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Why are there wars,evil? All part of the plan.Reviewed by Sparkle, 2010-02-15
Proverbs 16:4: "The Lord has made everything for its own purpose,
even the wicked for the day of evil." (cf. 1 Peter 2:8; Jude 4;
Romans 9:22)
Revelation 17:17: Of the ten kings who wage war against the harlot
(Babylon) it is said, "They will hate the harlot (new city of
Babylon,Iraq) and will make her desolate (layed to waste) and naked
(undisguised,defenseless), and will eat her flesh and will burn her
up with fire (nuclear blast, see Hiroshima). For God has put it in
their hearts to execute his purpose . . ."
Therefore God's plan for history must reckon with unwanted evil and
suffering since these are "the price that had to be paid for
freedom and love to exist at all" (27.3).
God's strategy in history, then, involves maneuvering unwanted evil
to his good ends. In fact this very situation does not constitute a
defeat for God but rather gives him occasion to demonstrate his
greatness. "This is not to say that he wills evil himself, or even
that he willingly allows it, but such is his greatness that he can
use it for good" (93.3). "The great thing about God is that he is
able, in his foreknowledge, to make use even of those who rebel
against him. Thus, although Judas rejected him, God used his
rejection to set in motion the events leading to Christ's atoning
death" (123.4). "God does not directly determine everything that
happens and his glory lies partly in the fact that he triumphs in
spite of this" (25.5). Would God always want to be around
you?
Chapter on Job - worth the price of the book!Reviewed by Enyoyd Sannock, 2009-10-24
I had a hunch that Open Theism and the "New Perspectives" on Paul were compatible. This book brings the two streams together in a compelling way. Admittedly, the author's were preaching to the choir as I was reading. But regardless of your stance on openness or New Perspectives, you will appreciate a thorough argument. If you like Open Theism, you'll like this book. Many open theist concepts are in primitive form, but they germinate here to give quite a bit of insight. If you track with N.T. Wright, you'll also like this book. But most fascinating in this book is the appendix where the authors use a plethora of early church evidence to show that those who didn't believe in free will were the heretics of the early church.
Excellent Book written from the Arminian ViewReviewed by Kevin Jackson, 2009-09-18
The authors take a look at God's interaction with humanity, and
come to non-Calvinist conclusions.
There is in depth coverage of the scripture passages that
Calvinists use, such as Romans 9 and Ephesians 1. Their overview of
Romans 9 is masterful. They go into some detail about the Hebrew
words that we translate as "harden". They show how the meaning of
these words are inconsistently and inadequately translated into the
English language. This is relevant to God's interaction with
Pharaoh, and helps to give context to the "hardening" of Pharaoh's
heart in Exodus.
The book has an appendix that reviews the consensus of the early
church on the issue of free will. They argue that determinism in a
Christian context was an invention of Augustine. They point out
that Augustine was the first church leader to reject free will, and
the he came to his conclusions because he did not have an adequate
understanding of Greek.
There are two versions of the book out, the newer version is more
friendly to Open Theism, while the original version is more of a
classical Arminian view.
Refuting Calvinistic pointsReviewed by Spencer Gear, 2007-04-29
This is one of the finest books I have read that attempts to give a
biblical diagnosis of the extremes of some of TULIP Calvinism.
These authors exegete the Scriptures to show that some of
Calvinism's assertions against free-will don't stack up with the
Bible.
A sample from the word study on "Chosen and Elect" explains some of
their perspective: "Although God, in his foreknowledge, doubtless
knew which individuals would repent and so be joined by him to
Christ's body, this is not at all the same thing as picking them
out to make them repent. God's choice is not an individual one of
who should repent; it is a corporate choice of the church in
Christ. . . Those in the early church seem to have grasped much
more readily than ourselves the concept of being chosen in
Christ."
I have been troubled for years by the Calvinistic autocratic
determinism that leads to a predestination that seems to drag
people into the Kingdom of God. This is a scholarly and readable
biblical understanding that refutes the Reformed view of
election/predestination.
A Wonderful Treatise on Freewill and God's Plan for HumanityReviewed by P. Nesselrotte, 2007-04-15
A very well written book on the freewill of mankind and how God
interacts with him and works his plan for salvation, while yet
allowing man the freedom of choice and freedom. If you have ever
had difficulty harmonizing God's foreknowledge and freewill, this
book will provide you with tremendous insight and knowledge. This
book does a wonderful job of addressing the heresies of Calvinism.
I highly recommend this book for any one seeking answers.
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