about Luther not being a Calvinist.

It's true that Marty never saw the "five points".

Neither did Calvin. If knowing the five points of the Synod of Dort (1619) is necessary to being a Calvinist, then John Calvin wasn't a Calvinist! [Linked Image]

Luther did, however believe wholeheartedly in the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation. To most people that qualifies as "Calvinism", Check out Luther's "The Bondage of the Will" if you don't believe me. I find interesting his discussion of "the light of grace" and "the light of glory" with regard to our inability to understand God's sovereignty and human responsibility.

To sum up, Loraine Boettner said better than I ever could:
It was Calvin who wrought out this system of theological though with such logical clearness and emphasis that it has ever since borne his name. He did not, of course, originate the system but only set forth what appeared to him to shine forth so clearly from the pages of Holy Scripture. Augustine had taught the essentials of the system a thousand years before Calvin was born, and the whole body of the leaders of the Reformation movement taught the same.

From "The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination" (pp. 3-4)

JDalton

[color:red]Colossians 2:3