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Grace Unknown: The Heart of Reformed Theology

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In 'Grace Unknown', R.C.Sproul is concerned with answering the question, what is Reformed Theology? The first half of the book deals with 'The Foundations of Reformed Theology'. The five foundations are as follows: 1)Centered on God, 2)Based on God's Word Alone, 3)Commited to Faith Alone, 4)Devoted to the Prophet,Priest,and King and 5)Nicknamed Covenant Theology. The second half of the book gives a summary of 'The Doctrines of Grace' often referred to by the popular acrostic TULIP. Mr. Sproul never disappoints when it comes to analyzing terms that are used and how at times they can be misleading. For example, in the acrostic 'TULIP', the T stands for Total Depravity. Total Depravity is often thought to be utter depravity, which would mean that a person is as wicked as he could be. The author writes on p.118 ,"The term Total Depravity... refers to the effect of sin and corruption on the whole person." He then suggests that a better term to use might be radical corruption. Mr. Sproul's extensive knowledge of church history as it relates to Reformed Theology will give the reader much help in understanding how Reformed Theology and "The Church of Rome" differ. Historic Protestantism views the Bible as the only source of infallible revelation. Whereas the Roman Catholic Church has taught historically that there are two sources of infallible special revelation: scripture and church tradition. If you need or would like an answer to the question "What is Reformed Theology?",it would be difficult to find a more clear and concise answer to that important question than is found in the book "Grace Unknown".

Dr. Sproul's book should be required reading in any seminary that considers itself to be theologically conservative. Whether you agree with him or not,(I do) he has penned an easy to read instruction manual on the "Doctrines of Grace". If you don't have a complete understanding of Reformed Theology or "Calvinism" you must read this book. As for anything else that can be said about the book, read the review by Thuyen Tran. To Brother Tran - Amen and Amen!

To the previous person who made his claims: all of those claims are in errors. Calvinists do NOT hold to Calvin as some pope but merely defended the views of the five points, which was seen by them as biblical then, when those who held to views of Jacob Arminius remonstrated against those five points fifty years after Calvin's death! So, the five points of calvinism being same views as Calvin was incidental. Those who hold to the five points do so from biblical standpoint NOT because Calvin said so. Furthermore, the claim that Calvin did not hold to limited atonement is absurd. Anyone who makes that claim based on him citing verses that has atonement for world and all men apparently (apparently assuming falsely that calvinists do not hold to total and sola Scriptura, which they and Lutherans started the reformation to promote, as well as sola gratia, sola fide, sola Christos, and soli deo gloria) have never read Calvin when he defined what world, whold world, all men, every man, and whole human race means. In his commentary to 1 John, he asserted strongly that Christ did NOT atone for the reprobate, but that his atoning sacrifice for the whole world refers to the elect scattered all over the world. We see time and again how Calvin asserted that the atonement is for the elect only also in his commentary on gospel of John, especially on chapters 10, 11, and 17. The same goes for his views in his commentary on Romans, where he said on chapter 5, verse 18, that the atonement is common to all, but extended only to the elect, which is precisely the calvinist viewpoint (sufficient for all, but not only efficient but also designed for the elect). Read Calvin in Institutes of the Christian Religion on all men of 1 Timothy 2:3-4 and one sees that he holds to all men as all classes of people, and also that he does NOT seperate atonement and God choosing the elect for salvation. Another strawman the reviewer wrote was that holding to predestination was a view invented by calvinists to make themselves special. First of all, the calvinist view is that the elect can be calvinist, lutheran, arminian, etc, as long as that person believes and repents of his sins for the forgiveness of sins, that Christ secured at the cross. Second, the view of predestination and helplessness of man in sins apart from God's undeserved grace abounds in the Bible (Matthew 11:25-27; 22:14; Mark 13:20; Luke 18:7; John 1:12-13; 3:3-8; 5:21; 6:35-45, 61-70; 10:27-30; 12:39-40; 13:18; 15:16-19; 17:1-9, 20-26; Acts 13:48; Romans 1:18-32; 2:1; 3:9-20; 5:12-19; 8:7, 28-39; 9:6-24; 11:4-8; 1 Corinthians 1:18, 27-31; 2:14; 12:3; Galatians 1:15; Ephesians 1:3-12; 2:1-10; Colossians 2:13; 3:12; Philippians 1:6, 29; 2:12-13; 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5; 2 Thessalonians 2:12-13; Titus 1:1, 3:4-7; 1 Peter 1:2-5; 2:8-9; etc.). Third, NOT just Calvin and the calvinists held to predestination and denied man's free will of himself to repent, but also Athansasius, Augustine in his Enchridions especially, early councils of Carthage, Orange, and Valence, Aquinas in his Summa Theologica (on sections on predestination and reprobation, operative grace, denial of conversion when God offered grace to man by his free choice alone, etc.), Gottschalk, Thomas Bradwardine, Gregory of Rimini, John Hus, Wycliffe, Tyndale, Martin Luther, Martin Bucer, Zwingili, etc. These were various names that were throughout the first 1500 years of history BEFORE Calvin! IN fact, Calvin was taught by Bucer who learned from Luther! Finally, predestination is a view NOT for the arrogant of heart, but for those who truly recognized that they are helpness to sin no more apart from grace of God, and aside from that mercy of God they would of themselves remain His enemies, dead in sins and trespasses, like animals who cannot change their own stripes! (I wonder how theologians like Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, Charles Spurgeon, William Carey, Andrew Fuller, AA and Charles Hodge, James Dabney, Thomwell, John Owen, Lorraine Boettner, etc., could be mistaken that predestination is in the Bible, according to that logic of that reviewer who makes these claims of view being invented by calvinists.)

