Stephen J. Nichols is a graduate of Westminster Seminary, Pa.
The seminary was the stage for the current justification-controversy involving Norman Shepherd (dismissed when it was discovered Shepherd was teaching justification by faith and works, though the seminary wouldn't admit it), and the wonderful Neo-orthodox theology of Cornelius Van Til and Greg Bahnsen (both of whom defended Norman Shepherd's view of Catholic Justification).
Stephen J. Nichols' book, "Martin Luther: A Guided Tour Of His Life and Thought," is the worst introduction to Martin Luther I have ever read. It is dangerously Roman Catholic.
Nichols asserts that Luther came up with the 5-solas of the Reformation by shaping them from his own thoughts, rather than simply discovering them from Scripture alone; he claims that the 5-Solas are presupposed, when actually only the first one (Sola Scriptura) is presupposed.
Nichols also recommends that Calvinists take up the heretical and sacerdotal Roman Catholic practic of confessing one's sins to a priest/pastor. This Catholic heresy contradicts, among other things, the Biblical teaching of the priesthood of the believer, and the 4th Sola: Christ alone as the only mediator between God and man!
Nichols also argues that predestination is not worth the trouble of studying, but agrees with Erasmus that we can find more fruitful things to engage in.
This book by Stephen J. Nichols is an argument for Roman Catholicism, not the theology of Martin Luther. I recommend Roland H. Bainton's book "Here I Stand: A Life Of Martin Luther".
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