Amazing Grace: God’s Pursuit, Our Response

Written by Timothy George Reviewed By Brian N. Daniels

Over the years Timothy George, dean of the Beeson Divinity School at Samford University, has distinguished himself as one of evangelical Christianity's premier church historians and theologians. His work has ranged from discourse on the doctrine of God to Reformation and Baptist history and even to a treatment of the relation between Christianity and Islam. One of his latest publications, Amazing Grace: God's Pursuit, Our Response, forays into the often treacherous and unruly territory of Calvinism. This book is actually a second edition of an earlier work (the Southern Baptist Convention's 2001 Doctrine Study) that sought to address a controversy within the denomination by providing a short explanation of the tenets of Calvinism (p. 11). George's purpose in these pages is simple: it “is more devotional than academic: God's grace should provoke wonder and worship among all God's children. This study is an exercise in theology in the sense that the great Puritan divine William Ames defined it—the knowledge of living in the presence of the living God” (p. 13). The following discussion will touch on some of the book's high points.

Chapter 1 orients the work as a whole by providing a preliminary treatment of God's grace. This foundational chapter anchors upcoming discussions in the author's old Sunday school definition of grace: “God's Riches at Christ's Expense.” For George this is a simple and yet profound description of the biblical reality of God's grace (p. 20). Also included in this chapter is an exposition of Eph 1:3-14 in terms of four “moments” (p. 27) in the outworking of God's salvation of his creatures: what George terms the metahistorical, historical, experiential, and eschatological aspects of redemption.

Chapter 2, “The Providence Mystery,” treats the classic conundrum of God's sovereignty and human freedom. George believes that Scripture teaches both God's sovereignty and man's freedom but with this caveat:

Note carefully that the Bible never explains how the sinful acts of wicked men coalesce with God's sovereign purpose, but somehow mysteriously they do work together concurrently. . . . Our finite human minds cannot comprehend such an antinomy. We are tempted to resolve it either by qualifying God's sovereignty or by denying human free agency. While this solution is neater logically, it could never be accepted biblically. To be faithful to what God has revealed about how he works in the affairs of this world, we must say both-and, not either-or. (pp. 44-45)

One interesting aspect of George's book comes in chapter 4. Instead of explaining Calvinism under the common rubric of the TULIP acronym, George proposes a new model: ROSES. According to him, “Some differences among Christians are substantial and real, while others stem from misunderstanding and miscommunication. To some extent, perhaps, the latter is the case with the so-called five points of Calvinism” (p. 83). So, with ROSES in mind, he proposes Radical Depravity (cf. Total Depravity), Overcoming Grace (cf. Irresistible Grace), Sovereign Election (cf. Unconditional Election), Eternal Life (cf. Perseverance of the Saints), and Singular Redemption (cf. Limited Atonement).

Chapter 5 deals with another important issue in the Calvinism debate: evangelism and missions. Does Calvinism adversely affect these aspects of Christian ministry to the world? George explains hyper-Calvinism as an aberration of Reformed teaching. He describes five points of hyper-Calvinist teaching and then follows that discussion by treating the ministries of William Carey and Charles Haddon Spurgeon, two Calvinists who modeled concern for the lost. The author's point is simple: hyper-Calvinism is not true Calvinism; it “is a perversion of true evangelical Calvinism, just as Pelagianism is a corruption of true evangelical Arminianism. In different ways, both are guilty of 'falling from grace' in the sense that Paul used that expression in Galatians 5. God wants all believers to be 'missionary' Christians . . .” (p. 105).

One benefit of the present work—in addition to its clear and easy style and irenic spirit—is George's appreciation for the mystery that underlies the doctrine of God's providence. He notes, “There are many things Christians believe simply because they are undeniably taught in the Bible. Yet we cannot remove all questions and puzzlements. We cannot explain with precision how these things can be true in terms of human reason and logic” (p. 35). For George, providence and human freedom and responsibility fall into this category. Some may consider this a cop-out approach to such a difficult question, but I cannot help but appreciate such a humble perspective.

Aside from this, George's book does exhibit a weakness. The effort to reformulate the teachings of Calvinism into a new acronym, ROSES, seems unhelpful. I am not convinced that TULIP needs to be discarded as a way of explaining Calvinism. Certain key terms like unconditional and irresistible are still helpful ways of distinguishing Calvinism from its detractors.

Overall, however, Amazing Grace is an excellent primer on its subject. If you are looking for a work that will put some points on the board in current debates, be forewarned that this is not the book for you. This book is more about explanation than polemics. But if you are looking for something to orient you to a long and continuing debate among Christians about such a crucial subject, this is your book.


Brian N. Daniels

Brian N. Daniels
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Wake Forest, North Carolina, USA

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