Adam Hamilton, "Why? Making Sense of God’s Will"

I just finished the book Why? Making Sense of God’s Will by Adam Hamilton, who is the Senior Pastor of Church of the Resurrection. This short book (it’s only 4 chapters and under 100 pages), does an excellent job of providing a non-deterministic framework for understanding suffering, providence, unanswered prayer, and God’s will. I had never heard of Hamilton until Roger Olson’s post back in April "Adam Hamilton and Me", and this is the first of his books that I’ve read (in many ways he reminds me of an Arminian Tim Keller). It’s written pastorally and filled with stories; particularly impacting for me were the beautiful accounts of God using people to answer the prayers of others. This becomes one of the main proposals of the book, that, “God's primary way of working in the world is through people who are empowered and led by God's Spirit”. He explains:

God's primary way of ruling and acting on our planet is through people. When God wants something done in the world, God calls people to do it. When the poor are going to be fed, God doesn't rain down manna from heaven; God sends people. When the sick are going to be cared for, God sends people. When justice is going to be sought, God sends people to fight for it. When others are discouraged and in need of love, God sends people to offer encouragement and care. (Chapter 1).

To reconcile “God's goodness with the suffering we experience in our world” requires that we understand “three foundational ideas”, which Hamilton draws from the narrative of Adam and Eve in Genesis 1-3:

1. “God Places Humanity in Charge of Earth”;
2.  “To Be Human Is to Be Free”, including the observation, “the tree represents the freedom that God gives human beings to choose God's way or another way. God deemed the ability to choose to be an essential part of human existence”; and
3. Humans have “A Predisposition to Stray from God's Path”, where he explains, for example:

   I have to decide each day, often many times in a day, whether I will follow God's way or the path of the serpent. And when I choose the serpent's path inevitably some part of God's paradise in my life is lost.
   

   Adam and Eve's story is our story.

One of the premises which bring him to the proposal above is the idea that not everything that occurs in our world is the will of God:

But if we mean that everything happens according to God's plan, and that God wills everything that happens, this cannot be true. When we say that it is true, then I think we violate the third commandment (prohibiting the misuse of God's name) and misrepresent the nature and character of God. When non-Christians hear Christians say things like "everything happens for a reason" and "it must have been the will of God," they are left with an impression of God that is hardly loving and just, but instead a picture of God who wills evil and suffering in the world. (chapter 1)

Rather, what the Bible tells us is, “When we place our sorrows and suffering in God’s hands, we find God redeems the suffering and uses it for our good. … God takes the pain and the grief and the wounds of our past, and transforms them into objects of beauty.” (chapter 4)

Another suggestion which I found intriguing was his discussion of natural disasters, which he also ties back to the three foundations.  After explaining that forces such as earthquakes and monsoons result from the same "processes [which] allow our planet to support life. When human begins get caught in these giant forces of nature, there is death and devastation, but the forces themselves are essential to life on our planet", he notes:

It is when these forces strike areas in which many live in poverty that they bring the greatest devastation. Did God bring such terrible devastation upon poor people? Or was it the distribution of wealth in these places that leads to terrible devastation?

[...]

As human beings we are meant to hear the call of God to provide food and clothing and shelter for those in need. We wrap our arms around those who survive and help them put the pieces of their lives back together again.

[...]

Much of the suffering in our world is because God's people have yet to hear or answer God's call to go and to be God's hands and voice to help children in need.

  

The chapters are:

1. Why Do the Innocent Suffer?
2. Why Do My Prayers Go Unanswered?
3. Why Can't I See God's Will for My Life?
4. Why God's Love Prevails

You can view the Google preview here, or Find in a Library.

Adam Hamilton also taught a 4-part sermon series of the same title, which is available here. You can watch the series trailer below:

More resources on Providence and God’s Will:

Blogs:

• Roger Olson, "Arminianism and Providence".

Books and articles:

• Robert Picirilli, “Toward a Non-Deterministic Theology of Divine Providence”, in The Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry; and
• Greg Boyd, Is God to Blame? – while I haven’t read this one yet, it is highly recommended by Roger Olson (here, for example, where he calls it “the best guess at why these things [such as the Holocaust] happen in God’s world”).

