The Doctrines of Grace: Rediscovering the Evangelical Gospel

There is any number of books available today that serve as introductions to Calvinism or the doctrines of grace. While some of these leave much to be desired, many of them are excellent and do justice to the topic. One might ask, then, why someone would want to write (or read) yet another one, and that would be a fair question. What attracted me to this title is that it was the final book written by one of our generation's great pastors and teachers, James Montgomery Boice. Having been diagnosed with cancer and knowing that he had merely a few months or weeks to live, he dedicated himself to hymn-writing and to writing this book. He lived for a mere forty two days after receiving his diagnosis, and though he was not able to see it to completion, he turned it over to his colleague Philip Ryken who completed it after Boice's death. In the foreward R.C. Sproul writes of Boice: "Here was a man who not only believed in the doctrines of grace but also loved those doctrines and had fire in his bones about propagating them. I knew Jim Boice for more than thirty years and never saw that fire diminish. His soul was held captive by the doctrines of grace. His ministry was an ongoing doxology to the doctrines of grace because they so clearly manifest the God of that grace...It is not surprising that the last literary work of James Boice would focus on his first love, the doctrines of grace." This book, then, contains the last words of an eminent pastor, theologian and teacher who dedicated his life to the very topic at hand. It would be foolish for us to disregard such a message. The book begins with an examination of the current state of the evangelical world and traces some of the history of Calvinism and great Calvinists of the past. The reader is introduced to Arminianism and sees how the two systems of doctrine are at odds. We see how a rediscovery of the doctrines of grace is the antidote to the current sorry state of evangelicalism. The author then moves to an in-depth examination of each of the five doctrines of grace. Eschewing the traditional TULIP acronym, Boice chooses instead to speak of Radical Depravity, Unconditional Election, Particular Redemption, Efficacious Grace and Persevering Grace. Each of the points receives a full examination, but one that is targeted at the layperson so that even a young person or someone with little theological background could easily understand. Each of the points is supported with Scripture and even the passages that seem to contradict the doctrines are examined and dealt with. As one would expect, the Arminian opposites of each doctrine are considered as well. The final two chapters speak of rediscovering God's grace. Calvinism is not a system of doctrine that impacts only the mind. While it is based on theological distinctions, this theology should spur us to action. One who considers himself Calvinist but sees no reason to take the gospel to the world or to be involved in the betterment

If you've been exposed to drivel like George Bryson's books or Dave Hunt, put down the garbage and take a read at what Calvinists really believe and how it plays out in their daily faith.Graham and the late Bro. Ryken have done an excellent job in presenting the doctrines of grace. This book isn't a mega-treatise on the subject - if you're already familiar with Calvinism, it's a refresher. It's mainly written for those unfamiliar with Calvinism and shows how our lives are to be changed as a result of believing in the Doctrines of Grace. It's a great read - it doesn't delve into much heavy theology, and leaves a few 'problem passages' alone, outside of simple explanations. I recommend it without hesitation to anyone who wants an accurate perspective of Calvinism.

I bought this book with a desire to understand more of Calvinism. I came at it with, I believe, an objective view. Boice expounds convincingly the Calvinist texts, redefines the TULIP acronym so that it is more clear and precise, and gives direction on how a Calvinist lives.As other reveiwers mentioned, Boice does a good job on the easy texts and leaves some wanting on the hard texts (see Michael Horton instead). Also Helpful are the verses of the hymns that Boice composed before each chapter. In the final chapters Boice (and Ryken) attempt to refute the claim that Calvinists are the "Frozen Chose" and points to history and the example of 10th Presbyterian Church as signs of a lively Reformed faith.Final Analysis.If one is a seasoned Calvinist or Arminian, then this book probably will not be anything new for you. However, for a new Reformed or an Arminian wishing a debate, this book will be interesting. For those more seasoned, try Michael Horton's Putting Amazing Back into Grace.

James Boice and Philip Ryken present a cogent, easy to understand presentation of the Reformed faith. The church today generally does not read church history and are therefore not aware of the doctrines that were preached and died for. This effort plainly expounds the profound deep truths of the Bible without losing its audience. I highly recommend this as the beginning book for anyone dealing with the issue of God's sovereignty. The question truly is "Who birthed you into the kingom; yourself or Jehovah God?" If "every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of Lights", salvation is one of those gifts and comes "from" God and not ourselves. The question that this book helps answer is this: is man TOTALLY depraved or partially wounded? Ephesians 2:1,5 says "you who were dead, God made alive". This book explains in simple language one of the deepest truths of the Word of God.

This work is a collaborative effort of the late James Montgomery Boice and his successor at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Philip Ryken. This is not a book that will make everyone happy because it deliberately intends to chasten contemporary evangelicalism on a number of fronts. But I felt that it was a very good introduction to Reformed theology that both seasoned theologians and amateurs to theological thought can profit from.The controversial nature of the book begins in the first sentence of the first chapter, when it announces that evangelicalism stands or falls with Calvinism, as B.B. Warfield once remarked. From this, the authors lament what they believe is the state of thorough worldliness that has established residency within the evangelical church, and their belief that a return to the core tenets of Reformed theology is the best and only effective antidote.From there, a solid introductory analysis of the 5 points of Calvinism is given. I found that these analyses were pretty thorough, yet very readable and understandable at an introductory level. In contrast to the rather elevated language of folks like Kuyper, Boettner, Machen, Warfield, and Hodge, Boice and Ryken bring the fundamentals of Reformed theology down to a layperson's level while still being unapologetic about these beliefs. In this analysis of the 5 points, the authors effectively take on some of the more common objections to Reformed theology that tend to surface, although again, because of the introductory nature of the book, the reader should not expect full orbed and exhaustive rebuttals here. The one rebuttal that I thought was especially insightful was where the authors, while responding to the objection that Reformed theology relies too much on the 'two wills of God' to harmonize their theology, point out that the free-will theists who tend to voice this objection engage in exactly the same thing by suggesting by default that in contrast to God's revealed will in the Bible, God's primary purpose (or secret will) is in preserving the supposed free will of man. Very insightful point.The authors also devote a great deal of time both to analyzing the fruits of Calvinism in history, as well as presenting a Calvinist life view that penetrates all aspects of life and civilization. On the latter point, the authors appear to pattern the Calvinist worldview heavily upon the views of Kuyper as articulated at Princeton over 100 years ago. While I found this section to be very good and very refreshing in many ways, it should be understood by the reader that Calvinism has not historically been, nor is currently monolithic in how it views the believer's attitude and involvement in politics, science, art, and other areas. Nonetheless, I found that Boice and Ryken offered some very good thoughts in this area.Overall, I highly commend this book to someone who is interested in studying and learning about the Reformed faith, especially those who are just beginnin