Predestination: The American Career of a Contentious Doctrine Rating :
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32 of 33 people found the following review helpful.
Nicely discusses the historical development of predestination.
By AdamSmythe
If you are looking for a book to take sides concerning whether or not predestination, described one way or another (and there have been a number of historical descriptions), is the true will of God, then you will be disappointed--so don't buy the book.
On the other hand, if you are interested in a well-documented study and, believe it or not, a compelling and straightforward read concerning the fascinating history of the concept of predestination, then I certainly recommend this excellent book. Peter Thuesen covers some of the Old Testament and New Testament text that addresses predestination, then briefly addresses the relevant history of thought from Augustine through Thomas Aquinas and then primarily on to John Calvin. Thuesen discusses five-point Calvinism, aka "TULIP" (total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints), and distinguishes between "supralapsarians" (who believe that God chose the 'elect' before Adam and Eve) and "infralapsarians" (who believe God chose after the Fall). Thuesen follows the sometimes combative disagreements between followers of Calvin and those of Thomas Arminius, especially in England, which helped set the stage for Puritans to seek a new land to follow their more strict Calvinist leanings. There is a colorful description of the back-and-forth struggles of Calvinism and Arminianism in the colonies, through the revolutionary period (with noted views of some of the Founding Fathers, like Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine), and then forward through U.S. history. As different denominations developed, like the Methodists for example, predestination always served as an important issue in their development. Even the Universalists (later Unitarians), the Christian Scientists and the Mormons are covered.
It is important to repeat that Peter Thuesen describes the development of thought, primarily American thought, regarding predestination. He is not an advocate for one way of thinking or another. For those interested in more fully understanding this hotly-debated concept and how it played a significant role in American religious development, this is an excellent book.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.Theological historical narrative at its best
By Clarke H. Morledge
Peter Thuesen has woven a compelling narrative about the Christian community's understanding of an often confusing doctrine. The author helps you understand how different traditions within Christianity have read crucial scriptural texts (Catholic, Calvinist, Wesleyan, Lutheran, etc), and how those various readings introduced conflict that has both frustrated as well as energized believers over the years. I wish Thuessen had developed more of his thesis about the interplay between predestination and sacramentalism, but the basic theme is provocative. On the one hand, we have a doctrine that emphasizes the mystery of God in a transcendental away --- God being "Wholly Other" who positively extends grace towards us. We neither deserve this grace nor control it. The believer can take comfort in the reality of predestination that God has the card deck "stacked" in our favor. However, there is the dark side of predestination --- a tendency to want to peer inside the inscrutable decree of God only to be faced with the stark problem of evil and the question of God's role in reprobation. And yet, on the other hand, we have a sacramentalist approach that emphasizes the mystery of God in a more immanent way -- God being "With Us" in the concrete of life and the sacramental life of the church. We find ourselves able to experience God in tender and intimate ways, but we often succumb to the temptation whereby we try to manipulate or control God's grace -- thus alluding God's graciousness altogether. We need both a biblically unified predestinationism and sacramentalism, but as Thuessen has pointed out, we have had a terribly difficult time trying to sort this all out. Is predestination that which leads us to the "sweetness" of God's mercy, as Jonathan Edward's taught? Or is the"horrible decree" from the pit of hell, as Charles Wesley protested? If you want a good historical treatment of this "contentious doctrine", this is the book to read!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.Thorough, Responsible, Engaging
By Blair Dee Hodges
This book is an intellectual history of the remarkably contentious doctrine. The author, a professor of religious studies, has carefully laid out the origins and permutations of predestination. The crux of the matter concerns how God's plans and power interact with human will. He traces discussion of doctrines from the early Christian Church through Augustine, Calvin, Luther, Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley and Rick Warren, along with a bunch of religious thinkers and movements in between.
As the book's subtitle suggests, his focus is largely on predestination in America, but the early chapters spend time with the early Christian fathers, as well as Spanish, French, Dutch and English doctrinal and cultural standpoints. These early chapters set the stage for analysis including New England puritans, evangelicals, Methodists, Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Baptists and more.
I was particularly impressed by his careful treatment of my own faith tradition (Mormonism) due to his familiarity with up-to-date scholarship and balanced approach. For lack of space he doesn't explore many of the internal developments of Mormon views about predestination, but overall this seems to be one of the best academic overviews of an LDS topic by a non-LDS scholar I've read (chapter 4).
I was also glad to read many surprising things about Calvinism, a theological outlook which I've been particularly loathe to think about in the past. Thuesen is able to contextualize development of Calvinist thought, showing how varied its application has been, and describing social conditions which helped me understand devotional benefits of Calvinism I hadn't encountered. Thuesen isn't preaching for or against Calvinism, either; he is letting a variety of voices relate their positions. His footnotes direct readers to more technical discussions, he avoids taking sides often by referring to the still-contested nature of various historical, philosophical, and theological positions.
Certainly the book isn't flawless. It's occasionally bogged down in ultra-technical discussions of fine theological distinctions and jargon. Thuesen tried to off-set this by including a useful glossary of terms, which also serves as a nice refresher course after you're done reading the book. But jargon isn't always the culprit. The chapter of arguments amongst Lutheran synods became particularly dizzying because of the rapid but long description of multiplying factions. To Thuesen's credit here, this particular chapter (5) was hard to slog through partly because I couldn't wait to get on to the next chapter, rather than because I was hoping for a merciful conclusion to the book.
One suggestion: an appendix citing the most relevant or most employed biblical proof-texts would have been a great addition to the book. A super-cool index could have included the texts in the original languages and a variety of translations. Such a tool may be too much to expect for a printed volume like this. However, a companion website could lay out such things. If such extra effort seems a bit too much to ask, I would have settled for a scripture citation index.
Overall Thuesen's narrative dances. His careful consideration of cultural context, internecine squabbles, and exegetical assumptions place his book beyond a simple restatement of various positions. This is the true strength of Thuesen's book: he is not just relating a bunch of disagreement. He is carefully placing views in context while exploring the ramifications of belief for practicing Christians.
Product Description
Winner of the Christianity Today 2010 Book Award for History/Biography, and praised in Christian Century as "witty...erudite...masterful," this groundbreaking history, the first of its kind, shows that far from being only about the age-old riddle of divine sovereignty versus human free will, the debate over predestination is inseparable from other central Christian beliefs and practices--the efficacy of the sacraments, the existence of purgatory and hell, the extent of God's providential involvement in human affairs--and has fueled theological conflicts across denominations for centuries. Peter Thuesen reexamines not only familiar predestinarians such as the New England Puritans and many later Baptists and Presbyterians, but also non-Calvinists such as Catholics and Lutherans, and shows how even contemporary megachurches preach a "purpose-driven" outlook that owes much to the doctrine of predestination. For anyone wanting a fuller understanding of religion in America, Predestination offers both historical context on a doctrine that reaches back 1,600 years and a fresh perspective on today's denominational landscape.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #1227162 in Books
- Published on: 2011-10-01
- Original language:English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.25" h x6.26" w x.87" l,.98 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 336 pages
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