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Summary: How Does God's Control Work with Man's Will?
Review: A little book that will help the reader understand the relationship between the sovereignty of God and man's free will. Dr. Packer wrote this book as many young preachers in England were leaning towards hyper-Calvinism as a consequence of their discovery of the Puritan writers and reformed theology. Far from diminishing evangelistic zeal, the sovereignty of God empowers our efforts to proclaim the gospel!
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Summary: God's total control vs. Man's responsibility - An Antinomy
Review: An Antinomy Explained. Antinomy: a contradiction between two apparently equally valid principles or between inferences correctly drawn from such principles. This is what this book is all about. I used to constantly struggle with this issue and I'm glad to say that Packer helped me put it to rest in a logically and biblically consistent manner. If you don't believe that God is in total control of his creation your prayers are futile, and if you don't believe men/women are responsible for their actions it follows that we all should converge into a common destiny. This book will clearly teach you both, that God is Sovereign and that mankind will have to give an account. More specifically, Packer treats this issue in regards to evangelism (the proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ), as an activity for which each believer is responsible, and the gift of salvation (or gift of faith), as an activity that belongs to God. If you have not read it in five years, you should read it again, it is that good. EGM.
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Summary: Even Arminians Should Read This Book
Review: Even if you are not a full five point Calvinist you will enjoy this book by Dr. J.I. Packer. Dr. Packer dives into the issue of evangelism and God's sovereignty. Many have mistakingly concluded that Calvinists don't believe in personal evangelism and believe that if God wants someone saved then it is up to God to save them and not us. Dr. Packer examines this common fallacy and gives a biblical view of evangelism from a true Calvinist.
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Summary: Even Arminians Should Read This Book
Review: Even if you are not a full five point Calvinist you will enjoy this book by Dr. J.I. Packer. Dr. Packer dives into the issue of evangelism and God's sovereignty. Many have mistakingly concluded that Calvinists don't believe in personal evangelism and believe that if God wants someone saved then it is up to God to save them and not us. Dr. Packer examines this common fallacy and gives a biblical view of evangelism from a true Calvinist.
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Summary: Another great book!
Review: Have you ever wondered how a person who believes in Predestination can still be an evangelical? Well this book answers many of those questions in my opinion. I think that this book and the Master Plan of Evangelism go together really well.
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Summary: Another great book!
Review: Have you ever wondered how a person who believes in Predestination can still be an evangelical? Well this book answers many of those questions in my opinion. I think that this book and the Master Plan of Evangelism go together really well.
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Summary: God commands WHY?
Review: How does God choose to give an individual information about his own sinfulness? How does an individual learn about Jesus atonement for your sins? What makes an individual repent to God, because he has become awakened to his sins and need for forgiveness? J.I. Packer does not argue that God has chosen man to spread the message of salvation. That God commands all Christians to spread this good news. But the author does not accept the argument that the reason an individual accepts the gospel is based on the ingenuity of the giver of the word. No J.I. Packer believes that person would have been saved without that particular Christian telling God's word. Salvation comes from the Lord. God blesses His flock by granting them commissions to tell others about Jesus and the Grace of God. No one comes to the Father but through the Son. No one comes to the Son but who the Father has chosen. No man repents or seek for forgiveness of sin but through the workings of the Holy Spirit. All men choose the darkness. No man can convince him otherwise to seek the light.
Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God attempts to construct reason to individuals to share God's word to the unbeliever. Not to spread the word of God so others will coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, but because God commands the Christian to share God's word and to be disciples to those who accept Jesus as their personal savior. God decides who will be saved. It is an honor to be used by God.
Packer describes his ideas how the Christian should share God's word with unbelievers. Any preaching and/or evangelism should include the Lordship of Jesus Christ. No one should accept Jesus as Savior without counting the cost. no call for snap judgments as accepting Jesus as savior. No god chooses man to anguish over his rebellion against God, before coming to a decision whether to accept Jesus. It seems to the individual he is the one has come to the conclusion. Yes compelled by God, but wrought by God to change the person's thought patterns.
