Grace for All: Predestination in the New Testament (Is it one big script?)

In the last post blogging through the book, Grace for All, we saw David Clines present to us the big picture of how one might understand predestination in the Old Testament. In this post I. Howard Marshall gives us a view of “predestinarian thought” in the New.

Marshall is a NT415xXkjORGL scholar and Professor Emeritus at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He has authored numerous commentaries and works of theology including the 2005 ECPA Gold Medallion winner New Testament Theology.

Marshall reminds us of the challenge that everyone who reads Scripture and studies theology has regardless of the views one holds.

it is one thing to state what Scripture says; it is another to understand it and to bring it into relation with the rest of what Scripture says.

In debates over soteriology, often a verse like Ephesians 1:4-5 is presented as a proof text for unconditional election because it states that we are chosen and predestined. Continue reading

Grace for All: Exploring Predestination in the Old Testament

David A. Clines, Emeritus Professor (link) at the University of Sheffield, has specialized in the Hebrew language and study of the Old Testament. In Grace for All, David seeks to summarize the predestinarian ideas found in the OT.

415xXkjORGLHe does this, not by focusing on a few passages, but by analyzing the larger themes found in four major collections of the Hebrew Scriptures.

  • Patriarchal histories in Genesis
  • Primeval histories in Genesis
  • Proverbs/Wisdom literature
  • Prophetic literature

In the essay Clines defends this approach and asks the reader to consider how they approach this topic in the Scriptures.

No doubt there are many reasonable inferences that may be made from biblical statements about predestination. But to be faithful to the Bible means in part to follow the Bible’s emphases and not erect mere inferences into essential biblical doctrine.

Continue reading

Grace for All: Grace is Personal

The essay … The Spirit of Grace, was originally written by William G. MacDonald (link) and was edited by John D. Wagner. 415xXkjORGL

The authors present a challenge to any theologian, one that is probably not considered often enough.

The most complicating factor for system building in theology is the personhood of God. … A force, idea, or principle is far more consistent and controllable in thought than a living personality …

It is not possible, the authors contend, to fully understand grace unless we first grapple with God as One who is living and dynamic.

The concept of the grace of God is grounded in the doctrine of God’s holy Self, his personhood

The authors challenge the “working definition” of grace, Continue reading