Saturday, July 21, 2018

Parable of the Sower Series: Luther & Calvin

And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying,
Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side,
and the fowls came and devoured them up:
Some fell upon stony places,
where they had not much earth:
and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
And when the sun was up, they were scorched;
and because they had no root,
they withered away.
And some fell among thorns;
and the thorns sprung up,
and choked them:
But other fell into good ground,
and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold,
some sixtyfold,
some thirtyfold.
Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Matthew 13:3-9

LUTHER
"This Gospel treats of the disciples and the fruits, which the Word of God develops in the world.....Christ however sets forth here four kinds of disciples of the divine Word."

CALVIN
The fertility of that soil which yields a thirty-fold produce is small compared with that which yields a hundred-fold…but Jesus classes together all kinds of soil which do not entirely disappoint the labors and expectations of the husbandman.”