Hey folks...I've read several books but have not gotten the reviews posted. I'll be posting several reviews over the next week. I messed up my listing of the books in the order I was going to read them, so I'll be posting a new order of the next 5 books. Sorry about that if you're trying to read along.
Chosen But Free
By Norman Geisler
2nd edition
By Norman Geisler
2nd edition
Book Summary
Chosen But Free (CBF) enters into the world of the centuries long debate between Calvinism and Arminianism. To be brief, these are two systems of theology with differing views on the process and outworking of salvation in our lives. They can be summarized in this fashion. Calvinism affirms the following 5 things and Arminianism denies them…
• Total depravity – humanity completely dead in our sins
• Unconditional election – God elects unto salvation based on his will
• Limited atonement – Christ died only for the elect
• Irresistible grace – God will save those he intends to save
• Perseverance of the saints – the elect persevere to the end, thus proving their salvation
The subtitle of CBF is “A Balanced View of Divine Election.” Thus the purpose of the book is to try and forge a middle ground between Calvinism and Arminianism. Geisler claims to hold to a position he calls “Moderate Calvinism” (more about terminology below).
Book Review
CBF is a poorly written book for such a notable author. I will list what I consider to be two of the more significant problems for the book.
1. Terminology. Geisler introduces so many terms that it is practically impossible to know what he’s talking about sometimes. Geisler uses all of the following terminology without explaining what he means: Calvinist, Extreme Calvinist, Strong Calvinist, Less-strong Calvinist, Staunch Calvinist, Moderate Calvinist. Nobody knows what each of these terms means so it makes reading the book incredibly difficult.
The only one of the above terms that Geisler defines is “extreme Calvinism.” On page 47 he defines extreme Calvinism as, “God’s predetermination…independent of His foreknowledge of human free acts.” This is not extreme Calvinism. This is the position of historic Calvinism which flowed out of the Reformation and from Calvin himself. Calvinists believe in unconditional election. That is, election is not based on anything that God foresees in us. It is based only on his will.
He does the same thing again on pages 56-57 where he calls 5-point Calvinism, “Extreme Calvinism.” He is simply redefining terms.
So, my understanding of what Geisler is doing in the book is that he is trying to label Calvinism as “extreme Calvinism” in an effort to make it easier to dispatch of. Think about it, labeling something as “extreme” makes is sound like only crazy people would believe this.
2. Ripping Scripture Out of Context. This was by far the biggest disappointment of the book. Geisler is a well-known scholar, but his exegetical work in CBF is terrible. Biblical scholars with Ph.D.’s know better than to try and prove theological points by taking verses out of context. This makes me think that Geisler’s overarching commitment in this book is not faithfulness to Scripture but rather the maintaining of a theological point-of-view that he has.
The book is chalked full of Scriptures that are ripped out of context, so I will point out only one example to suffice. In pages 32-36 Geisler uses 66 verses in a section titled “What Saith the Scriptures?” in an attempt to show that we have libertarian free will. There is not one lick of exegesis of any of those 66 verses.
On p. 34 Geisler is trying to show that we have libertarian free will before God (what he calls “vertical free will”). Under these auspices he quotes 4 words out of 1 Peter 5:2 as part of his proof. Now in the ESV 1 Peter 5:2 has 27 words. What happened to the other 23? Here is Geisler’s sentence, “Peter describes what is meant by free choice when he says it is ‘not under compulsion’ but ‘voluntary.’”
Any idea what Peter is talking about there??? He’s telling pastors how to relate to their congregations. He’s not talking about whether or not we have free will before God in choosing or rejecting salvation. Here’s 1 Peter 5:2 in its whole, “shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly”. Now here’s the question…if Geisler had put the entire verse in his book would it have supported his point??? NO!!! So, therefore, he rips a few words out of context to make it say what he wants it to say. Completely unacceptable.
This type of handling of the Scriptures makes me want to be so careful every time I preach and teach. I want to handle the Word of God correctly. Pray for me church that I can do well in this.
Recommendation: Save your money, don't buy.
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