There may be no subject in Christiandom that is more misunderstood by the average church-goer than Calvinism or TULIP. It is sad to see so many who reject Calvinism based upon such wrong information. In this book, Dr. Sproul helps the reader understand the key issues of the Reformation and walks you through the so-called 5 points of Calvinism - Total Depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistable grace and Perseverence of the Saints. Dr. Sproul not only unfolds the historic meaning of these doctrines but explains how they have been misunderstood. This book is longer and more developed than his earlier "Chosen by God." In the earlier work he was dealing with election in particular. In this work he tackles a broader set of related issues. As always, Dr. Sproul is gracious and instructive even for those who disagree with him. The positions he rejects, he deals with Christian grace and love. He has the ability to instruct not only those how agree but also those who disagree. If you want to know the real meaning of Calvinsim or TULIP - regardless of your accepting it or not, you will profit from reading this book.

As a member of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley (John MacArthur), I am blessed to be well taught when it comes to reformed theology. Still, I found R.C. Sproul's book to be a very clear and concise "refresher course" on both the history of Reformed Theology (part 1) and the 5 points of Calvanism (part 2).

R.C. Sproul's book, Grace Unknown, is like the lense of a laser, bringing all the concepts of Reformed Theology into a clear and powerful focus. This book will be a tremendous help for those who have always had questions about concepts such as "Total Depravity", "Unconditional Election", and "Limited Atonement". It will also be helpful to those who question how or if God's sovereign election and man's "free will" can coexist.

This is the best book on Theology I have read in a long time, and is well worth the short amount of time it will take to read.

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths."- 2 Timothy 4: 3-4

These words of Paul have proven to be increasingly prophetic in out time. This is particularly demonstrated in these very reviews in one from a reader in Atlanta. We need to quick subjecting the Bible to our own wretched biases and let it speak for itself. I spent many years locked in the prison of an arminian/open view of God. Then, one day when reading Romans 9, I couldn't lie to myself any longer.

This book has since helped me to have a complete grasp on the biblical God, and my life has been all the more enriched. We are living in a world where we have no knowledge of scripture and where we have no knowledge of theology. We want "spirituality" without truly striving to grasp the awesome totality of the Holy God. Whatever happened to loving God with all our minds?

If you want to hold onto your worldview, don't read this book. Go ahead and slander it, and you might as well slander John Calvin and all the other men(listed in another awesome review on this site) who lived and died on this passion. If you want to discover God in all His richness and love Him for who He is, let him speak to you through this book. Many thanks to R.C. Sproul for being used by God in writing this. May He bless you on your journey.

This is my first reading of a book expounding upon the specifics of Reformed Theology, and also my first book by R.C. Sproul. I highly recommend both this book and his work in general. After realizing that I never really understood just what "Reformed Theology" really was, I decided to read this book to find out. It's split into two parts, the first covering the basics of Reformed Theology itself (Faith Alone, Covenant Theology, etc.) and the second covering the 5 Ponts (TULIP).

As entire volumes have been written about each topic he covers, this book is by no means exhaustive. Nor is it intended to be. I found his introduction to just about all the topics to be easy to read and very enlightening. Of all the chapters, the one covering Covenant Theology was the only one I thought was lacking in sufficient detail...I'm still not sure exactly what this encompasses, or how many covenants are in view (Sproul lists 3, many other sources only refer to 2).

I'm still not convinced of the correctness of Calvinsim (nor of any other specific system, for that matter). But one thing that became glaringly clear is that almost everything I thought I knew about it was really a misunderstanding, and that almost every argument I've ever read against Calvinism in fact distorts the real positions. I began by being steadfastly opposed to Calvinism...how could a just God pick and choose who's saved arbitrarily, etc. It's now much more agreeable to me, and that's largely due to this book. I'm investigating other sources now and continuing to learn.

I highly recommend the R.C. Sproul Digital Library, which I've ordered. It contains many of his books and audio/video lectures, all of which are excellent regardless of whether you agree with his conclusions. Go to www.ligonier.org to check out all his materials.

I simply cannot believe it. I never thought it would happen. Lo and behold, I have become a 5-point Calvinist.

Sproul presents a cogent argument for Reformed Theology (5-point Calvinism). Learn about the Sovereignty of God and the depravity of man.

I discovered what Calvinism *was* through reading this book. What I *thought* Calvinism was, and what it really *was* were two different things. But Sproul made it crystal clear--and I'm convinced! To God ALONE be the glory!

If you've ever wondered "What is Calvinism?" then you'll want to read this book. Even if you're not convinced, at least you'll have a good understanding of the doctrinal position.

Sproul has written a fairly approachable explanation of God's sovereignty and our means of salvation. Where legitimate controversy exists both arguments are presented, and the reformed conclusion is explained. The whole of the Bible is considered, not just a few "proof texts" (as our Arminian brothers are fond of quoting) and Sproul does a good job of making involved reasoning clear.

R.C Sproul is well known by all in the Christian world. He is a Calvinist and a reformed theologian. In this book he sets out to explain what his theological background is. So the first half of the book he explains what the foundation of Reformed Theology is which is based in GOD himself. The second half deals with what is controversy today in the Christian church a doctrine that people often misunderstand and misrepresnt. The doctrine known as Calvinism or TULIP. Many people and scholar( Norman Geisler) and authors like Dave Hunt and George Byrson and also Hank Hanegraaff often misrepresent Calvinism. In this book R.C. Sproul explains it well. Great Work,......