Grace, Faith, Free Will addresses issues that have divided Calvinists and Arminians since the Reformation. Using historical, systematic, and Biblical theology, Robert Picirilli contrasts both views of salvation. His "Reformation Arminianism" reclaims the original beliefs of Arminius and his defenders.
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81 of 83 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Soteriology from the Arminian side,
By
This review is from: Grace, Faith, Free Will (Paperback)
I first ran into Picirilli when I was doing a research paper on foreknowledge and the Greek word proginwskw. He had a couple of articles in JETS that I utilized, and from there I learned that he was riding a book. I recieved it for my birthday and immediately began to read.To begin with, I am forced to admit that for the most part all the best books on Soteriology have come from more of a Calvinist direction. However, in Grace, Faith, Free Will, Picirilli has done an excellent job and provides an excellent counter to a lot of these authors. Picirilli does not rely on "whosoever will" proof-texting, so to speak. He gives a fair hearing to the Calvninistic arguments and applies solid exegesis to controversial passages. Though not perfect by far, his book provides perhaps the best defense of Arminian soteriology. The overall layout of the chapters is well done. His book is divided into sections of three chapters: the first chapter provides the Calvinistic viewpoint of a particular topic (e.g. limited atonement), the second chapter provides the common Arminian viewpoint, and the third chapter examines the key scriptural passages connected with that topic. The topics include total depravity, the atonement of Christ, perseverance, etc., basically all the major topics of soteriology. Picirilli excels at understanding his opponent's arguments. As he notes early on, it is essential that one be able to lay out one's opponents' arguments in such a way that they themselves will agree that you are being fair. Unfortunately, in my opinion, while Picirilli is fair in examining the Calvinist viewpoint, he does not quote from enough modern theologions (I was, for example, hoping to see him interact some with White's The Potter's Freedom). He relies too much on the 'classic' Calvinist's such as Shedd. Picirilli provides something that has been missing (to my knowledge) in the discussion of soteriology. He provides an in-deapth look at common Calvinistic rebuttals to common Arminian arguments (his treatment of the Calvinistic interpretation of "all" in such passages as 2 Peter 3:9 is masterful). In that sense Grace, Faith, and Free Will is essential for any serious collection of soteriology--besides arminians or "sub-calvinists" (including myself, by his definition), Calvinists will want it so they can examine and counter Picirilli's arguments. This book provides a good balance to well-written Calvinist books such as The Potter's Freedom, etc. While I certainly do not agree with Picirilli all the time, he makes a lot of good points that one might be hard-pressed to find elsewhere, and I do not hesitate to recommend this book
69 of 72 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Best on Refromed Arminian Theology,
By
This review is from: Grace, Faith, Free Will (Paperback)
Robert Picirilli's book is one of the best books that I have ever read on Arminism. Many books seem to get caught up in debating with various Calvinistic or Arminian authors on the subject of the five points of Calvinism or the free will of man. However, this is not the case with Picirilli. He writes with a goal, a focus, and a point.The book begins with an historical overview of the Calvinism/Arminism debate. He dives into the life of Jacob Arminius and shows that, contrary to various Calvinist historians, he was completely Reformed in his understanding of man (total depravity), God's sovereignty, and election. However, Arminius differed with his Calvinist brothers over the extent of the atonement (limited atonement), evangelism, and free will. He was not Pelagian in his thought but was Reformed and work from that understanding. Picirilli reveals that much of Arminius has been lost due to many of his followers reshaping his thoughts to become more humanistic despite Arminius refusal to do so. The book goes on to discuss salvation from both the Calvinist and Arminian viewpoints and then Picirilli gives his own Reformed Arminian view. The book is well written, easy to grasp, and will engage both Calvinist and Arminian readers. I highly recommend it.
