| 1 |
"The decree is dreadful indeed, I confess." / "The decree, I admit, is dreadful." |
Calvin, Institutes III.23.7, trans. Battles / Beveridge |
V |
Latin: Decretum quidem horribile, fateor. Two translations given in the files. |
| 2 |
"God not only foresaw the fall... but also at his own pleasure arranged it." |
Calvin, Institutes III.23.7, Beveridge |
V |
Same chapter as #1. |
| 3 |
"why do we say that he permits, but just because he wills?" |
Calvin, Institutes III.23.8, Beveridge |
V |
Context: rejection of "bare permission." |
| 4 |
"the will of God is necessity, and... every thing is necessary which he has willed." |
Calvin, Institutes III.23.8, Beveridge |
V |
Quoting Augustine with approval. |
| 5 |
"God puts on a twofold character... does not prevent him from decreeing before the world was created..." |
Calvin, Commentary on Ezekiel 18:23, Calvin Translation Society |
V |
Verified against the CTS translation; other editions vary slightly, so keep the caveat. |
| 6 |
"one divine will and one will only, and that, to save the elect." |
Muller, Calvin and the Reformed Tradition, 114, 116, 122 |
V |
Verified via the CPRC collection's quotation; check page numbers against the printed volume. |
| 7 |
"to all persons promiscuously and without distinction" |
Canons of Dort, II.5 |
V |
Standard English translation; wording is stable across editions. |
| 8 |
"of infinite value and worth, abundantly sufficient to expiate the sins of the whole world" |
Canons of Dort, II.3 |
V |
Verified against the standard English text; note "abundantly sufficient," not "more than sufficient." |
| 9 |
"should effectually redeem out of every people, tribe, nation, and tongue all those, and those only, who from eternity were chosen to salvation" |
Canons of Dort, II.8 |
V |
Verified against the standard English text. |
| 10 |
"God not only delights in the penitent but is also moved... to desire the repentance and salvation of the impenitent and reprobate." |
OPC 1948 Report on the Free Offer, Introduction, quoting Minutes p. 67 |
V |
The report is online at opc.org. |
| 11 |
"God himself expresses an ardent desire for the fulfilment of certain things which he has not decreed..." |
OPC 1948 report, Conclusions §2 |
V |
Same source. |
| 12 |
"We not only do not believe that any are foreordained to evil..." |
Second Council of Orange (529), concluding statement |
V |
Standard translation; online at andrews.edu and elsewhere. |
| 13 |
"The first appearance of the phrase 'all men'... kinds of men, classes of men." |
White, The Potter's Freedom, 140 |
V |
Verified via a reliable secondary quotation; check the page in your printing. |
| 14 |
"There is no evidence that Luke had in mind an absolutum decretum of personal salvation." |
A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures, on Acts 13:48 |
V |
Widely cited; the surrounding comment is also quoted in the bank. |
| 15 |
"there is no countenance here for the absolutum decretum of the Calvinists, since Acts 13:46 had already shown that the Jews had acted through their own choice" |
R. J. Knowling, Expositor's Greek Testament, 2:300 |
V |
Verified against the commentary text online; check the printed pagination. |
| 16 |
"as many as were disposed to eternal life believed." |
Henry Alford, New Testament for English Readers |
P |
Reported rendering; check the printed edition. |
| 17 |
"This is the blasphemy clearly contained in the horrible decree of predestination!" |
Wesley, "Free Grace," §26 |
V |
Sermon 128; text at whdl.org, Wikisource, and biblehub. |
| 18 |
"weeping crocodiles' tears, weeping over the prey which himself had doomed to destruction" |
Wesley, "Free Grace," §24 |
V |
Same sermon. |
| 19 |
"God from all eternity did... ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so as... neither is God the author of sin..." |
Westminster Confession 3.1 |
V |
Standard text; punctuation modernized in some files. |
| 20 |
"Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated, and saved by Christ, through the Spirit, who worketh when, and where, and how he pleaseth" |
Westminster Confession 10.3 |
V |
Verified against the modernized and original-spelling texts. |
| 21 |
"God's will is the cause of all things" |
Calvin, paraphrase of Institutes III.23 |
X |
Do not quote; the exact wording varies. Paraphrase. |
| 22 |
Boettner on reprobation / infants |
The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination |
X |
Frequently misquoted online; cite chapter, not quotation marks. |
| 23 |
Sproul on reprobation as a "hard doctrine" |
Chosen by God |
X |
Paraphrase only. |
| 24 |
Piper on the "two wills" |
Does God Desire All to Be Saved? |
X |
Paraphrase only. |
| 25 |
Spurgeon one-liners |
various |
X |
Many are apocryphal or mangled; do not use without a printed source. |
| 26 |
Luther, "the will is enslaved" |
De servo arbitrio |
X |
Translation varies; paraphrase. |
| 27 |
Augustine, "the number of the elect is fixed" |
Enchiridion |
X |
Verify chapter before quoting; paraphrase for now. |
| 28 |
"It was dogmatic arbitrariness which converted our passage into a proof of the decretum absolutum" |
H. A. W. Meyer, Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts, on 13:48 |
V |
Verified against the commentary text; useful because Meyer is a classic Lutheran commentator, not a polemicist. |
| 29 |
"Better, as many as were disposed for" |
C. J. Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers, on Acts 13:48 |
V |
Verified against the commentary text. |
| 30 |
"Elect infants... regenerated, and saved by Christ" |
WCF 10.3 (see #20) |
V |
Duplicate kept for cross-reference. |