# Predestination



## SmokingFlax (Jul 10, 2005)

I just finished Gordon Clark's book on predestination and was wondering if anyone could suggest some other good books on the subject.
I'm concerned that I might become too unbalanced or "hyper-calvinistic" here. 

Is Clark considered to be on the "hyper" side?

I read Boettner's work on the subject a couple years ago but it was one of the first Reformed books I ever read so I might not have been so open to it at the time...

Thanks ahead of time.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Jul 10, 2005)

Calvin, Augustine, Luther and Edwards have all written classics on this subject which are highly recommended. Boettner is very good, In my humble opinion. There are lots of great Puritan and Presbyterian works on this particular subject (William Perkins, Anthonie Gylbie, Samuel Rutherford, William Twisse, Robert Lewis Dabney, etc., and, of course, the Synod of Dordt, and the Westminster Assembly and those such as Robert Shaw, A.A. Hodge, David Dickson and others who have commented on the Confession of Faith). 

[Edited on 7-11-2005 by VirginiaHuguenot]


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## RamistThomist (Jul 10, 2005)

Find Van Til's statements on predestination in Defense of the Faith. Greg Bahnsen has some good comments on this as well. He does a good job in balancing the issue.


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## WrittenFromUtopia (Jul 10, 2005)

_Concerning the Eternal Predestination of God_ by Calvin is outstanding.


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## Arch2k (Jul 10, 2005)

> _Originally posted by WrittenFromUtopia_
> _Concerning the Eternal Predestination of God_ by Calvin is outstanding.




I would not place Clark on the "hyper" side.


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## Me Died Blue (Jul 10, 2005)

Boettner's book is definitely an excellent choice, if you want to re-read it. For a current author and a work of a more "primer" nature, Sproul's _Chosen by God_ is helpful.



> _Originally posted by WrittenFromUtopia_
> _Concerning the Eternal Predestination of God_ by Calvin is outstanding.



Is that the same work as the first part of _Calvin's Calvinism_, "The Eternal Predestination of God"?


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## RamistThomist (Jul 10, 2005)

Is that also in the Baker Series of Post Reformation Dogmatics?

I know, Calvin wasn't Post-Reformation, but still...

[Edited on 7--11-05 by Draught Horse]


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## WrittenFromUtopia (Jul 10, 2005)

> _Originally posted by Me Died Blue_
> Is that the same work as the first part of _Calvin's Calvinism_, "The Eternal Predestination of God"?



I don't think so. It is a debate with Pighius on the subject, basically.


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## Michael Butterfield (Jul 11, 2005)

Sproul's Grace Unknown: The Heart of Reformed Theology is also quite good.


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## SmokingFlax (Jul 11, 2005)

Thanks again y'all.

Andrew, have you ever considered becoming a librarian or bibliographer or something (!!!)? 
You da' man.

I'm not exactly sure but I think many of these writings that you recommend are in the SWRB CD collections that I have -there's SO MUCH good stuff on them...and I hardly know enough to know what I have in them.

Chris, I forgot that I even read that Sproul book also. DOH!

I have to admit that my old arminian thought patterns die hard (aside from my obstinate thick-headedness; I've noticed that it usually takes many months before I can really appreciate the depth of any new idea)-but predestination is so obviously Biblical. It's amazing to me how this doctrine just seems to jump off of every page of Scripture now whereas in years past it went right over my head in so many instances. The great thing about this newness for me is that the Scriptures seem like a whole new book now -it has infused a new energy in my Scripture reading, etc.

What a great grace God has bestowed upon me to see this. It is at once terrifying and humbling and at the same time an incredible and life affirming comfort...practically beyond words.

I am eager to see what other truths that hide themselves in plain sight in the Sacred Text that God will reveal to me. It is very exiting to learn a new thing about God. 
I'm kind of expecting such a light to go off in my heart regarding the whole covenant concept that I've been chipping away at for some time now. It has eluded me thus far.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Jul 11, 2005)

> _Originally posted by SmokingFlax_
> Andrew, have you ever considered becoming a librarian or bibliographer or something (!!!)?
> You da' man.



 Enjoy, brother!


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## Arch2k (Jul 11, 2005)

> _Originally posted by WrittenFromUtopia_
> 
> 
> > _Originally posted by Me Died Blue_
> ...



Actually, The Eternal Predestination of God is the first half of Calvin's Calvinism. The second half is the Eternal Providence of God.

Get Calvin's Calvinism, and you'll get both.


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## Arch2k (Jul 11, 2005)

Calvin's Calvinism


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