uch as Arminian, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist,
Restorationist, and many others;) but these minor differences are
too trivial to deserve distinctive characterization here. The
Lutheran formula is that, through the sacrifice of Christ,
salvation is offered to all who will accept it by a sincere faith.
Some will comply with these terms and secure heaven; others will
not, and so will be lost forever. Luther's views were not firmly
defined and consistent throughout his career; they were often
obscure, and they fluctuated much. It is true he always insisted
that there was no salvation without faith, and that all who had
faith should be saved. But, while he generally seems to believe in
the current doctrine of eternal damnation, he sometimes appears to
encourage the hope that all will finally be saved. In a remarkable
letter to Hansen von Rechenberg, dated 1522, he says, in effect,
"Whoso hath faith in Christ shall be saved. God forbid that I
should limit the time for acquiring this faith to the present
life! In the depths of the Divine mercy, there may be opportunity
to win it in the future state."

The Calvinistic formula is that heaven is attainable only for
those whom the arbitrary predestination of God has elected; all
others are irretrievably damned. Calvin was the first Christian
theologian who succeeded in giving the fearful doctrine of
unconditional election and reprobation a lodgment in the popular
breast. The Roman Catholic Church had earnestly repudiated it.
Gotteschalk was condemned and died in prison for advocating it, in
the ninth century. But Calvin's character enabled him to believe
it, and his talents and position gave great weight to his advocacy
of it, and it has since been widely received. Catholicism,
Lutheranism, Calvinism, all agreed in the general proposition that
by sin physical death came into the world, heaven was shut against
man, and all men utterly lost. They differed only in some
unessential details concerning the condition of that lost state.
They also agreed in the general proposition that Christ came, by
his incarnation, death, descent to hell, resurrection, and
ascension, to redeem men from their lost state. They only differed
in regard to the precise grounds and extent of that redemption.
The Catholic said, Christ's atonement wiped off the whole score of
original sin, and thus enabled man to win heaven by moral fidelity
and the help of the Church. The Lutheran said, Christ's atonement