Ordo salutis
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File:Pilgrim's Progress map small.JPG by John Bunyan, which described salvation allegorically as the journey of a pilgrim]]
The term ordo salutis (Latin: "order of salvation") refers to a series of conceptual steps within the Christian doctrine of salvation.
Definition
Ordo salutis has been defined as "a technical term of Protestant dogmatics to designate the consecutive steps in the work of the Holy Spirit in the appropriation of salvation".{{Cite web |title=Order of Salvation |url=https://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/encyc/encyc08/htm/ii.vii.htm |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=www.ccel.org}} Although within Christian theology there is a certain sense in which the phases of salvation are sequential,Hendrikus Berkhof, Christian Faith: An Introduction to the Study of the faith (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979) p. 478. some elements are understood to occur progressively and others instantaneously.{{cite book |first1=Bruce |last1=Demarest |editor1-first=John S. |editor1-last=Feinberg |year=2006 |chapter=The 'Order of Salvation' |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X2QMUVTOE0IC&pg=PA36 |title=The Cross and Salvation: The Doctrine of Salvation |publisher=Good News Publishers |location=Wheaton |pages=36–44 |isbn=978-1-58134-812-5}} Furthermore, some steps within the "order of salvation" are regarded as objective (or monergistic), performed solely by God, while others are considered subjective (or synergistic), involving humanity. Christians prior to the Protestant Reformation, while not using the exact phrase, sought to order the elements of salvation.S. B. Ferguson, "Ordo Salutis", New Dictionary of Theology (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 1988) p. 480. The term ordo salutis was first used by Lutheran theologians in the mid-1720s.Ferguson, "Ordo Salutis", p. 480.
Different schemes
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|width=200 valign=top style="font-size:90%;"| Arminian/Wesleyan:{{cite book|title=The Methodist Review, Volume 48|year=1899|publisher=Methodist Episcopal Church, South|language=en|page=933|quote=The Arminian and Methodist order is (1) Repentance, (2) Faith, (3) Justification, (4) Regeneration), (5) Sanctification. }}{{cite web |language=en |last=Olson |first=Roger E. |title=An Arminian Ordo Salutis (Order of Salvation) |website=Roger E. Olson: My evangelical, Arminian theological musings |publisher=Patheos |date=2013 |url=https://www.patheos.com/blogs/rogereolson/2013/08/an-arminian-ordo-salutis-order-of-salvation/ |access-date=2020-12-07 }} |width=200 valign=top style="font-size:90%;"| |
Criticism and support
Some more recent theologians, such as Karl Barth, G. C. Berkouwer and Herman Ridderbos, have criticised the idea of an "order of salvation". For example, Barth sees the ordo salutis as running the risk of "psychologizing" salvation and Berkouwer is concerned the ordering does not do justice to the "fullness" of salvation.Ferguson, 'Ordo Salutis,' p. 480. Another criticism comes from Richard Gaffin who asserts "that union with Christ is for Paul the overarching factor within which the various elements of the order of Salvation are to be considered".Robert Letham The Westminster Assembly (Phillipsburg: P&R, 2009) p. 245.
Those who want to sustain an idea of sequential order in salvation appeal to Romans 8:29–30 (KJV);
{{Quotation|For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.}}
The concept of an ordered sequence of soteriological doctrines was also an important part of the construction of the Westminster Confession.Letham, The Westminster Assembly, pp. 242–246. In addition, Hendrikus Berkhof observes that Christians cannot avoid thinking "coherently" about the particular elements of salvation.Ferguson, Ordo Salutis, p. 481.
References
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External links
- [http://reformedanswers.org/answer.asp/file/40371 Ordo Salutis in Major Denominations – Reformed Answers]
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Category:Christian terminology
Category:Latin religious words and phrases