Martin Luther Was A Calvinist!

It's true! Luther was a full-blooded, limited atonement preachin', 5-point TULIP sniffin' Calvinist. Just read Bondage of the Will, that'll show ya.

Martin Luther, Calvinist

Plus, look at that beard! Calvinists all have beards. John Calvin had a long one. Heck, Doug Wilson has a good beard too. Even Charles Spurgeon had a beard. Luther must have been a Calvinist.

The Small Catechism is a Calvinist document, for sure. Look at these Calvinistic dogmas Luther lays down.

What does Baptism give or profit?--Answer.

 

It works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.

 

And then,

 

How can water do such great things?--Answer.

 

It is not the water indeed that does them, but the word of God which is in and with the water, and faith, which trusts such word of God in the water. For without the word of God the water is simple water and no baptism. But with the word of God it is a baptism, that is, a gracious water of life and a washing of regeneration in the Holy Ghost, as St. Paul says, Titus, chapter three: By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, that, being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying.

 

And more Calvinist thought here...
 

What is the Sacrament of the Altar?

 

It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the bread and wine, for us Christians to eat and to drink, instituted by Christ Himself.

 

And...
 

What is the benefit of such eating and drinking?

 

That is shown us in these words: Given, and shed for you, for the remission of sins; namely, that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.

 

How can bodily eating and drinking do such great things?

 

It is not the eating and drinking, indeed, that does them, but the words which stand here, namely: Given, and shed for you, for the remission of sins. Which words are, beside the bodily eating and drinking, as the chief thing in the Sacrament; and he that believes these words has what they say and express, namely, the forgiveness of sins.

 

All of this stuff from the Small Catechism is exactly what Calvinism teaches.

 

But it's not. These teachings are considered damnable heresy by many Calvinists.

 

Martin Luther was definitely not a Calvinist.

 

If only he would have lived longer he would have been; they say.

Uh, no.

+Pax+