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Election and Free Will: God's Gracious Choice and Our Responsibility (Explorations in Biblical Theology)

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Election and Free Will: God's Gracious Choice and Our Responsibility is what I believe to be the first volume in a series called "Explorations in Biblical Theology" (at least I could find no mention of previously published volumes). This book is written by Robert A. Peterson who is also serving as the Series Editor. The series is to include two types of books: some will treat biblical themes while others will deal with the theology of specific books of the Bible. Written for college seniors, seminarians, pastors and thoughtful lay readers, the volumes are intended to be accessible and unobscured by excessive reference to the original languages or to theological jargon. "Explorations in Biblical Theology is committed to being warm and winsome, with a focus on applying God's truth to life."

Peterson begins Election and Free Will with a defense of its existence. He outlines three reasons that we need a new book dealing with biblical teaching on election and the related topic of free will:

1.The need for graciousness in the debate about election. The debate about election has been marked, even recently, by a lack of grace. With a topic that stirs such strong emotions, Peterson sought to write a defense of the Reformed understanding of election that dealt fairly and graciously with its critics. 2. The tremendous scriptural witness to election. Election is a topic that receives a lot of attention within the pages of Scripture. If this is a topic God emphasizes in the Bible, it is a topic we should also emphasize. 3. The insecurity of contemporary life. In an age of insecurity, where we are prone to worry, we should renew our interest in the doctrine of election. "Within the Bible its function is largely to comfort the people of God and assure them that underneath all their meager efforts to live for him are God's everlasting arms to hold, protect, and caress them."

Peterson takes what is, in my view, a unique route to a defense of the Reformed view of election and free will. He first surveys the key ideas on the subject through the history of the church, moving from the church fathers all the way to the contemporary church and pausing on many key figures such as Augustine, Pelagius, Luther, Erasmus, Calvin, Arminius, Schleirmacher and Barth. He next moves through Scripture, dedicating a chapter to election as seen in each of the Old Testament; the Gospels and Acts; the General Epistles and Revelation; and then Paul's Epistles. The Pauline Epistles actually claim two chapters, with the second being an in-depth study of three key passages: Ephesians 1:4-5,11; Romans 8:29-30; and Romans 9:6-24.

Having surveyed election throughout the Bible and having shown that election is present from cover to cover, he turns to three final topics. First he explores free will, pointing out that to understand free will we must understand where biblical characters are located in the biblical story. After all, human free will has changed as the biblical drama has unfolded. The freedom Adam and Eve enjoyed is different than the freedom we experience today; the freedom we experience today is different than what we will experience in eternity. In what I feel is the book's strongest chapter, Peterson distinguishes between "freedom of choice" and "true freedom" and provides a biblical and thought-provoking defense of the Reformed understanding of free will. There is a false idea in the church, he says, that "the epitome of true freedom is the ability to choose between righteousness and sin. It is not. True freedom is the ability to love and serve God unhindered by sin." True freedom of the will waits for us when the Lord returns.

Peterson pauses to provide the Bible's story of election in a chapter I would suggest is an optional read and then moves finally to "Objections to and Applications of Election." In this chapter he handles objections and application at the same time, showing how common objections to this doctrine provide opportunity to apply it. After all, it is not enough to simply know that this doctrine exists and to know what it means. We must also live in light of it, and the author provides encouragement to do just that.

If Election and Free Will is indicative of the quality we can expect in the "Explorations in Biblical Theology" series, I look forward to reading the forthcoming volumes. This book fulfilled the goals set for it. Winsome and accessible, based on the Bible and consistent with Reformed theology, it will make for good reading for anyone who has struggled with these doctrines or who wishes to understand them better. I am glad to recommend it.

This was a good book, providing an overview of the biblical witness to election and a gracious review of opposing arguments. The book is billed as something targeted to seminarians or theologically engaged laypeople. I think that's overstepping a little. It's a very readable book, so it would appeal to more laypeople; but really doesn't get very deep into the arguments. I doubt it would hold up as a polemic for the position presented, simply because of its lack of depth. But very good nonetheless.

It's biggest pro is that the tone in which it addresses opposing positions is very generous and free from vitriolic language.

