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(Vindication of the Morall Law, 241)"Wee have confuted the false differences, and now come to lay downe the true, between the law and the Gospel taken in a larger sense.
And, first, you must know that the difference is not essential, or substantiall, but accidentall: so that the division of the Testament, or Covenant into the Old, and New, is not a division of the Genus into its opposite Species; but of the subject, according to its severall accidentall administrations, both on Gods part, and on mans. It is true, the Lutheran Divines, they doe expresly oppose the Calvinists herein, maintaining the Covenant given by Moses, to be a Covenant of workes, and so directly contrary to the Covenant of grace. Inded, they acknowledge that the Fathers were justified by Christ, and had the same way of salvation with us; onely they make that Covenant of Moses to be a superadded thing to the Promise, holding forth a condition of perfect righteousness unto the Jewes, that they might be convinced of their owne folly in their self-righteousnesse."
"The State of the Controversy".The question is not, whether of old and at the present time there is one way of salvation, one promise of grace, one God of the covenant, so much as the work unto justification and salvation (quantam ad justificationis & salutis negotium), and finally one faith and eternal life. This is in all respects, as it were, certain, and greatly conforms to Sacred Scripture, which is admitted by all. But between us and the Calvinists the controversy comes to these two : (1) Whether the Old Testament anywhere in sacred Literature (Literis) is taken for the that covenant of grace, which God made with the Fathers, Adam, Abraham, etc. (2) Whether that covenant of grace which God made with the Fathers, is the same in substance with the New Testament. The Calvinists affirm this, and we deny it.
At first it seems that there is hardly a
difference between the catechisms. But if you
look more carefully there are different presuppositions.
Luther begins with the revelation of
God according to the First Commandment,
including both Law and Gospel. Luther's view is
theocentric. The Heidelberg Catechism on the
contrary is anthropocentric, as the first question
deals with man's misery.
This leads to another fundamental difference
between Luther's Small Catechism and the
Heidelberg Catechism. Luther combines the
powers of destruction as law, conscience and
death on the one hand and Christ, Gospel and
eternal life on the other. Luther deals with law in
an extremely negative way. It destroys, leads to
death and reveals sin. Luther teaches the
predominant use of the Law as a mirror. For
Calvin the Third Use of the Law is the pre-eminent
one, resulting in a tendency to legalism in
Calvinism as a whole. This is responsible for the
Puritan way of life. Stemming from this is
Calvinism's inability to distinguish Law and
Gospel. The consequence is that the Gospel is
falsified and turned to a new law.
An example of this within the German context
after the war was the upstart of a new sort of
fanaticism under the title of what Karl Barth and
his disciples called "the royal rule of Chirst" instead
of Luther's distinction of the two kingdoms.