The following 10 quotes come from different authors surrounding the doctrine of total depravity. Their order has been randomly generated, so read to the end to find out the author and their respective soteriological standing!
1. “Total depravity means that natural man is never able to do any good that is fundamentally pleasing to God, and, in fact, does evil all the time.” and “…total depravity: man cannot choose Jesus. He cannot even take the first step to go to Jesus, unless the Father draws him. And this depravity is universal. “No one” can come, says Jesus.”
2. “It is clear that man fell from a state of holiness into a state of sin (Is. 53:6; Rom. 3:23). It is clear that sin has placed man under condemnation before God (Rom. 6:23; Rev. 21:8). It is clear that fallen man cannot please God and has no fellowship with God (Eph. 2:1-3; Rom. 8:7-8). It is clear that man cannot come to God without the drawing power of the Holy Spirit (Jn. 6:44). It is clear that a work so drastic as to be called a new birth is required for man’s salvation (Jn. 3:3-7).” and “[T]otal means that the corruption has extended to all aspects of man’s nature, to his entire being; and depravity means that, because of that corruption, there is nothing man can do to merit saving favor with God.”
3. “If, however, human beings are seen as being totally or pervasively depraved—that is, as totally unable to turn to God in faith apart from a special working of the Spirit—one’s understanding of the nature of regeneration will be different still. The Bible clearly teaches that human beings are indeed totally or pervasively depraved…The New Testament teaches the pervasive depravity of fallen human nature in unmistakable terms.”
4. “Original sin, then, may be defined a hereditary corruption and depravity of our nature, extending to all the parts of the soul, which first makes us obnoxious to the wrath of God, and then produces in us works which in Scripture are termed works of the flesh.”
5. “Natural man is devilish, evil, wholly corrupt. Any good in any man is only by the free grace of God. Man is totally corrupt and helpless in himself.”
6. “In this state [of bondage to sin], the free will of man towards the true good is not only wounded, maimed, infirm, bent, and weakened; but it is also imprisoned, destroyed, and lost. And its powers are not only debilitated and useless unless they are assisted by grace, but it has no powers whatever except such as excited by Divine grace.” and “But in his lapsed and sinful state, man is not capable, of and by himself, either to think, to will, or to do that which is really good; but it is necessary for him to be regenerated and renewed in his intellect, affections or will, and in all his powers, by God in Christ through the Holy Spirit, that he may be qualified rightly to understand, esteem, consider, will, and perform whatever is truly good.”
7. “It [total depravity] signifies a corruption of our moral and spiritual nature that is total not in degree…but in extent. It declares that no part of us is untouched by sin, and therefore no action of ours is s good as it should be, and consequently nothing in us or about us ever appears meritorious in God’s eyes. We cannot earn God’s favor, no matter what we do; unless grace saves us, we are lost.”
8. “The Gospel of Christ is addressed to men, not on the supposition that men can somehow save themselves and need only a word of encouragement, but rather to men as lost in sin and “without strength”—utterly unable to save themselves by any power of virtue of their own.”
9. “Concerning man in his natural state unassisted by the grace of God… every imagination of the thoughts of his heart is still evil, ‘only evil,’ and that ‘continually.’”
10. “When we say that man is totally depraved we mean that the entrance of sin into the human constitution has affected every part and faculty of man’s being. Total depravity means that man is, in spirit and soul an body, the slave of sin and the captive of the Devil”…If ever the will of a fallen and depraved creature is to move Godward a Divine power must be brought to bear upon it which will overcome the influences of sin that pull in a counter direction.”
5 of the quotes come from Calvinists and 5 from Arminians. They were: 1. Edwin H. Palmer (Calvinist); 2. F. Leroy Forlines (Arminian); 3. Anthony A. Hoekema (Calvinist); 4. John Calvin himself; 5. Mildred Bangs Wynkoop (Arminian); 6. James Arminius himself; 7. J. I. Packer (Calvinist); 8. Robert Shank (Arminian); 9. John Wesley (Arminian); 10. A. W. Pink (Calvinist).
Hopefully it is evident that both Calvinists and Arminians hold to the doctrine of total depravity.
Originally posted by Jason Godfrey here.