Related Posts:

• Highlighting an Arminian response to John Piper: Did God decree every sin you commit?;
• Zach Hoag, "Jesus shows me that God is a Father I can trust";
• AW Tozer, "The Freedom of the Will".

A New Book by Dr J Matthew Pinson, "Arminian and Baptist: Explorations in a Theological Tradition"

A new book by Dr J Matthew Pinson, President of Welch College, titled Arminian and Baptist: Explorations in a Theological Tradition was released yesterday.

Endorsers of this book include Russell Moore, President of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, who said (from the back cover):

I thank God for the resurgence of grace-oriented, gospel-focused Arminianism represented in this book. This is an Arminianism with a deep sense of radical human depravity, the sovereign initiative of God, penal substitutionary atonement, and the imputation of the active and passive obedience of Christ to the believer. We may sometimes disagree on the 'how' and the 'when' of salvation, but we agree on the 'what' and the 'Who.'

(Others have also observed this resurgence, not just in Classical/Reformed Arminianism, but also in Arminian Theology more generally; see my earlier posts Where Did All These Arminians Come From? and What’s contributing to the increase in “x-Calvinists”.)


Here is the publisher's description (link):

Summary: 

Dr. Pinson brings from his thorough research this collection of essays to the reader as a blend of church history and theology. This work is an important resource to understand an evangelical Arminianism while revealing the context of its Reformation roots. The author explores the Arminianism of Thomas Helwys and the General Baptists of old. 

Features: 

Dr. Pinson gives the reader a compelling account of an Arminianism that is at once Reformed, classical, and evangelical. He presents this tradition by examining the heritage that lies in the English General Baptists of the seventeenth century. John Smyth and Thomas Helwys are two pieces of the historical essays shared in this work. The author also includes essays on Thomas Grantham and John Wesley. All the works come together to show the rich heritage of Reformed theology while maintaining the foundation of a biblically grounded Arminianism.

You can read some quotes from chapter one here.

[*Update*: You can also see Roger Olson’s comments in his post, “'Reformed Arminianism?' Another Book About Arminian Theology”.]



More from Dr Pinson 

Online (external links):

• "Atonement, Justification, and Apostasy in the Thought of John Wesley" (Integrity);
• "Thomas Grantham's Theology of the Atonement and Justification" (JBTM);
• "The Diversity of Arminian Soteriology: Thomas Grantham, John Goodwin, and Jacobus Arminius" (SEA);
• "The Nature of the Atonement in the Theology of Jacobus Arminius" (JETS); and
• "Will The Real Arminius Please Stand Up? A Study of the Theology of Jacobus Arminius in Light of His Interpreters" (Integrity).

You can also check out Dr Pinson's blog here, and his contributions to The Gospel Coalition here.


More Recent Books

Another recent book on Arminanism worth checking out is Grace for All: The Arminian Dynamics of Salvation (Google Preview, or Find in a Library), released March 31, 2015, and edited by Clark H Pinnock and John D Wagner. Mike at Dead Heroes Don't Save has been posting a chapter-by-chapter review, with a new installment each Thursday so that others can read-along with him and discuss or ask questions. His introductory post is here, and his latest is here. William at I, Jacobus Arminius has also been posting a chapter-by-chapter review; his introductory post is here.

For more recent books on Arminius and Arminianism, see the list at the end of this post from SEA.

Related Posts:

• Dr Thomas Schreiner reviews Dr Abasciano's book on Romans 9;
• Where Did All These Arminians Come From? .

Dr Thomas Schreiner reviews Dr Abasciano's book on Romans 9

The link to Dr Thomas Schreiner’s review of Dr Brian Abasciano’s book, Paul’s Use of the Old Testament in Romans 9.10–18, was recently posted in the SEA Facebook discussion group (link, if you’d like to join the discussion, this group is open to non-members).   Dr Schreiner’s review includes a helpful summary of Dr Abasciano’s conclusions on these verses, and is also interesting for providing a leading Calvinist’s perspective on Dr Abasciano’s work.

