A discussion of election in a perspective and spirit that will be quite novel to most theologians and ministers. The author contends that election can be understood only within faith, and within a spirit of doxology, for election takes place 'in Christ'. Hence election must be understood and employed in terms of the Gospel. He then repudiates theological usage which employs election and reprobation as a principle of interpretation for theology with the usual consequence of deducing from this truth a nice logical system of theology. Another powerful feature of this book is its criticism of the conception of the sovereignty of God and then makes it into a mere principle of naked 'abosolute power', and ethically neutral principle of brute force. [Book jacket].

This dogmatic study addresses two perennial questions. First, how do we reconcile God's sovereignty with human freedom, not just in general, but particularly with respect to the Church's full understanding of God's plan of salvation as a work of grace? Second (and equally crucial) is the question of how we reconcile God's universal salvific will with the mystery of predestination, election, and reprobation. The author of this study does theology within the normative tradition of confessional Catholicism, and thus in the light of Catholic teaching. But this study is also an ecumenical work, indeed, a work in receptive ecumenism, and hence he listens attentively to the reflections and arguments not only of his fellow Catholic theologians (Matthias Joseph Scheeben and Hans Urs von Balthasar) but also theologians of the Evangelical and Reformed traditions (John Calvin, Herman Bavinck, Karl Barth, and G. C. Berkouwer). This book concludes with a Catholic synthesis regarding the doctrine of divine election in dogmatic and ecumenical perspective.

The Divine Election of Israel offers a comprehensive examination of Yahweh's election of Old Testament Israel. By means of a detailed, incisive, and fruitful philological-semantic analysis of the Bible's Hebrew text, Seock-Tae Sohn explores the connection between election and other major themes such as covenant, rejection, remnant and restoration. Sohn traces the historical development of the idea of election, and delineates the New Testament reflections of Old Testament election imagery. His discerning study not only expands our understanding of election in the Scriptures but also powerfully demonstrates the linguistic richness and organic unity of the biblical text.

The original eight volumes now complete and unabridged in four! "Though scholarly in the true sense of the word, this work can also be read and understood by those not formally trained in theology." --Charles C. Ryrie

"James F. Keating and Thomas Joseph White have gathered here a selection of essays that consider how God's suffering or lack thereof can relate to our redemption from and through human suffering. The contributors - Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox - tread carefully but surely over this thorny ground, defending diverse and often opposing perspectives. Divine Impassibility and the Mystery of Human Suffering is an excellent contribution to the latest stage in this difficult and important theological controversy."--BOOK JACKET.

A brief, accessible inquiry into the wideness of God’s mercy in Reformed theology How broad is the scope of salvation? To explore this question, Richard J. Mouw draws on Scripture and a rich heritage of Calvinist theology. Mouw brings voices like the old Princeton theologians, Kuyper, and Bavinck into conversation with more recent voices such as David Engelsma on pertinent topics, including: • The salvation of unbaptized infants • God’s wrath and love for sinners • Problems with universalism • The number of the elect Learned yet approachable, Mouw explains how Christians can affirm God’s justice while holding hope for the wideness of his saving mercy. Congregations today face pressing questions about how to reconcile orthodoxy with empathy in increasingly pluralist neighborhoods and communities. For Reformed pastors, students, and interested laypeople, Divine Generosity serves as a biblically based, doctrinally sound guide.

There is much violence in the Old Testament, both human and divine. Christians and non-Christians react differently to what they read about the God of the Old Testament. Some people are so affected by the violence found in the Old Testament that they give up on God, stop going to church and reading the Bible, and eventually lose their faith. Others are offended by divine violence and seek to find an alternative explanation for the violent acts of God in the Old Testament. A popular alternative in the twenty-first century is to return to the second century and adopt some form of Marcionism and make the God of the Old Testament to be a different God from the God revealed by Christ in the New Testament. The purpose of this book is not a defense of God and his use of violence. The author seeks to understand why God acted the way he did and to understand the reason for divine violence in the Old Testament. Yahweh did use violence in his work of reconciliation. However, the use of violence was necessary when everything else failed. Israel provoked God to anger. When God brought judgment upon his people, he did so with tears in his eyes.

The medieval philosopher and theologian John Duns Scotus (1266-1308) was one of the great thinkers of Western intellectual culture, exerting a considerable influence over many centuries. He had a genius for original and subtle philosophical analysis, with the motive behind his philosophical method being his faith. His texts are famous not only for their complexity, but also for their brilliance, their systematic precision, and the profound faith revealed. The texts presented in this new commentary show that Scotus' thought is not moved by a love for the abstract or technical, but that a high level of abstraction and technicality was needed for his precise conceptual analysis of Christian faith. Presenting a selection of nine fundamental theological texts of Duns Scotus, some translated into English for the first time, this book provides detailed commentary on each text to reveal Scotus' conception of divine goodness and the nature of the human response to that goodness. Following an introduction which includes an overview of Scotus' life and works, the editors highlight Scotus' theological insights, many of which are explored here for the first time, and shed new light on topics which were, and still are, hotly discussed. Scotus is seen to be the first theologian in the history of Christian thought who succeeds in developing a consistent conceptual framework for the conviction that both God and human beings are essentially free. Offering unique insights into Scotus' theological writings and faith, and a particular contribution to contemporary debate on Scotus' ethics, this book contributes to a clearer understanding of the whole of Scotus' thought.

Examines how 1 Peter draws together metaphors of family, ethnicity, temple, and priesthood to describe Christian identity.