Doug Wilson, confused amateur theologian and teacher of doctrine to the world 3

No, one doesn't need a seminary education to understand biblical doctrine at the hardcore, biblical level of Reformed doctrine; but it might help if one is going to affect to be a teacher of Reformed doctrine that one could perhaps get the freshman level basics down.

Here, again, is Doug Wilson, furthering the self-outing of his state of confusion regarding the very basics of biblical doctrine:

This has been implicit in what some have already said, but if God foreordains everything that comes to pass, this would include Adam's obedience, had he rendered it. This means that, at least for Calvinists, there is no way for God to "let go" and let the creatures do anything (strictly speaking) for themselves. There is no way out of saying "thank You" to God -- not that we want to avoid it, right? Whatever Adam rendered to God, that would have been decreed by God from before the beginning -- in such a way as to not take away liberty from the creature. But nevertheless, anyone who says that it would be possible for a creature to say, "God, I thank You for the chance to obey, but I cannot thank You for the obedience itself, for that is what I myself did," is not a Calvinist.

This is the voice of the immature man who doth protest too much that he is a worm before God. His tongue proclaims: "I'm a worm, God! I'm a worm!" while his Old Man - still in full control - is saying: "See how much of a worm I am because I admit it? Yeah, so what do these Calvinists have on me? I'm more aware than them that I'm a worm. God has to admit that too. None of them have anything on me."

Also, notice how Wilson, in this current free-fall disintegration, adopts so readily every extreme 'Calvinist' position he's read about. He's a neo-legalist, so he denies merit, or works; he's caught in the midst of a severe lack of understanding of God's sovereignty vis-a-vis man's free will, so he adopts determinism. And he's basing his doctrine on speculation as to what 'would have been' etc., etc., etc., totally missing that pre-fall Adam and fallen man are in two totally different and distinct categories regarding will and sin.

Doug: enroll in Westminster California. Be sure to sign up for one of Professor Clark's classes, just to keep yourself honest. Your vanity, your worldly pride, and your self-will, at this point, regarding doctrine and teaching, will only be defeated - potentially - if you enroll in an actual seminary and are forced to confront your many doctrinal confusions.