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2. THE LUTHERAN VIEW.
The Lutherans, while not denying the doctrines of election, the
mystical union, and the imputation of the righteousness of Christ, do not take their starting
point in any one of these. They fully recognize the fact that the subjective realization of the
work of redemption in the hearts and lives of sinners is a work of divine grace, but at the same
time give a representation of the ordo salutis which places the main emphasis on what is done
a parte hominis (on the part of man) rather than on what is done a parte Dei (on the part of
God). They see in faith first of all a gift of God, but at the same time make faith, regarded more
particularly as an active principle in man and as an activity of man, the all-determining factor in
their order of salvation. Says Pieper: “So kommt denn hinsichtlich der Heilsaneignung alles
darauf an, dass im Menschen der Glaube an das Evangelium entstehe.”[Christl. Dogm. II, p. 477.
Cf. also Valentine, Chr. Theol. II, pp. 258 ff.] Attention was already called to the fact that Kaftan
regards faith as the whole of the ordo salutis. This emphasis on faith as an active principle is
undoubtedly due to the fact that in the Lutheran Reformation the doctrine of justification by
faith — often called the material principle of the Reformation — was very much in the
foreground. According to Pieper the Lutheran takes his starting point in the fact that in Christ
God is reconciled to the world of humanity. God announces this fact to man in the gospel and
offers to put man subjectively in possession of that forgiveness of sins or justification which was
objectively wrought in Christ. This calling is always accompanied with a certain measure of
illumination and of quickening, so that man receives the power to not-resist the saving
operation of the Holy Spirit. It frequently results in repentance, and this may issue in
regeneration, by which the Holy Spirit endows the sinner with saving grace. Now all these,
namely, calling, illumination, repentance, and regeneration, are really only preparatory, and are
strictly speaking not yet blessings of the covenant of grace. They are experienced apart from
any living relation to Christ, and merely serve to lead the sinner to Christ. “Regeneration is
conditioned by the conduct of man with regard to the influence exerted upon him,” and
therefore “will take place at once or gradually, as man’s resistance is greater or less.”[Schmid,
Doct. Theol., p. 464.] In it man is endowed with a saving faith by which he appropriates the
forgiveness or justification that is objectively given in Christ, is adopted as a child of God, is
united to Christ in a mystical union, and receives the spirit of renewal and sanctification, the
living principle of a life of obedience. The permanent possession of all these blessings depends
on the continuance of faith, — on an active faith on the part of man. If man continues to
believe, he has peace and joy, life and salvation; but if he ceases to exercise faith, all this
becomes doubtful, uncertain, and amissible. There is always a possibility that the believer will
lose all that he possesses.
3. THE ROMAN CATHOLIC VIEW.
In Roman Catholic theology the doctrine of the Church
precedes the discussion of the ordo salutis. Children are regenerated by baptism, but they who
first become acquainted with the gospel in later life receive a gratia sufficiens, consisting in an