes badly, though the rest go well. But it cannot be otherwise, unless the horse be made sound.
"Here you see then that when God works in and by evil man, evil deeds result. Yet God cannot do evil Himself, for he is good. He uses evil instruments, which cannot escape the swat and motion of His Omnipotence. The fault which accounts for evil being done when God moves to action lies in these instruments which God does not allow to lie idle ... Hence it is that the wicked man cannot but always err and sin, because under the impulse of divine power he is not permitted to remain motionless, but must will, desire and act according to his nature ... We are subject to God's working by mere passive necessity ... God is incessantly active in all His creatures, allowing none of them to keep holiday ... He cannot but do evil by our evil instrumentality, although He makes good use of this evil for His own glory and for our salvation. ... God is God, for whose will no cause or reason may be laid down as its rule and measure. For nothing is on a level with it, not to speak higher. It is itself the measure of all things. If any rule or measure, or cause or reason existed for it, it could no longer be the will of God. What God wills is not right because He ought to or was bound to so will. On the contrary, what takes place must be right, because He so wills it." (pages 128-130: Winter, Ernst F., translator and editor. (1961). Erasmus - Luther- Discourse On Free Will. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Company, Inc.).
Here is Martin Luther's evil heresy: Luther says, wrongly, that God "cannot but do evil by our evil instrumentality ..." (page 130).
God cannot but do evil? No. Scripture says, "God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all."
God does not and can not sin, or do evil, or cause evil, or will evil, or cause men or Satan or Satan's demons to do evil.
God save us all from the wickedness of Lutheranism.
"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!" (Matthew 18:6-7 NKJV).
Men by whom offenses come
Augustine of Hippo (endorses Filioque and original sin (guilt)
Pope Benedict VIII (first pope to endorse Filioque)
Martin Luther (denies free will and teaches God causes evil. and endorses justification by
faith alone and believes in false theory of scripture alone, and believes in Filioque)
God save us all in Christ Jesus. Christ says, "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand." Amen.
In Erie PA USA August 2011 AD Scott R. Harrington
PS Yes, you can tell I am offended by false doctrines.
Friends,
"The Holy Scriptures are perhaps the summit of the Holy Tradition of the Church, but the greatness of the heights to which the Scriptures ascend is due to the great mountain upon which it rests. Taken from its context, within the Holy Tradition, the solid rock of Scripture becomes a mere ball of clay, to be molded into whatever shape its handlers wish to mold it. It is no honor to the Scriptures to misuse and twist them, even if this is done in the name of exalting their authority. ..." (page 28: Sola Scriptura; In the Vanity of Their Minds, by John Whiteford).
In Erie Scott R. Harrington PS God bless you in Christ our Saviour and Lord. Amen.
