Landmark Baptist

Years ago, while serving in administration at one of our Bible colleges, a young man entered my office and declared: "I do not believe in the total hereditary depravity of man." I replied, "Well, it is your right to believe anything you wish. You can be a heretic if you want to." His grin belied his statement. I caught on. "Oh, I see," said I, "You have just been in logic class haven't you?" He indicated he had.
I replied, "Baptists do not always express themselves in proper usage of our language. We use dangling modifiers, misplaced adjectives, split infinitives, etc. I also agree with your newly found perspective. If man were totally depraved there would be no way for him to be saved or else the depravity would not be total. We do not mean to say that man is totally depraved, but we do mean to say that the total man is hereditarily depraved. A more grammatically correct expression would be, "We believe in the hereditary depravity of the total man (mind, body, spirit)." With that he readily agreed.
Dr. J. Louis Gutherie used to say, "Think, boys! It's a great trick if you can do it." Do we have some thinkers out there? What do you think?

To me "total depravity" or "depravity of the total man" means the same thing. However, I must admit when in Seminary I missed the logic class since Brother Alexander, who taught logic at TBI, had moved to Ohio during my tenure and no one took his place.

I do know that man in his depraved state is incapable of seeking God, "There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God." Romans 3:11. I know also that God draws all men unto himself, John 12:32, and brings sufficient light to every depraved soul so that he can respond to God, "The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe...That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world," John 1:7,9.

Thank God Jesus taste death for every man! Hebrews 2:9

Ricky Knight

Brother Knight, I certainly do agree with your theology. Amen! Still ideas are formed by the expression of words. The order of words also have great meaning. If misplaced, they may imply a different idea than what the writer intended. The English language is perhaps the weakest language ever spoken. Because of this, it is a lawyer's paradise. It is as the attorney who got his client to agree that outside it is either raining or it is not raining. Then he could have it his way. If the client said it was raining, then it "was" not raining. If he said it was not raining, then the attorney said that mean that it "was" raining. You may have to think on this one.
Anyway, the logic is that if man were totally depraved then it could never be anyother way or the depravity was not total. And, of course, through the Lord Jesus Christ, depraved man may be saved. Amen! So, the logic also demands that while man may not be totally depraved because of the grace of God, the total man is in fact depraved until he becomes the recipient of that grace.