58 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Excellent Defense of Reformed Arminianism,
By Steve Witzki (OHIO) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Grace, Faith, Free Will (Paperback)
Dr. Robert Picirilli is a Free Will Baptist scholar and theologian. He is a former professor of Greek and New Testament studies at Free Will Baptist College. For over 45 years he has been teaching, preaching, and writing Arminian theology. Picirilli stands for a very specific kind of Arminianism that he calls "Reformation Arminianism." This type of Arminianism holds to the following beliefs: total depravity; the sovereignty of God to control all things for the certain accomplishment of His will; God's perfect foreknowledge of, and the certainty of, all future events-including the free moral choices of human beings; the penal satisfaction view of the atonement, salvation by grace through faith and not by works, from beginning to end; and an apostasy that cannot be remedied. He demonstrates that these beliefs (apostasy being more implicitly implied than explicitly stated) are the teachings that Jacob Arminius defended from Scripture. He quotes from The Works of Arminius throughout the book and has provided a helpful index for each of these citations.This book is not filled with emotional rhetoric but is rather a simple and straightforward stating of the facts. Therefore, for some people, this will not be an "exciting" book to read. Nevertheless, it does serve in accomplishing his goal "to present both sides, so that the reader will know exactly what those issues are: to clarify understanding of both positions and help readers intelligently decide for themselves" (Forward, p. i). Picirilli begins by giving a brief biography of Arminius that helps to place the issues in their historical context. He then tackles the issues surrounding God's sovereignty, predestination, human depravity, grace, atonement, and perseverance. Picirilli takes great care in accurately representing the Five Point Calvinist position. He quotes mostly from three highly respected Calvinists: Louis Berkof, William Sheed, and Roger Nicole. I would have liked to have seen Picirilli quote from John Calvin himself, yet the people he chose are fine representatives of his theological system. Picirilli cogently defends conditional election and unlimited atonement. He wisely reminds his readers that "the extent of the atonement should be determined by Biblical exegesis rather than by the logic of one's system" (p. 90). It is Picirilli's detailed exegesis on 1 John 2:2 and 1 Timothy 2:1-6 in chapter seven that I found to be extremely valuable. He concludes this chapter with an important observation: All of us who handle God's word do well to remember that we do not honor Him with our interpretive ingenuity but with submission to what He says. To say, even to show, that a given statement can be interpreted in a certain way does us no credit at all. The question is always not what the words can mean but what they do mean, here. In 1 John 2:2 and in 1 Timothy 2:1-6, the most obvious meaning of "world" and "all men" is universalistic. In these cases, careful exegesis supports the obvious meaning. (p. 137) As to be expected, Picirilli defends the biblical doctrine of prevenient grace that Arminius so vigorously held to. He prefers to call the drawing and convicting work of God on all sinners as "Pre-regenerating Grace." I take it as simply an oversight on Picirilli's part, but he does fail to mention John 12:32 in his defense of pre-regenerating grace. This is unfortunate since this verse complements the drawing of the Father mentioned in John 6:44. In the last two chapters of the book Picirilli gives a solid defense for conditional security. There is a perceptive response that he makes "to Scriptures prized by Calvinists as teaching the necessary perseverance of the regenerate" (p. 200). He writes, Those passages, especially in the Gospel of John, which contain strong promises of (final) salvation to believers and are therefore thought to imply necessary perseverance can not be used for that purpose lest they "prove too much." . . . For example: John 5:24 John 3:36 Grammatically, if the first means that the condition of the believer can not be changed, then the second means that the condition of the unbeliever likewise can not be changed. In fact, neither passage is even speaking to that issue. The unbeliever can leave his unbelief, become a believer, and see life-thus escaping from the promise made to the unbeliever who continues in his unbelief. Likewise, the believer can leave his belief, become an unbeliever, and come into condemnation-thus escaping from the promise made to believers who continue in faith. Each promise applies with equal force to those who continue in the respective state described. (p. 200-201) Picirilli goes on to convincingly argue from Hebrews 6:4-6 and 2 Peter 2:18-22, that these two passages describe an apostasy that can not be remedied. His careful exegetical analysis has convinced me that he is correct in his conclusion. A compelling case for holding to Classical Arminianism has been made by Dr. Picirilli. Anyone who is interested in a balanced discussion and a strongly argued case for believing in conditional election, unlimited atonement, and conditional security would do well to read this book. We need more books written from this perspective that provide a detailed exegetical defense for the possibility of apostasy.
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