©2001, The Banner of Truth Trust, 342 pp., hbk.

I doubt if any new problems that threaten the church today. The attacks within and outside organized churches are, in some form, restatements or renewals of attacks on God's character and the Bible that have been ongoing since the church was established. This book was published with this view in mind.

The articles were originally published by Princeton Theological Seminary in the 1830's and 1840's. The authors (mainly two professors, Charles Hodge and Archibald Alexander) sought to address renewed controversy regarding man's fallen nature, the extent of the atonement, and God's sovereignty in salvation.

These issues remain very relevant today. Many within churches today believe that man is not so fallen that he cannot have some part in his own salvation. Modern man fails to see that he is conceived dead in sin (Eph. 2:1, Ps. 51:5), and is unable to contribute anything to his salvation. It is very difficult for sinful man to realize he has no power to be God even in the area of salvation. This faulty view of man is, consciously or subconsciously, accompanied by a belief that God is not fully sovereign. He is sovereign in other areas of life but God and man must both contribute to the salvation of the man's soul. Such thinking is unbiblical and gives man too high a view of man and too low a view of God. It has many consequences in others areas of life. Parents can fail to realize their children are totally depraved and thus laugh at their child's "cute" rebellion in its early manifestations. There can be much lack of prayer for the lost because, after all, man has the final decision in regard to his salvation. There are any number of Christians saved by God's grace who do not see the logical implications of their limiting God's sovereignty and exaggerating man's power in regard to the saving of souls.

Chapters in this book address biblical teaching regarding man's sinfulness and God's sovereign work in salvation. One chapter traces the history of this thinking down through the church's history from its New Testament days. A noted proponent of errant thinking on these subjects in the early nineteenth century was Charles Finny. Authors are conversant with his position and answer his teaching by turning readers to biblical teaching on man's condition and God's sovereign work.

Readers of this book can become acquainted with some of the theological battles that raged in the early American church and equipped with biblical teaching to answer this thinking today as it continues to be in vogue. This work will be of particular interest to readers who desire to study historical theology as well as those who want to see how previous generations have answered these particular doctrinal issues that continue to confront us today.

©2010 Byron Snapp, Hampton,Virginia