This book takes a commitment to read if you are an ordinary Bible student like I am. It is longer than most other books I have read (368 pages in the old edition I have), and thicker in subject matter. You certainly cannot try to watch a football game and read it between plays. This one takes all of your attention, but reading one chapter at a time every day—20 to 30 minutes—easily got me through the book in a month without shorting out the synapses in my brain. If you truly want a serious study, you can do this.
In Life in the Son, a former Southern Baptist minister virtually talks himself out of Calvinism simply by studying in detail every passage in the New Testament that has anything to do with the various tenets of that system. In this one he tackles, "Perseverance of the Saints" or, more colloquially known among those I grew up with, once saved always saved. It is chockfull of scriptures. When you finish, you will not only understand many scriptures like never before, you will understand what Calvinists (the preponderance of mainstream Protestant religion—your neighbors, probably) really believe and why. Then you will see how they twist the plainest statements to make them bolster their beliefs. In the Appendices you will discover from direct quotes of the man's writings how even Calvin disagreed with himself.
You must also read the Introductions. One comes from a Baptist preacher friend of the author's who is not really sure he agrees with him, but gives perhaps the fairest assessment of the book one could hope for, and scolds anyone who would automatically put it down before reading and considering. If I understand the following Introductions (different ones for each edition), this friend was eventually persuaded that Mr. Shank was absolutely correct, simply because he did what he asked others to do—read the scriptures, read the book, and refused to be biased by former beliefs.
One major caveat: Mr. Shank knows his Greek grammar. Again and again he will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about any Greek word and how it is used. As they say, it was all Greek to me. So what to do? Just what you would do with a commentary that does the same thing. Read past what you don't understand or necessarily need to know, and get the gist of the thing and why it matters. It's not that difficult to navigate if you really want to.
As I said, it's a commitment. I wish you could read my old edition because it has my husband's notes from forty years ago scribbled in the margins and they are enlightening as well. This book came out in the 1960s. If you have an older relative or friend who preaches or did preach back then, he may very well have a copy. Maybe he will have also scribbled in the margins and will let you borrow that copy for a month.
My edition of Life in the Son was published by Westcott Publishers. Some newer editions are from Baker Books. You can find it on Christianbook.com, Thriftbooks, AbeBooks, Barnes and Noble, and of course, Amazon.
Dene Ward
In Life in the Son, a former Southern Baptist minister virtually talks himself out of Calvinism simply by studying in detail every passage in the New Testament that has anything to do with the various tenets of that system. In this one he tackles, "Perseverance of the Saints" or, more colloquially known among those I grew up with, once saved always saved. It is chockfull of scriptures. When you finish, you will not only understand many scriptures like never before, you will understand what Calvinists (the preponderance of mainstream Protestant religion—your neighbors, probably) really believe and why. Then you will see how they twist the plainest statements to make them bolster their beliefs. In the Appendices you will discover from direct quotes of the man's writings how even Calvin disagreed with himself.
You must also read the Introductions. One comes from a Baptist preacher friend of the author's who is not really sure he agrees with him, but gives perhaps the fairest assessment of the book one could hope for, and scolds anyone who would automatically put it down before reading and considering. If I understand the following Introductions (different ones for each edition), this friend was eventually persuaded that Mr. Shank was absolutely correct, simply because he did what he asked others to do—read the scriptures, read the book, and refused to be biased by former beliefs.
One major caveat: Mr. Shank knows his Greek grammar. Again and again he will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about any Greek word and how it is used. As they say, it was all Greek to me. So what to do? Just what you would do with a commentary that does the same thing. Read past what you don't understand or necessarily need to know, and get the gist of the thing and why it matters. It's not that difficult to navigate if you really want to.
As I said, it's a commitment. I wish you could read my old edition because it has my husband's notes from forty years ago scribbled in the margins and they are enlightening as well. This book came out in the 1960s. If you have an older relative or friend who preaches or did preach back then, he may very well have a copy. Maybe he will have also scribbled in the margins and will let you borrow that copy for a month.
My edition of Life in the Son was published by Westcott Publishers. Some newer editions are from Baker Books. You can find it on Christianbook.com, Thriftbooks, AbeBooks, Barnes and Noble, and of course, Amazon.
Dene Ward
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