The Cause of God and Truth

Rating:
Summary: A Hard-Shell Calvinist Classic
Review: Dr. John Gill was an ultra-strict Calvinist pastor in England. This book is his systematic dismantling of Arminian theology, topic by topic, and text by text. No stone is left unturned. This really is the book to own if you would like to read an exhaustive rebuttal by a Calvinist theologian against Arminianism. I would warn you against the very-small print. This edition has not been re-formatted, but rather I guess it must be a fresh reprint of an old version. Your mind may enjoy thinking about the theology, but your eyes will go buggy! Second, Gill habitually resorts to a chief weakness among Reformed theologians -- he re-interprets the texts in terms of the System, rather than re-interpreting the System in light of the text. There were numerous times when Gill's argumentation about an "Arminian" verse amounted to, "Well, we _already know_ that God can't/doesn't/won't, so therefore..." and then Gill devises the most ingenious and implausible interpretations I've ever read. This illustrates a chronic feature of Reformed theology -- it usually features philosophically air-tight logic, but stumbles over (or ignores) specific verses that just won't quite bend to fit into Calvin's Procrustean bed.

Rating:
Summary: A Hard-Shell Calvinist Classic
Review: Dr. John Gill was an ultra-strict Calvinist pastor in England. This book is his systematic dismantling of Arminian theology, topic by topic, and text by text. No stone is left unturned. This really is the book to own if you would like to read an exhaustive rebuttal by a Calvinist theologian against Arminianism. I would warn you against the very-small print. This edition has not been re-formatted, but rather I guess it must be a fresh reprint of an old version. Your mind may enjoy thinking about the theology, but your eyes will go buggy! Second, Gill habitually resorts to a chief weakness among Reformed theologians -- he re-interprets the texts in terms of the System, rather than re-interpreting the System in light of the text. There were numerous times when Gill's argumentation about an "Arminian" verse amounted to, "Well, we _already know_ that God can't/doesn't/won't, so therefore..." and then Gill devises the most ingenious and implausible interpretations I've ever read. This illustrates a chronic feature of Reformed theology -- it usually features philosophically air-tight logic, but stumbles over (or ignores) specific verses that just won't quite bend to fit into Calvin's Procrustean bed.