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Foundations of the Christian Faith #1
The Sovereign God
Book by Boice, James Montgomery
- GenresTheology
252 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
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About the author
James Montgomery Boice
268 books100 followersJames Montgomery Boice was a Reformed theologian, Bible teacher, and pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia from 1968 until his death in 2000. He was also president and cofounder of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, the parent organization of The Bible Study Hour on which Boice was a speaker for more than thirty years.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 18, 2024
THE FIRST OF FOUR PARTS OF A COMPREHENSIVE POPULAR THEOLOGY
James Montgomery Boice (1938-2000) was a Reformed theologian and pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia from 1968 until his death, and was heard on The Bible Study Hour radio broadcast. Other volumes in this series are 'God the Redeemer,' 'Awakening to God,' and 'God and History: Foundations of the Christian Faith.'
He wrote in the Preface to this 1978 book, "For years I have looked for a work that could be given to a person (particularly a new Christian) who is alert and questioning and who could profit from a comprehensive but readable overview of the Christian faith, a basic theology from A to Z. But I could not find anything that was quite what I had in mind and, thus, determined that I should attempt to write it myself."
He suggests that the gospels "don't really contradict each other." In all their major outlines they are mutually supportive. An incidental detail in one sometimes clarifies what seems to be a contradiction between two of the others, and they lend special weight to the impression of the Gospels' total accuracy. (Pg. 72-73)
Commenting on Deut 6:4, he notes that in this verse the word for "one" is "echad," which means not one in isolation but one in unity. In fact, "the word is never used in the Hebrew Bible of a stark singular entity. It is the word used ... in saying that the people of Israel responded as one people." (Pg. 139)
He asserts that God's sovereignty extends to the human will and therefore also to human actions. Thus, God hardened Pharoah's heart so that he refused to let the people of Israel go. He admits that it may be objected that some men and women nevertheless defy God and disobey him. But this observation cannot overthrow the teaching of the Bible concerning God's rule over his creation, "unless the Bible is allowed to be self-contradictory." (Pg. 152)
In discussing whether there is a 3-part (i.e., body, soul, spirit) or a 2-part construction of our being, he admits, "the linguistic data... are not as clear as one could wish," and that sometimes, particularly in the earlier parts of the Old Testament, the terms soul (nephesh) and spirit (ruach) are used interchangeably, which has introduced confusion. (Pg. 196)
Significantly, he states that "there is no firm biblical reason for rejecting some forms of evolutionary theory, so long as it is carefully qualified at key points." There is, for example, no reason to deny that one form of fish may have evolved from another form or even that one form of land animal may have evolved from a sea creature. He states, "The Hebrew ... would permit such a possibility." (Pg. 210)
Boice's book is a useful, yet not oversimplified, "popular" version of Calvinist systematic theology.
James Montgomery Boice (1938-2000) was a Reformed theologian and pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia from 1968 until his death, and was heard on The Bible Study Hour radio broadcast. Other volumes in this series are 'God the Redeemer,' 'Awakening to God,' and 'God and History: Foundations of the Christian Faith.'
He wrote in the Preface to this 1978 book, "For years I have looked for a work that could be given to a person (particularly a new Christian) who is alert and questioning and who could profit from a comprehensive but readable overview of the Christian faith, a basic theology from A to Z. But I could not find anything that was quite what I had in mind and, thus, determined that I should attempt to write it myself."
He suggests that the gospels "don't really contradict each other." In all their major outlines they are mutually supportive. An incidental detail in one sometimes clarifies what seems to be a contradiction between two of the others, and they lend special weight to the impression of the Gospels' total accuracy. (Pg. 72-73)
Commenting on Deut 6:4, he notes that in this verse the word for "one" is "echad," which means not one in isolation but one in unity. In fact, "the word is never used in the Hebrew Bible of a stark singular entity. It is the word used ... in saying that the people of Israel responded as one people." (Pg. 139)
He asserts that God's sovereignty extends to the human will and therefore also to human actions. Thus, God hardened Pharoah's heart so that he refused to let the people of Israel go. He admits that it may be objected that some men and women nevertheless defy God and disobey him. But this observation cannot overthrow the teaching of the Bible concerning God's rule over his creation, "unless the Bible is allowed to be self-contradictory." (Pg. 152)
In discussing whether there is a 3-part (i.e., body, soul, spirit) or a 2-part construction of our being, he admits, "the linguistic data... are not as clear as one could wish," and that sometimes, particularly in the earlier parts of the Old Testament, the terms soul (nephesh) and spirit (ruach) are used interchangeably, which has introduced confusion. (Pg. 196)
Significantly, he states that "there is no firm biblical reason for rejecting some forms of evolutionary theory, so long as it is carefully qualified at key points." There is, for example, no reason to deny that one form of fish may have evolved from another form or even that one form of land animal may have evolved from a sea creature. He states, "The Hebrew ... would permit such a possibility." (Pg. 210)
Boice's book is a useful, yet not oversimplified, "popular" version of Calvinist systematic theology.
May 12, 2012
so much better than Grudem! Now if only I could manage to find the next three volumes....
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews