(Recently, my friend Jared Nelson posted a question at the unofficial DTS Aumni/Student blog Preach the Word. The question was "What are some of the most important books you've ever read?" Here's my answer:
My five favorite books (for now) in order are . . .
Insights:
From The End: God's ultimate end in creation and all he does is himself, which is the true basis of human happiness. (For more reflection on this thesis see this series of posts and these posts). From True Virtue: True virtue has love for the divine being, viewed in itself alone, as its fundamental motivation. (For more reflection on this thesis see this post)
Insight: There is no such thing as a causeless effect. Every decision made by moral beings is motivated by attraction to pleasure and aversion to pain. (For more reflection on this thesis see this post). True freedom is not the ability to choose between a multiplicity of options—that is tyranny; true freedom is the consistency of a prevailing inclination to choose the right option. (For further reflection on this thesis see this post)
(3) Religious Affections, Jonathan Edwards (I hate to appear to be a one-beat drummer, but it is what it is).
Insight: True religion includes both light (understanding of God) and heat (affections for God). What fundamentally separates true religion from false religion is love and joy in God, which assumes an understanding of God. (For more reflection on this thesis see these posts)
Insights: There are three fundamental questions religion seeks to answer: Who is God? Who is man? How do God and man relate to one another? All three questions are answered in the person and work of the God-man mediator Jesus Christ. The normal Christian life can be summarized by one word: repentance. The worship of God is the purpose for which man was created; therefore sin is fundamentally idolatry.
Insight: There is no middle ground for those committed to biblical and reasonable consistency with regard to the application of the benefits of Christ's atonement. Christ either died to secure nothing for sinners (e.g. Pelagianism), he died to secure the possibility of the salvation of sinners (e.g. Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Arminianism), or he died to actually secure the salvation of sinners (e.g. Calvinism). If the latter, then we are left with two options: universalism or particular redemption (i.e. the gospel). (For more reflection on this thesis see these posts)
(1) Two Dissertations (in Ethical Writings, vol. 8 of The Works of Jonathan Edwards) by Jonathan Edwards. I was introduced to the first dissertation, "End for Which God Created the World," through John Piper's book God's Passion for His Glory. I read the second dissertation "The Nature of True Virtue" in a seminary class on Edwards taught by Dr. John D. Hannah.
Insights:
From The End: God's ultimate end in creation and all he does is himself, which is the true basis of human happiness. (For more reflection on this thesis see this series of posts and these posts). From True Virtue: True virtue has love for the divine being, viewed in itself alone, as its fundamental motivation. (For more reflection on this thesis see this post)
(2) Freedom of the Will, Jonathan Edwards.
Insight: There is no such thing as a causeless effect. Every decision made by moral beings is motivated by attraction to pleasure and aversion to pain. (For more reflection on this thesis see this post). True freedom is not the ability to choose between a multiplicity of options—that is tyranny; true freedom is the consistency of a prevailing inclination to choose the right option. (For further reflection on this thesis see this post)
(3) Religious Affections, Jonathan Edwards (I hate to appear to be a one-beat drummer, but it is what it is). Insight: True religion includes both light (understanding of God) and heat (affections for God). What fundamentally separates true religion from false religion is love and joy in God, which assumes an understanding of God. (For more reflection on this thesis see these posts)
(4) Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin.
Insights: There are three fundamental questions religion seeks to answer: Who is God? Who is man? How do God and man relate to one another? All three questions are answered in the person and work of the God-man mediator Jesus Christ. The normal Christian life can be summarized by one word: repentance. The worship of God is the purpose for which man was created; therefore sin is fundamentally idolatry.
(5) The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, John Owen.
Insight: There is no middle ground for those committed to biblical and reasonable consistency with regard to the application of the benefits of Christ's atonement. Christ either died to secure nothing for sinners (e.g. Pelagianism), he died to secure the possibility of the salvation of sinners (e.g. Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Arminianism), or he died to actually secure the salvation of sinners (e.g. Calvinism). If the latter, then we are left with two options: universalism or particular redemption (i.e. the gospel). (For more reflection on this thesis see these posts)
1 comments:
"Freedom of the Will" is great. It amounts to a last word on the subject in my mind. I think Augustine had the same concept, but spread throughout his works instead of placed in one book like Edwards.
I need to read the Owen book. I tend to confess Limited Atonement, but only when well defined, which Owen would probably do for me...
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