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The Works of God
I. The Divine Decrees in General
A. The Doctrine of the Decrees in Theology.
Reformed theology stresses the sovereignty of God in virtue of which He has sovereignly
determined from all eternity whatsoever will come to pass, and works His sovereign will in His
entire creation, both natural and spiritual, according to His pre-determined plan. It is in full
agreement with Paul when he says that God “worketh all things after the counsel of His will,”
Eph. 1:11. For that reason it is but natural that, in passing from the discussion of the Being of
God to that of the works of God, it should begin with a study of the divine decrees. This is the
only proper theological method. A theological discussion of the works of God should take its
startingpoint in God, both in the work of creation and in that of redemption or recreation. It is
only as issuing from, and as related to, God that the works of God come into consideration as a
part of theology.
In spite of this fact, however, Reformed theology stands practically alone in its emphasis on the
doctrine of the decrees. Lutheran theology is less theological and more anthropological. It does
not consistently take its starting point in God and consider all things as divinely pre-determined,
but reveals a tendency to consider things from below rather than from above. And in so far as it
does believe in pre-determination, it is inclined to limit this to the good that is in the world, and
more particularly to the blessings of salvation. It is a striking fact that many Lutheran
theologians are silent, or all but silent, respecting the doctrine of the decrees of God in general
and discuss only the doctrine of pre-destination, and regard this as conditional rather than
absolute. In the doctrine of predestination Lutheran theology shows strong affinity with
Arminianism. Krauth (an influential leader of the Lutheran Church in our country) even says:
“The views of Arminius himself, in regard to the five points, were formed under Lutheran
influences, and do not differ essentially from those of the Lutheran Church; but on many points
in the developed system now known as Arminianism, the Lutheran Church has no affinity
whatever with it, and on these points would sympathize far more with Calvinism, though she
has never believed that in order to escape from Pelagianism, it is necessary to run into the
doctrine of absolute predestination. The ‘Formula of Concord’ touches the five points almost
purely on their practical sides, and on them arrays itself against Calvinism, rather by the
negation of the inferences which result logically from that system, than by express
condemnation of its fundamental theory in its abstract form.”[The Conservative Reformation
and Its Theology, pp. 127f.] In so far as Lutheran theologians include the doctrine of
predestination in their system, they generally consider it in connection with Soteriology.