God's Strategy in Human History

Rating:
Summary: I really must point this out...
Review: ...as this is absolutely untrue and historically inaccurate.

"Any serious student of scripture knows that the tenants of Calvin's doctrine are heretical. From start to finish, his teaching has lead men and women into spiritual ruin for the last sixteen hundred odd years. Ask the Spanish physician, Michael Servetus, if Calvinism was a reflection of God's love and mercy for sinful mankind. Burned at the stake in Geneva on Oct27, 1553 by John Calvin himself, for 'doctrinal heresies', he suffered a most horrid death, as Calvin prolonged his execution by using 'green wood'."

Although I am not a Calvinist, this statement is nothing short of purest slander. In reality, Calvin pleaded for Servetus' life, asking originally that he simply be banned from Geneva rather than be executed. Then, when the city council proved determined to put Servetus to death, Calvin asked that the sentence be carried out by some means other than burning.

Thanks...just needed to clear that up.

As far as the book is concerned, this is excellent material from the founding pastor and one of the elders of London's Ichthus Christian Fellowship. It tries to take a 'middle knowledge' approach to the subject of Divine foreknowledge. Although that is a position which I myself do not agree with, I do believe that the author's have done an outstanding job in summarizing their arguments and present a cogent defense of their position. Well worth reading by all those interested in this timely and crucial debate within evangelical circles.

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Summary: One of my favorite books!
Review: Forster and Marston have delivered a stellar book that attempts to present an exegetical and Scriptural framework for the content presented in the book. Instead of beginning from a set of deductive theological assumptions and then attempting to support that system from Scripture, Forster and Marston examine Scripture and attempt to build their case directly from the text. The authors unabashedly admit that their views are very similar to those of Arminian and Weslyan traditions, but they state in the beginning of the book that they do not want to be labeled with these names, but want to construct a theology that is in line with the teachings of the first 300 years of Christianity. Anyone who reads their appendix will come to understand that the teachings presented in this book were the orthodox consensus of the early Church for the first 300 years, and that it was Augustine who introduced serious deviations into the mainstream orthodox Christianity of his time.

Forster and Marston begin by describing the battle that is being waged between God and the spiritual forces that oppose Him. They examine the book of Job and see how this relates to the overall struggle. Then the authors examine the 9th chapter of Romans to see if this book is dealing with election and individual destinies, or God's actions within human history. The authors do an excellent job of arguing for their opinion that this chapter is speaking about God's involvement in human history and it deals with God's choosing of one nation or individual over another nation or individual to accomplish His purpose. Other sections of interest in this book are the sections on foreknowledge and predestination and the chapters on faith and works. The section on faith and works was particularly interesting because it relies on much of the teaching of the new perspective which has shed much light on how a 1st century Palestinian Jew would have approached Scriptural issues. The research, argumenation, and exegesis in this book are solid so every chapter is excellent, but the ones mentioned above were two of my favorites.

There really aren't too many weaknesses I could find in this book. There were a lot of little printing mistakes so that was a bit annoying. Furthermore, there were times when the authors dealt with the teachings and writings of Open Theist's and seemed to be a bit sympathetic with them, but never said they agreed wholeheartedly with them. This group of scholars has come under attack from people from every perspective within the Christian Church, so it would have been nice to know definitively where the authors stand. Also, some of the arguments against Reformed teaching were too emotional, but that does not detract from the fact that there are also many biblical arguments against their teachings. Anyone interested in reading a scholarly study that defends free-will, God's love and desire for all to be saved, and explains how God interacts in the affairs of men, then this is the book to read. The Appendix with quotes from the early Church Fathers defending free will, and illustrating how Augustine's teaching was a 5th century invention is also invaluable. Without a doubt this is one of the best books available that discusses such issues.

Rating:
Summary: A well written book!
Review: I became aware of this book while reading "Election & Predestination" by Samual Fisk. If you want to read that the early church fathers teachings on what we call Calvinism this book is for you. If you wish to read a study of scripture without the Reformed baggage, this book is for you. If you wish to study after men who just rehash the standard Calvinist proof texts that they learned from others. This book is not for you.