Monday, May 2, 2011

Book Review: Chosen But Free


Extreme Calvinists believe in limited atonement. That is, they believe that Christ died on the cross solely for those that have, or will, accept Him and be redeemed, but not for those who will reject him until their ultimate demise. Calvinists attempt to back up this theory with specific Bible verses, pointing out the instances in Jesus’ teachings when he specifically refers to “the sheep,” “his friends,” “the church,” and many more similar examples.  
In his book Chosen But Free, Norman Geisler points out the flaws of this belief. Geisler states that there is a simple rebuttal to the Calvinist’s view that Jesus did not die only for those who will believe in Him, but rather also for those who will reject Him. The rebuttal is this: both could be true. Simply because those who believe are the only ones to reap the benefits of God’s grace, does not mean that Jesus did not die for believers and unbelievers alike. Norman Geisler illustrated this point further with the following analogy, “for me to say I love my friend Eric does not mean I do not love my neighbor Carl” (Geisler 74). The friend “Eric” in the analogy represents Christ’s church, which Jesus professed to love. The neighbor “Carl” in the analogy represents the unsaved, mere acquaintances that do not have a personal relationship with Christ. Therefore, according to Norman Geisler, Simply because Christ loves the church dos not mean that He does not love the unsaved.
Calvinists go even further in their disagreement of limited atonement by rejecting substitutionary atonement. Substitutionary atonement teaches that Jesus died as a substitution for all humankind. Calvinists reject substitutionary atonement simply because it is in direct discord with their belief that Jesus did not die for all of human kind, but rather for His exclusive elect
In response to Calvinist’s rejection of substitutionary atonement, Geisler points out that Christ’s death made God’s grace available to all, therefore, all are savable.  However, that does not mean that all are saved as a result. Due to God’s bestowment of free will on all of humankind, each person has the ability to either accept God’s gift of salvation through Christ, or reject it.

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