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Summary: Essential reading for all Christians
Review: In this short book [there are 126 pages in my 1966 edition] Jim Packer clearly shows us the importance of the Bible's teaching on God's complete control of the world and everything in it. He also stresses the importance of telling others about God's plan to rescue all put their trust in Jesus Christ.His book helps us to see that all Christians believe in God's sovereignty and show this by the way they pray. He tells us what the gospel is and what it isn't, which is one of our great needs today, no less than when this book was written over 40 years ago. He manages to present the essentials of this important topic, without ever using that theological swearword derived from the name of a Frenchman who has been much maligned. Charles Spurgeon would have been proud of him. I have knocked off a star, because I understand the book is exactly the same as it was when first printed, using language which is more masculine than anyone uses today, and based on the King James Version. This would make the book sound odd to many contemporary readers. If you are used to reading books that use such language and such an old Bible version, please add a star. While the whole book is worthy of reading, I think the first chapter is absolutely essential for all Christians to read, because it shows us clearly that although we may not like to think of God controlling the world completely, it is clearly the teaching of Scripture and is the very ground of our confidence that God will bring us safely to be with him forever if we trust in him, and the only basis for keeping on faithfully in presenting the gospel to everyone we can. Highly recommended.
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Summary: Excellent explanation, clear and concise.
Review: In this very intriguing topic, Packer clearly shows that Evangelism and The Sovereignty of God indeed walk side by side. Furthermore, he explains that the right understanding of Sovereignty of God will help us to face the seemingly impossible task of evangelism. I highly recommend this book specifically for those who are still trying to find an explanation for this topic.
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Summary: In Many Ways, Quite Helpful
Review: JI Packer has long been a prominent voice in evangelical theology, and many of his writings reflect solid teaching and wisdom. This book is no exception. This book makes an attempt to deal with one of the principle objections to Reformed theology particularly, and the sovereignty of God generally - if God is in control of everything and has already determined who will be saved, what purpose does evangelism serve? This book provides one of the more substantive responses to this objection. Packer makes clear early on that it is impossible to get around two clear Biblical teachings without jettisoning whole sections of the Bible. Those two clear teachings are that God is absolutely sovereign and fully in control, and that man is responsible for his own actions and will be held accountable for his life. These two truths, which appear to be in competition with each other, have long proven to be a formidable theological question for theologians of all stripes. Arminians are often accused of elevating man's responsibility and thus forcing a watered down version of God's sovereignty that appears to be in contradiction with Scripture. Calvinists are often accused of elevating God's sovereignty to the point where human beings necessarily become little more than puppets, and that this seems to be in conflict with Scripture. Finding a reconciliation of the two truths that continues to preach the two truths in a way that's faithful to what Scripture actually says is where the rub has been. In this book, Packer does not offer a detailed compatibilist proposal, but indeed affirms the classic Reformed understanding that God's complete sovereignty is undeniably expressed in Scripture, and that this is a significant issue when it comes to the topic of evangelism. The best section of the book is where Packer discusses the actual practice of evangelism and what it should look like. I think many readers will gain fresh insights about what evangelism actually is, and that Scripture is rather clear about what it is. Readers who are in the missions field or are in a heavily evangelistic role in their church or community will find this section to be very helpful, in addition to laypeople who are likewise called to evangelize the territory that God has given them. Packer concludes by eloquently discussing how evangelism, without the recognition that God is sovereign, is a worthless enterprise that will yield no fruit. Packer persuasively argues that those who believe that winning converts is based upon their own evangelism techniques or charisma are utterly out of touch with what Scripture clearly says about the human condition in its natural state and its complete unwillingness to grasp or accept the things of God absent a work of God in unregenerate hearts. And it is here that Packer proposes that the sovereignty of God, contrary to eliminating the need for evangelism, is actually the one sure-footed basis upon which to conduct fruitful evangelism. Packer repeatedly comments that regardless of one's views on election and predestination, God's sovereignty is not only complementary, but a necessary precondition to the human responsibility to evangelize effectively. He effectively shows that if we water down or compromise the sovereignty of God, Arminians and Calvinists alike have no Biblical basis to believe that evangelism will be worth anything, and this line of thought is quite helpful for Calvinists attempting to deal with the mainly Arminian objections to the impact the sovereignty of God has on evangelism. A good book.
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