Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God

Rating:
Summary: Balancing Grace and Law
Review: A thin book examining the different ways that the bible describes the love of God, Carson discusses some difficult but worthwhile material. Don't be fooled by the brevity of this book which is theologically dense and probably worth reading more than once.

Do you believe in God's grace and salvation by faith and sometimes find yourself in conflict with those who would emphasise the Christian obligation to obey God's laws? Do you believe in the justice of God, his righteousness and wrath and sometimes find yourself in conflict with those who emphasise salvation by faith, not of works? Carson describes six different ways that the bible describes God's love and shows how these seemingly different concepts can be held in productive "tension" within the Christian life

Rating:
Summary: Brief but Excellent
Review: As other reviewers have mentioned, this book is adapted from a series of four lectures and only 78 pages long. Carson has kept an informal tone throughout the entire book. On the downsides, I think the book assumes at least some knowledge of Greek (which was fine for me, but may not be for everyone) and his discussion of theories of the atonement was rather limited--if you don't already know what Calvinism and Arminianism are, then his discussion of that issue will probably be somewhat cryptic. However, I think these drawbacks are minor and the book is excellent and definitely well worth reading. Do yourself a favor and purchase this book.

Also, this book is written by a Calvinist, and does carry Calvinistic presuppositions in places. I think this is fine (as I find Calvinism to be Biblical), but it is worth noting. The author's New Covenant Theology does not enter into the book at all, except maybe in the ABSENSE of discussion of covenants in any fashion (there is no concept of covenantal love, for example, in Carson's categorizations--really this is his fifth category, but he needed to expound on it), but this is forgiveable.

Rating:
Summary: So much stuff that gives glory to God, in so few pages!
Review: Oh what a great book! Very short you can read it in an afternoon but there is so much wisdom in the pages. Carson is not the greatest writer (in literary terms), but he always has something worthwhile to say. The basic premise of this book is great, and Carson's encouragement to see all the different forms of God's love, is crucial to our understanding of God and his love for us. The other great thing about this book (I think) is that whether a pastor, or (relatively) new Christian, or whatever this book is well worth five stars. I don't think I've read such a great 78 pages on foundational (not in the for 3 yr old sense) doctrines, often obscured by the culture we absorb and area part of.

You can tell that they were adapted talks, and sometimes he assumes a little too much knowledge, or doesn't justify himself enough, but I can't think of a better 3 hours reading. And as for the previous reviewers comment about a Calvinistic presupposition in the book, it doesn't come into the book very much at all, and seeing as it is a biblical supposition it is only right that it is not excluded.

Please buy this book.

Rating:
Summary: So much stuff that gives glory to God, in so few pages!
Review: Oh what a great book! Very short you can read it in an afternoon but there is so much wisdom in the pages. Carson is not the greatest writer (in literary terms), but he always has something worthwhile to say. The basic premise of this book is great, and Carson's encouragement to see all the different forms of God's love, is crucial to our understanding of God and his love for us. The other great thing about this book (I think) is that whether a pastor, or (relatively) new Christian, or whatever this book is well worth five stars. I don't think I've read such a great 78 pages on foundational (not in the for 3 yr old sense) doctrines, often obscured by the culture we absorb and area part of.

You can tell that they were adapted talks, and sometimes he assumes a little too much knowledge, or doesn't justify himself enough, but I can't think of a better 3 hours reading. And as for the previous reviewers comment about a Calvinistic presupposition in the book, it doesn't come into the book very much at all, and seeing as it is a biblical supposition it is only right that it is not excluded.

Please buy this book.

Rating:
Summary: The content is good but...
Review: The content is good but it lacks the flow and coherence of other Carson books. This may be due to the fact that it seems to be taken directly from talks he has given. Without the opportunity to ask questions (as would have been the case in the talks) the book leaves the reader with more questions than answers. John MacAurther's book on the love of God is better.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding, succinct treatment of God's love
Review: This book has only 78 pages of text, but it is worth reading and re-reading. In it, Carson carefully categorises the Bible's message about God's love. He shows how the different strands fit together. He affirms God's love for all the world and his particular love for those he has chosen. He shows how John can tell us in his gospel that God loved the world, but tells us not to in his first letter!

He discusses the popular, but recent interpretation of the meaning of two Greek words used in John 21 in more detail than he did in his excellent, earlier book "Exegetical Fallacies." Since reading his argument, I have become convinced of his view that the two words do not have great differences in meaning in the New Testament (or in the Greek translation of the Old Testament).

At times, Carson's writing is not easy to read, but this book is one of his most lucid.

Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Not Quite finished
Review: This is a good premliminary study of the doctrine of God's love as seen from a Compatabilist. That is, one who sees God's gracious election and human freedom not contradictory.

The problem is, that there are a couple of areas I am not sure about, and he doesn't go into anything here in enough depth to satisfy my questions. Carson is usually exhaustive, to see such brevity is thus unusual. It probably has to do with the format these chapters were taken from. (They are an adaptation of some messages he gave).

It is a VERY useful book, and a good read, but it will leave you wanting just a bit more depth.

Rating:
Summary: Useful categories, flawed presupposition
Review: This is a succinct work on an important topic. The categories the author sets up and works within are useful and informative, but require quite a bit of mental acumen to work through. The book's greatest flaw is a Calvinistic presupposition, which the alert reader must recognize and set to one side.

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Summary: A challenge to our contemporary (mis)understanding of love.
Review: What's so difficult about the love of God? Carson makes it clear that it is partly the way that `love' is expressed in modern society (where it has been devalued to the extent that it is either completely romanticised or becomes simply a synonym for sex). On the other hand, when we talk about the `love of God' we sometimes get caught using too narrow a definition (love seen as exclusively for the elect), or too broad (love for the world being so over-emphasised that there is no room left for judgement). Carson shows that God's love, as we should expect, is more complex than that. It is consequently more important and more wonderful. This is a great book because it deals with an important topic, in sufficient depth not to be simplistic, but not in such great detail that it becomes impossible to read. Well worth buying and reading (more than once).