Dr Schreiner begins:

Brian Abasciano has already published a study of Rom 9:1–9 and plans to publish a concluding volume on 9:19–33. Hence, this work on Rom 9:10–18 is the second part of a three-volume work. This book consists of an intense analysis of Rom 9:10–18 informed by an intertextual exegesis of OT texts that Paul uses in these verses. When Abasciano speaks of intertextuality, he has in mind the historical and grammatical meaning of the OT texts in their historical contexts. He then proceeds to investigate the reuse of these texts in Romans. Much of the book, then, consists in studying the OT texts in their original context. For instance, chapter 2 considers Gen 25:23, chapter 3 Mal 1:2–3, and chapter 4 the use of Gen 25:23 and Mal 1:2–3 in later Jewish literature. Similarly, chapter 6 examines Exod 9:16 and the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, and chapter 7 the appropriation of Exod 33:19b and 9:16 in later Jewish traditions. Abasciano has two chapters on the exegesis of Rom 9 itself: chapter 5 on Rom 9:10–13 and chapter 8 on Rom 9:14–18. The two chapters that interpret Romans are informed by the examination of the OT and the interpretive traditions in subsequent Jewish literature. The book is framed by an introduction and conclusion.

Abasciano argues that Paul’s reuse of the OT accords with the original historical context and meaning of the OT texts, maintaining that the OT played a formative influence in Paul’s thinking. He also concludes that there is some support for the New Perspective in a close reading of Rom 9:10–18, but at the same time he also finds support for the traditional notion that Paul inveighs against works-righteousness, and thus he defends the notion that some Jews fell into legalism, even if such legalism was contrary to their theology. Abasciano says that God’s covenant promises and election are due to God’s sovereign call and not by works or ancestry. Still, God’s election is ultimately conditional and based on faith.

The argument is tightly constructed and well-done, consisting of careful exegesis of the text in conversation with other scholars. A short review cannot trace out the details of the argument, so the review will set forth some of the main conclusions Abasciano advances. The election of Jacob instead of Esau in Gen 25 has individuals in view but is primarily corporate, and hence it applies especially to the peoples of Israel and Edom. God didn’t choose Jacob and reject Esau based on their works or lack thereof, but Esau’s rejection of the birthright and Jacob’s treasuring of it “is a sort of justification for God’s choice” (p. 13). In the same way, the election of Jacob instead of Esau in Mal 1:2–3 is also fundamentally corporate. Individual Edomites could choose to join Israel and be saved, and hence unconditional election isn’t taught here.

Dr Schriener then summarizes Dr Abasciano’s main conclusions on verses 6–13 and 14–18.  He concludes the summary:

In a short review I can scarcely interact with the details of Abasciano’s argument. His attention to the OT context in Rom 9–11 is helpful, and there are many excellent exegetical insights as he explores the various texts. The later Jewish traditions don’t play a major role in the thesis, but it is instructive to see how other writers appropriated and understood the texts cited here.

Dr Schriener continues by outlining six criticisms, then concludes his review:

Vigorous and friendly discussions on Rom 9:10–18 are important since our goal is to understand God’s word. We can be thankful for Abasciano’s commitment to the Scriptures, for his careful exegesis, and for a fine defense of the Arminian reading. The debate will continue, and those of us who are Reformed can be thankful for interlocutors like Abasciano who take the biblical text seriously.

The entire review is available online here.  Dr Abasciano’s reply is here.

You can also check out the Google preview: Brian J Abasciano, Paul’s Use of the Old Testament in Romans 9.10–18: An Intertextual and Theological Exegesis.  If you’d like to read the full book, be sure to try the “Find in a library” link on the top left corner of the preview; right above it, there is also a link to purchase the Ebook.

Also see:

• Dr Abasciano’s doctoral dissertation, ”Paul’s Use of the Old Testament in Romans 9:1-9: An Intertextual and Theological Exegesis”; the Google preview of the published version (the first book in the series) is here.
  
  

Related posts:

• NT Wright on Predestination, Election and Romans 9.

• On Corporate Election.