Sproul on the Arminian concept of Prevenient Grace

R. C. Sproul explains the Arminian concept of prevenient grace in his book Chosen by God (Tyndale, 1994).

p. 123-125 As the name suggests, prevenient grace is grace that “comes before” something. It is normally defined as a work that God does for everybody. He gives all people enough grace to respond to Jesus. That is, it is enough grace to make it possible for people to choose Christ. Those who cooperate with assent to this grace are “elect.” Those who refuse to cooperate with this grace are lost. 

The strength of this view is that it recognizes that fallen man’s spiritual condition is severe enough that it requires God’s grace to save him. The weakness of the position may be seen in two ways. If this prevenient grace is merely external to man, then it fails in the same manner that the medicine and the life preserver analogies fail. What good is prevenient grace if offered outwardly to spiritually dead creatures?

On the other hand, if prevenient grace refers to something that God does within the heart of fallen man, then we must ask why it is not always effectual. Why is it that some fallen creatures choose to cooperate with prevenient grace and others choose not to? Doesn’t everyone get the same amount?

Think of it this way, in personal terms. If you are a Christian you are surely aware of other people who are not Christians. Why is it that you have chosen Christ and they have not? Why did you say yes to prevenient grace while they said no? Was it because you were more righteous than they were? If so, then indeed you have something in which to boast. Was that greater righteousness something you achieved on your own or was it the gift of God? If it was something you achieved, then at the bottom line your salvation depends on your own righteousness. If the righteousness was a gift, then why didn’t God give the same gift to everybody?

Perhaps it wasn’t because you were more righteous. Perhaps it was because you are more intelligent. Why are you more intelligent? Because you study more (which really means you are more righteous)? Or are you more intelligent because God gave you a gift of intelligence he withheld from others?

To be sure, most Christians who hold to the prevenient grace view would shrink from such answers. They see the implied arrogance in them. Rather they are more likely to say, “No, I chose Christ because I recognized my desperate need for him.”

That certainly sounds more humble. But I must press the question. Why did you recognize your desperate need for Christ while your neighbor didn’t? Was it because you were more righteous than your neighbor, or more intelligent?

The $64 question for advocates of prevenient grace is why some people cooperate with it and others’ don’t. How we answer that will reveal how gracious we believe our salvation really is.

The $64,000 question is, “Does the Bible teach such a doctrine of prevenient grace? If so, where?”

We conclude that our salvation is of the Lord. He is the One who regenerates us. Those whom he regenerates come to Christ. Without regeneration no one will ever come to Christ. With regeneration no one will ever reject him. God’s saving grace effects what he intends to effect by it.

Dr. Sproul closes his book describing the quest for understanding predestination as much more than an emotionally dead theological mind exercise, which is the common view of most evangelical Christians today.

p. 213 Let me close the book by mentioning that soon after I awoke to the truth of predestination I began to see the beauty of it and taste its sweetness. I have grown to love this doctrine. It is most comforting. It underlines the extent to which God has gone in our behalf. It is a theology that begins and ends with grace. It begins and ends with doxology. We praise a God who lifted us from spiritual deadness and makes us walk in high places. We find a God who may be against us. It makes our souls rejoice to know that all things are working together for our good. We delight in our Savior who truly saves us and preserves us and intercedes for us. We marvel at his craftmanship and in what he has wrought. We skip and kick our heels when we discover his promise to finish in us what he has started in us. We ponder mysteries and bow before them, but not without doxology for the riches of grace he has revealed:

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! … For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33, 36)

Close Encounters of the Wrong Kind

So says Christian Research Net: 

“In 2006 Tony Jones of the Emergent Church, wrote a little book called Divine Intervention: Encountering God Through the Ancient Practice of Lectio Divina. Of course it was endorsed by his friend “author/networker” Brian McLaren – whom Jones lists among his “faith heroes.” McLaren says that Jones has provided “an important resource” for the “spiritual formation” of your youth.

“In a new article by Ken Silva at Apprising Ministries you’ll clearly see that what they aren’t telling you is that this so-called spiritual formation is the counterfeit Christianity of contemplative spirituality which flowered in the antibiblical monastic traditions of apostate Roman Catholicism. The grave spiritual danger is these so-called “ancient spiritual practices” are in reality doctrines of devils which came through seducing spirits and are the modern equivalent of sacrificing your youth through the spiritual fire of Molech.”

