The sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man has been a topic that has been fought in many theological battlegrounds over centuries past, and we know that it will continue to be fought for centuries to come. Yet God invites us with a grand calling as we look into the souls of men that are perishing without hope and without God to desire such a weighty topic to impact us by having the right view of God, a proper perspective of our relationship to God and how it should impact our daily lives. The burden of the Lord to author this book is the desire for God to do that work in the heart of the readers as we peer into the beauty and glory of God.
Love and wrath. Sovereignty and responsibility. Victory and suffering. Some of the truths we read in the Bible seem to be in opposition to each other. We naturally tend to gravitate towards a side, but when we lose sight of one truth in order to protect the other, we are in danger of becoming proud, creating division, and diminishing our faith. In this compelling, inspiring, and at times provocative book, Adam Mabry urges us to stop taking sides and refuse to participate in tribalism by mapping out a way to hold in tension truths that we so often divide over. You’ll discover how our joy and our witness rest on us learning to hold to all that the Scriptures teach and growing in virtue as we do. You’ll learn how to wrestle with all that the Scriptures say, to embrace mystery, to listen closely, and to speak with clarity.
If God is in control of everything, can Christians sit back and not bother to evangelize? Or does active evangelism imply that God is not really sovereign at all? J. I. Packer shows in this classic study how both of these attitudes are false.
When was the last time we truly paused to meditate and study the crucially important doctrine of the sovereignty of God? In this book A.W. Pink unpacks the theology of the sovereignty of God for us in a way few others have before or after him. Pink dives into Scripture not only to define the sovereignty of God; he goes on to help us apply the doctrine to various aspects of our lives. Pink passionately challenges us to wrestle with and accept a higher, deeper and broader view of our omniscient and omnipotent King.
Who is regulating affairs on this earth today-God, or the Devil? That God reigns supreme in Heaven, is generally conceded; that He does so over this world, is almost universally denied-if not directly, then indirectly. More and more are men in their philosophizing and theorizing, relegating God to the background. Take the material realm. Not only is it denied that God created everything, by personal and direct action, but few believe that He has any immediate concern in regulating the works of His own hands. Everything is supposed to be ordered according to the (impersonal and abstract) "laws of Nature." Thus is the Creator banished from His own creation. Therefore we need not be surprised that men, in their degrading conceptions, exclude Him from the realm of human affairs.
A serious biblical and philosophical investigation of theological determinism: the idea that everything that happens has already been decided by God, including who will and won’t be saved. This book was written for those who are interested in, or troubled by, questions about God's sovereignty and human freedom and responsibility. Christian apologist John Lennox writes in the spirit of helping people understand the biblical treatment of these concepts. In this mind-bending review of the topics of theological determinism, predestination, election, and foreknowledge, Lennox: Defines the problem, considering the concept of freedom, the different kinds of determinism, and the moral issues these pose. Explores the range of theological opinion and unpacks what the Bible—especially the gospels and Paul's letter to the Romans—teaches about human and sovereign will. Addresses the question of Christian assurance: how can I know if I have salvation? This nuanced and detailed study challenges some of the widely held assumptions about theological determinism and brings a fresh perspective to the debate. This book is for anyone who's asked questions like: Is my decision to believe or disbelieve in Jesus actually my decision? Is it possible for a genuine believer to lose their salvation? How much free will do I really have? By the author of Seven Days that Divide the World and 2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity, Determined to Believe? will launch your consciousness into a fresh understanding and appreciation of this important Christian debate and help you think both biblically and logically about the human condition.
Both theology and philosophy wrestle with the tension that exists between the sovereignty of God and human response. In Christianity, this tension is particularly acute as God is understood to be both omnipotent and benevolent. This tension underlies numerous other questions: about the nature of God, the meaning of human freedom and choice, the concept of divine repentance, the reign of God and supremely, the significance of the incarnation. Dr. Carson brings clear, scholarly insights and finely-honed exegetical skills to this all-pervasive issue, seeing it not so much as a problem to be solved as a framework to be explored. He examines the sovereignty-responsibility themes in the Old Testament, intertestamental literature and in the theology of John's gospel and concludes with a reflection on the theological implications for ministry and mission today.
Are our pains and sufferings preordained and fixed by God, or are they the consequences of man's actions? Can the immutable Lord ever change his mind in response to our prayers? This dilemma of God's sovereignty and man's free will has been a quandary for the church for nearly two thousand years. Previous solutions (Calvinism, Arminianism, Molinism, and Open Theism) have not been successful in deciphering the enigma. The problem is now resolved by exposing the fallacies in man's claim that he is given no other choice but to do whatever the Lord foreknew and foreordained. Using the analogy of the dual nature of light, the ""quantum proposal"" affirms that man has alternative options that were created and foreknown by God within his predetermined boundaries. From Adam's fall in Genesis to Paul's ministry in the New Testament, alternative possibilities have always been offered. Men are free to choose among the given options and must live with the consequences, whether good or evil. This groundbreaking work is a must-read for all Christians who struggle with the dilemma of divine sovereignty and human's responsibility. ""I have long sensed that at least some of the confusion and controversy surrounding the sovereignty of God and the 'free will' of humanity has been sourced more in our theologizing than in God's biblical revelation. Nuance is often the first thing lost when topics become polemicized, as we are more concerned to prevail over a contrary position than we are to learn from it. . . . You will profit from Dr. Thai's corrections of deficient arguments and the pastoral savvy he demonstrates in applying his theological insights to the many practical issues with which people struggle."" --Randal Roberts, President, Western Seminary, Editor of Lessons in Leadership ""Lee Thai has done some wonderfully creative work here building from the quantum physics model into a way to connect God's omniscience/sovereignty and human choice. . . . Because Thai bypasses some of the endless wrangling with this age-old problem (dare I call it a foolish controversy in many cases?), he does the church a great service by helping people come to where they can trust the God of the Bible in the face of terrible disappointments in life and horrible results of disobedience."" --Gerry Breshears, Professor of Theology, Western Seminary, Co-Author of Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe ""For over two millennia, God's people have debated the relationship between divine sovereignty and human responsibility--or free will. . . . Lee Thai has applied logic and Bible study to the problem, and he offers a fresh solution, the Quantum Proposal, that also appropriates older wisdom. His work may not convince everyone, but I believe it deserves a careful reading."" --John DelHousaye, Associate Professor of New Testament, Phoenix Seminary, Author of Engaging Ephesians: An Intermediate Reader and Exegetical Guide Lee Thai, MD, is a board-certified anesthesiologist and an adjunct faculty member in Bible and Theology at Arizona Christian University in Phoenix.