'Moralism is the making of performance - rather than grace - the standard or norm for acceptance.' p 17

As such, grace is the divine means whereby God achieves His purposes through fallible people. Peterson's appraisal of the historical accrual of Free-will Theism and Calvinism sheds much light on centuries of controversy, arranging the defendants and claimants as sheep from one fold - all in need of grace. The warmth and strength of an apologist who seeks to unite and not to divide is unambiguously clear and refreshing, for once. To be honest, as a Calvinist myself, much of what he says needed to be heard yesterday, as Peterson probingly pierces through the veil that has become a shield.

The path of least resistance is also proven to be that of most co-operation - without sacrificing the fundamental truth of God's universal love for a lost world. But what the church desperately needs to hear is the whole counsel of God, if we are to remain faithful in relating ourselves and our children as believers to the culture of post-modernism. And just this is what Professor Peterson believes Biblical Theology is capable of doing, hence this book being the first in a series of theological studies.

There is still a lot to commend itself in the sovereignty of God. Post-modernism has learnt to dispense with divine means, 'that is, when we make choices, we typically do not feel as though the outcomes are determined by external forces.' p 28 There needs to be an emphasis in homiletics on simple biblical truth that instills a recognition of providence and redemption as God's means of provision. To the degree we prayerfully search the Scriptures, to that degree we will find Christ and find life.

Most effectually, God elects as a fundamental act of divine love, whereby God then simply calls - God reveals Himself through the means of grace as a necessity to communicate salvation as originating with Him. Peterson is gracious in his appraisal of men like Finney and Wesley, when it is certain that they knew not the efficacy of Scripture in achieving the desired result God claims for it in the Gospel, for they also brought unwarranted assistance to their preaching on salvation, which bore resistance to the biblical doctrine of predestination, fearing its antinomy: the proverbial Esau being cast off from God's presence. The burgeoning recesses of Arminus was reproduced in its prime in their conception of soteriology, with all the anthropological force they could bring to bear fully evident in their revivals.

Professor Peterson demonstrates that election is taught in the choosing of the nation of Israel, and that God elected even from their own ranks individuals He would have lead them (His choice stated as divine) as patriarchs, and then kings, priests and prophets of the theocracy. 'It is remarkable that even though God owns everything that exists, He still loves and chooses Israel (Deut 10:15).' p 44 No more clear proclamation of God's purpose in election is available in Old Testament prophecy than that of the Messiah: 'When Isaiah writes of the servant of the Lord...in Isaiah 42:1 the prophet says: 'Behold My servant, whom I uphold, My chosen, in whom My soul delights; I have put My Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.' p 45 Peterson then reflects on the fulfillment of this minor biblical theme in Matthew 12:19, 20. This culminates in Professor Peterson's assessment that: 'It is Christ Himself who forges the theological link between the Old Testament election of the nation of Israel and the New Testament election of the church.' p 51 From there the exploration of New Testament texts continue.

This bold statement raises the bar, for Old Testament literature is never exclusively denotative to Arminians like IH Marshall and Clark Pinnock, the modern equivalents of Arminus. Professor Peterson fashions a covenantal pattern, shown in the vibrant imagery and figurative language of the Old Testament that others ostensibly deny. On the contrary, Marshall's commentary on 1 Peter is scant to the nth degree in maintaining a basis for election in the exegesis of the opening verse as predestination unto eternal life, further debilitating the doctrines of grace.

'In the 3rd Century, Origen moved in this direction (universalism), though on this and many other points the Church departed from him.' DA Carson, The Gagging of God p 142

From here on in the drive intensifies as Professor Peterson explores the theological diversity to its logical conclusions in an effort to re-assert that 'eternal life precedes faith' (p 69), reflecting the thought of Herman Bavinck: 'Toward the close of the sixteenth century the distinction between foreknowledge and foreordination began to be emphasized more and more.' The Doctrine Of God p 355 Though this reviewer is convinced this study yields theological dividends, at bottom level the composition of the Reformed doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, which Marshall unabashedly subordinates in redemption to the Arminian teaching of apostasy, will continue to thwart the objective unity sought by Calvinists and Arminians.

'Interestingly, God's telling Paul (Acts 18:10) that He has marked out people for salvation strengthens the apostle for ministry. Although some claim that an emphasis on God's sovereignty in salvation hinders evangelism, that emphasis had the opposite effect on Paul - it encouraged the apostle to continue preaching.' p 72