Beckwith and his return to Rome

“Christianity Today seems particularly thrilled with Francis Beckwith’s very public return to the Roman Catholic Church. In this puff piece/interview with Beckwith, CT makes the man’s sellout to Rome’s false gospel seem as though it was just a little course correction.”  So goes the hard-hitting comment on the Beckwith saga from Ingrid Schlueter at Slice of Laodicea.

“Beckwith makes Rome’s teachings on justification look just A-OK with the Bible, claiming that the misunderstanding of the centuries is just the result of a clumsy articulation of the issue by Catholic laity.  I have a very non-academic word to describe Beckwith’s view: hogwash.”

To give a little insight into the Romanism Beckwith is now embracing, The Slice recommends the story of Richard Bennett’s conversion to Christ after his life as a priest in the Roman Catholic church, HERE.

Richard Bennett’s book Catholicism: East of Eden, Insights into Catholicism for the 21st Century (Berean Beacon Press, 2005) is reviewed by Iain Murray HERE.  “Bennett’s work destroys any idea that the Roman Church has so moderated its beliefs that the old controversies are obsolete today.”  The issue for Bennet, says Murray, “is quite as serious as the collision between apostolic Christianity and the Pharisees.”

The deception of “The Secret”

“Friends, it is difficult to imagine a message more contrary to the Bible than The Secret. There is nothing new in it but merely a repetition of the original lie—“You shall be like God.” The fact that so many Christians—and especially young people—have fallen for it is a reminder of the great task before us.”

 

That’s how Sean McDowell concludes his summary review of The Secret at Christian Worldview Network.  This best-selling phenomenon published by Simon & Schuster (book and DVD version) is sadly deceiving many Christians.  Sean describes the basic elements of The Secret as: Gnosticism, materialism, self-centeredness, universalism, entitlement,  and feel-goodism.

 

“The book is based on the law of attraction, which is the idea that our thoughts determine reality. In other words, the universe will rearrange itself in response to our thoughts and feelings. And according to the author, the law of attraction works every time, like the law of gravity.”

 

It is highly recommended by today’s spiritual guru Oprah Winfrey, which ought to be enough to raise a huge red flag to discerning Christians.

 

Pierced for our Transgressions

Pierced for Our Transgressions: Rediscovering the Glory of Penal Substitution
by Steve Jeffery, Mike Ovey, and Andrew Sach (IVP, March 2007)
Forward by John Piper

An increasing number of theologians and church leaders are questioning the doctrine of penal substitution. The authors offer a fresh re-articulation of the doctrine and its central role, and engage over twenty specific objections that have been brought against it. Although this is the historic Christian view, it has recently come under attack.  Controversy has raged since 2003 when Steve Chalke, founder of the Oasis Trust, likened the doctrine to ‘a form of cosmic child abuse.’

“This extended declaration and defence of the penal substitutionary view of Christ’s atoning death responds to a plethora of current criticisms . . . with a thoroughness and effectiveness that is without parallel anywhere . . . I hail this treatise as an epoch-making tour de force.” J. I. Packer

“This book deserves the widespread circulation achieved by corresponding contributions a generation ago – those of Leon Morris, Jim Packer and John Stott.” D. A. Carson

“. . . I commend this book for its comprehensive and fair scrutiny of the many objections brought against the doctrine of penal substitution in recent years.” I. Howard Marshall

A U.S. edition will be published by Crossway in November 2007.  Until then it is available through IVP and Amazon UK, which offer international shipping.

ESV to issue new Literary Study Bible

This new offering is edited by Leland Ryken and Philip Graham Ryken — available in September. The following is extracted from promotional material HERE: 

The ESV Literary Study Bible approaches the Bible as literature and shows how the application of literary tools of analysis helps tremendously in reading and understanding the Bible. Readers are introduced to the literary features of each book of the Bible and to each section within each book.

“Any piece of writing needs to be assimilated and interpreted in terms of the kind of writing that it is,” write the coeditors. “The Bible is a literary book in which theology and history are usually embodied in literary forms. Those forms include genres, the expression of human experience in concrete form, stylistic and rhetorical techniques, and artistry. . . . [The use of these forms] has been inspired by God and [they] need to be granted an importance in keeping with that inspiration.”

The Literary Study Bible is two Bibles in one. It is a reader’s Bible by virtue of its format, designed to facilitate reading through the Bible. An important feature of that format is the division of the biblical text into units of a length that invites devotional reading day by day, each unit preceded by helpful tips for reading the passage that follows. The Literary Study Bible is also a study Bible. The commentary that appears before each passage contains tips, not only for reading, but also for analysis. Furthermore, the format and commentary make this Bible ideal for use in group Bible studies. Study leaders can use the commentary to help organize their thoughts about a passage and formulate a series of discussion questions.

