Who was Brutus? (1549-1623) "Brutus" is the pen name of Huguenot theologian Du Plessis-Mornay. He is the likely author of Vindiciae Contra Tyrannos (1579) sometime after the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre. He’s known as the "Huguenot Pope" due to his effective leadership of Huguenot military and diplomacy.

Calvin, along with Martin Luther, marked a rebirth of Augustinianism in the West. The sovereignty of God was re-established as the ultimate determinative factor in the matter of human salvation and all things else. Whose will is first and final, man’s or God’s? This is a question of vital importance. Man makes choices, but ultimately, God decides who will deny, who will defer, and who will decide to yield to the promptings of His sovereign Spirit. If not God, then chance rules in all areas of life.

The two never met, but Calvin systematized Lutheran teaching. Not only salvation by faith in the atoning work of Christ alone, but many other doctrines. He and Luther recovered Augustine’s doctrine of God’s predestination in salvation. But, Calvin rejected Luther's view that the host was turned into the Lord's literal flesh during communion. He insisted on the figurative meaning. But he shared Luther's love of hymn writing. adapted tavern tunes to the lyrics of faith.

Calvin built on the work of Luther to extend the work of the Reformation into the rest of Northern Europe. His Institutes of the Christian Religion opened the Bible to the common man. Christian leaders from all over Europe studied under Calvin at Geneva. Then they carried his teaching back to their homes with dramatic results. The most notable example was John Knox, whose preaching transformed Scotland.

This is Oliver Woods and today because of some extraordinary events that transpired over the weekend we’re going to be departing from our normal format as we continue our weekly approach of commenting on one new classical author every week. Normally we Introduce our author, John Calvin, with the historical context in which he lived, followed by his teaching in response to that context and finally a Biblical analysis of that teaching.

A Critique of a blog post to illustrate the tragedy of Luther’s error with regard to the Civil Magistrate. It’s titled, Are Christian Nationalists About To Have Egg On Our Face? with Doug Wilson . The post is a discussion between two gifted Christian leaders Pastor Doug Wilson and Pastor Joel Wesson regarding Canon Press’s publication of “In Defense of Christian Nationalism” by Dr. Stephen Wolfe.

Luther did not endorse “Christian Communism” in either its community of goods or the radical leveling required of its egalitarian demands. He stressed the fundamental inequality among men due to their diversity of giftings, which suited each to fill a unique role in society. This implied inequality of station and the necessity of accepting one’s lot in life with thankfulness and an attitude of service. “The gospel does not make goods common,” he said, “except in the case of those who of their own free will do what the apostles and disciples did.”

In spite of his positive contributions, the natural law prescription offered by Luther for the Civil magistrate or ruler has led us into this cultural disaster. Luther was of course right on the money in demanding a spiritual solution to the problems created by a corrupt church. Luther found no relief for his guilty conscience in the Papacy’s perverted system of works-righteous-ness. He finally found peace when he received by faith the free gift of righteousness God offers in Christ.