![]() 97), even though that relationship itself (and, with it, the gift of salvation) is granted by grace and received by faith. Thomas Schreiner ably represents the Calvinist position, affirming both that salvation is a gift of God’s grace to those who believe, and that grace, so given, is effective in transforming the lives of believers so that they (necessarily) produce “good works.” These (divinely empowered) works can thus rightly serve as “the necessary evidence and fruit of a right relation with God” (p. Other contributors all insist that perseverance in faith and obedience is required of those who will enter eternal life. Suffice it to say that the distinctive interpretations given to these and a host of other texts are unique to his particular variety of dispensationalism and that the pastoral implications of setting aside the texts’ more obvious meaning are unsettling. into the darkness” in Matt 25:24–30 is said to be excluded merely from “the joy associated with ruling with Christ” no threat to salvation is intended (pp. Of the unfaithful servant who (according to Matt 24:51) was “cut in two” and assigned a lot “with the hypocrites,” with “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” Wilkin explains that he will be “ verbally cut up at a future judgment,” and that “weeping and gnashing of teeth” refers to “grief and pain” occasioned by the loss of rewards, not that of eternal life (pp. ![]() The “Great White Throne Judgment,” at which unbelievers are judged and condemned, is here distinguished from the appearance of believers before the “Judgment Seat of Christ,” where rewards, not eternal life, are said to be the issue. Crucial for his understanding are texts in John’s Gospel that promise eternal life to those who “believe.” Insisting that the texts say nothing about a need for perseverance (the present tense of the verbs goes unnoted) or obedience, and taking the belief in question to mean intellectual agreement (no “commitment” is required ), Wilkin finds here a guarantee of eternal salvation regardless of the subsequent conduct and even beliefs of the one who (at least for the moment) “believed.” Convinced on this point and, hence, that no biblical text, rightly interpreted, can contradict it, Wilkin provides inventive explanations for the myriad of texts that appear to speak differently. ![]() Robert Wilkin is at significant odds not only with the other three contributors, but also (in his own words) with both Calvinists and Arminians, the latter category here said to include Roman Catholics, Orthodox, and “many types of Protestants” (p. The work’s editor introduces and concludes the volume with summaries of the issues and positions and a call for graciousness and understanding in the midst of disagreements. Barber, Professor of Theology, Scripture, and Catholic Thought at John Paul the Great Catholic University). Dunn, Emeritus Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at Durham University), and a Catholic (Michael P. Schreiner, professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary), a biblical scholar wary of exegesis steered by systematic interests (James D. Wilkin, Executive Director of the Grace Evangelical Society), a Calvinist (Thomas R. The “four views” here represented are those of a proponent of non-Lordship salvation (Robert N.
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