Download a 16-page brochure (1.3MB PDF) with sample pages from The Literary Study Bible.

Girardeau and his classic work

John L. Girardeau (1825-1898), a southern presbyterian theologian and Professor of Didactic and Polemic Theology at Columbia Seminary.  Girardeau, who studied under James Henley Thornwell, was a strong Calvinist in the Westminsterian tradition.  Perhaps his most notable work is the book Calvinism and Evangelical Arminianism: Compared as to election, reprobation, justification, and related doctrines.   

My copy of this book is the 1984 Sprinkle Publication of 550+ pages.  It is a masterful rebuttal of the arguments and passages used in support of Arminianism.  Girardeau steadfastly adheres to the sovereign grace of God throughout the book as he shows the confusions, misinterpretations, and inconsistencies of evangelical Arminianism.

You should be pleased to know that Lance Marshall has just added an online version of Girardeau’s book to his growing collection of theology resources.  Thanks, Lance!  I have not seen this online anywhere else.

Plantinga slams Dawkins and his book

Alvin Plantinga, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, is not only the most influential Christian philosopher alive today, but also one of the most respected philosophers of religion from any persuasion. He recently reviewed Richard Dawkins’s The God Delusion for Christianity Today. (as noted by Justin Taylor)

As Platinga reports, “The God Delusion is an extended diatribe against religion in general and belief in God in particular.”

He goes on to say: “Now despite the fact that this book is mainly philosophy, Dawkins is not a philosopher (he’s a biologist).  Even taking this into account, however, much of the philosophy he purveys is at best jejune.  You might say that some of his forays into philosophy are at best sophomoric, but that would be unfair to sophomores; the fact is (grade inflation aside), many of his arguments would receive a failing grade in a sophomore philosophy class. This, combined with the arrogant, smarter-than-thou tone of the book, can be annoying.  I shall put irritation aside, however and do my best to take Dawkins’ main argument seriously.”

Plantinga’s entire review is worth a read, and may be found HERE.  BTW, I had to look up jejune. It means lacking significance or showing a lack of maturity.

Peter Van Mastricht

Peter Van Mastricht (1630-1706) was a German-Dutch theologian who studied at Utrecht under Gisbert Voetius.  He held pastorates in Germany and Denmark before accepting a position as professor of Hebrew and practical theology at Frankfurt, and later at his alma mater. Van Mastricht is probably best known for his Theologia Theoretico-Practica (1682-87), a comprehensive and infuential work that was translated into Dutch and won much acclaim. Van Mastricht deeply shaped the experiential piety of the “Nadere Reformation” in the Netherlands, as well as larger currents of Reformed theology, even within English-speaking divinity from the late 17th century onward.

Jonathan Edwards wrote to young Joseph Bellamy in 1747 that this work of Van Mastricht was “. . . much better than Turretin, or any other book in the world, except the Bible, in my opinion.” Edwards incorporated many of Van Mastricht’s ideas in his famous book, The Freedom of the Will.

A section from his Theologia Theoretico-Practica on the topic of regeneration was translated and first published in English in 1770. Thankfully, it was re-issued in 2002 as A Treatise on Regeneration (SDG Press), edited by Brandon Withrow.  Van Mastricht’s treatment of regeneration is, in many respects, typical of the late 17th century and many aspects would be readily recognized, particularly the explanation of regeneration as an instantaneous introduction of a new principle of life into the heart by the Spirit, logically prior to faith.

This book is not currently available at Amazon, but may be found at Monergism Books.

John Owen on Sin and Temptation

Overcoming Sin and Temptation (Crossway Books, 2006)
Edited by Kelly M. Kapic and Justin Taylor
Foreword by John Piper

“John Owen’s three classic works on sin and temptation are profoundly helpful to any believer who seeks to become more like Jesus Christ. In this volume, the editors have made Owen’s language more accessible without sacrificing any of his wonderful content. It is a uniquely accessible edition of John Owen’s previously daunting work.”

This new book is available online in Google Print or PDF via http://www.johnowen.org/

[HT: Justin Taylor]

Jonathan Edwards Online

I picked up this info from Darrin Brooker’s blog, Running Well, and thought it worth passing on: 

The Works of Jonathan Edwards are now available online here; fully searchable.  If you register, you are given your own “workspace” which allows you to save works of interest in folders as you work through Edwards. It also gives you an edited view as well as a manuscript view; a digital view how it was written by Edwards in the original. What a great resource!

