A while back a friend and I began sharing the best quotes and thoughts we had from our personal reading. The idea was to give one another greater access to books without having to read as many. If I read a book, my friend could benefit from reading the quotes I pulled out and any thoughts I shared. For 2017, when ever I read a book I’ll share quotes I like, as well as any major thoughts I have about the book.
I just finished reading Dr. Timothy George’s Theology of the Reformers. This year marks the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. On October 31, 1517 Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Church. George’s goal is to set forth the distinguishing theological contributions of 5 reformers: Martin Luther, Hulrych Zwingli, John Calvin, Menno Simons, and William Tyndale. I highly recommend this book. It’s like getting 5 75 page biographies in 1 volume.
A few quotes:
Luther’s new insight was that the imputation of Christ’s alien righteousness was based not on the gradual curing of sun but rather on the complete victory of Christ on the cross.
Another aspect of Zwingli’s doctrine of election deserves some special attention: his postulation of the salvation of the so-called “pious heathen.” Zwingli held that even among those who had never heard the gospel, those who lived outside the chronological or geographical bounds of salvation history, God chose some.
On Calvin- The knowledge of God in the natural realm had only a negative function— to render humans inexcusable for their idolatry.