New book on Arminianism

There’s a new book hitting the shelves right about now.  It is Roger Olson’s Arminian Theology: Myth and Realities (IVP, 2006).  I haven’t read it yet, but it is already being heralded as a definitive justification of Arminianism as a legitimate evangelical theology — supposedly answering the mean-spirited and ill-founded charge of “Semi-Pelagian” by Calvinists. I’ll share what I know, you can check it out yourself.

In his new book, Olson says that claiming Arminianism to be essentially Semi-Pelagian is wrong. He contends that poor old James Arminius (or Jacob Arminius) has been misunderstood and libeled by Calvinist theologians past and present. He maintains that the teachings of Arminius, while suggesting a departure from the Belgic Confession, were completely evangelical and rooted in the principles of the Reformation. In doing so, he attempts to distinguish between Arminianism-of-the-heart and Arminianism-of-the-head:

The Grace of God, the Bondage of the Will

Time for a little Book talk again.  It’s not a new book, but following the last post on “Arminianism exposed,” I decided to recall one for you entitled The Grace of God, the Bondage of the Will, edited by Thomas Schreiner and Bruce Ware (Baker Books, 1995) ISBN: 0801020034.  Unfortunately, it may not be readily available (like from Amazon) since it has been out for so long, but if you don’t have it you should look for it.

This collection of essays (in two paperback volumes) represents one of the few recent treatments of classic and modern Arminianism.  The essays by R. Muller on Arminius’ rationalism, Tom Nettles’ article on Wesley and his followers, Tom Schreiner’s critique on the Wesleyan notion of Prevenient Grace, and D. A. Carson’s article on Assurance, to name a few, are stimulating and very informative .

Two older but popular books edited by Clark Pinnock promoting Arminian theology may have served as a stimulus for these two volumes by Schreiner and Ware.  The connection may be seen in the title of the later one: The Grace of God, The Will of Man: A Case for Arminianism (1989).  The earlier of the two was Grace Unlimited (1975) .  These too are in themselves worthwhile for seeing the attempts of modern Arminians to justify themselves.

In case you can’t find the original volumes edited by Schreiner & Ware, there is a newer book out entitled Still Sovereign: Contemporary Perspectives on Election, Foreknowledge, and Grace (Baker Academic, 2000).  Fortunately, this one is available at Amazon.  The fourteen chapters of Still Sovereign were originally part of the two-volume publication above. 

It’s a Library Thing

If any of you fellow theologs would like a way to catalog books from your library online, here is a site I am trying out: http://www.librarything.com/

You can register and catalog up to 200 books for free.  Above that you must pay a subscription fee.  If your blog sidebar allows javascript, you can even have random selections from your library catalog show up there.  My blog here at WordPress doesn’t allow javascript.  But you can add a link to your library in the sidebar as I have done.

It may be fun to view the libraries of friends in the blogosphere sharing the info and finding topics for discussion if nothing else.

New Book on Evangelical Hermeneutics due out

There’s a new title coming out next spring from IVP:

Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics: Foundations and Principles of Evangelical Biblical Interpretation, by Graeme Goldsworthy (320 pages, due out March 2007).

Quoting IVP’s About the Book:

“The focus of Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics is not word studies but ‘Word study’: a sustained reflection on the priority and centrality of the good news concerning Jesus Christ as the distinct way that Scripture interprets Scripture and, indeed, all of reality. Goldsworthy’s attention to the role of biblical theology in biblical interpretation is particularly welcome, providing a refreshing contrast to what often gets produced by the contemporary hermeneutics industry. And by highlighting the gospel of Jesus Christ, he puts the evangel back into evangelical hermeneutics.” —Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

While there are many books on hermeneutics, Graeme Goldsworthy’s perception is that evangelical contributions often do not give sufficient attention to the vital relationship between hermeneutics and theology, both systematic and biblical.

In Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics, Goldsworthy moves beyond a reiteration of the usual arguments to concentrate on the theological questions of presuppositions, and the implications of the Christian gospel for hermeneutics. In doing so, he brings fresh perspectives on some well-worn pathways.

Part I examines the foundations and presuppositions of evangelical belief, particularly with regard to biblical interpretation.

Part II offers a selective overview of important hermeneutical developments from the sub-apostolic age to the present, as a means of identifying some significant influences that have been alien to the gospel.

Part III evaluates ways and means of reconstructing truly gospel-centered hermeneutics.

Goldsworthy’s aim throughout is to commend the much-neglected role of biblical theology in hermeneutical practice, with pastoral concern for the people of God as they read, interpret and seek to live by his written Word.

HT: Justin Taylor for pointing this out.