What do you think?
Rate this book
Grace Worth Fighting For: Recapturing the Vision of God's Grace in the Canons of Dort
Calvinists are well known for their fighting, and on the rare occasions when the Synod of Dort is remembered, it is often highlighted as an example of Calvinist squabbling and dogmatism. But few know the real story, or why the battles at Dort were worth fighting. In celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Canons of Dort, pastor and scholar Daniel Hyde reminds us what Dort was all protecting and proclaiming the glorious gospel of grace!Dispelling harsh caricatures and whitewashed hagiographies alike, Hyde leads us on a patient journey through the history and text of the Canons, illuminating the fine-grained theological distinctions and simple Scriptural truths encapsulated in their ninety-three articles. Along the way, the reader will discover the startling catholicity and breadth of this foundational statement of Calvinism, and its remarkable pastoral value for nourishing Christian faith, hope, and love today.
- GenresTheologyChurch History
437 pages, Paperback
Published March 3, 2019
38 people are currently reading
92 people want to read
About the author
Daniel R. Hyde
39 books30 followersDaniel R. Hyde (ThM, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary) is the Pastor of the Oceanside United Reformed Church in Oceanside, California. He is the author of over ten books, including Welcome to a Reformed Church, Why Believe in God?, and God in Our Midst.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 13, 2019
This year, 2019, is the 400th anniversary of the Synod of Dort, held at Dordrecht in the Netherlands, where theologians from across Europe gathered to address important threats to the doctrines of grace and the Reformed faith.
It is quite rare to find a book that discusses the grace of God in such a rich and full way. Daniel Hyde has managed to combine profound theological insight, rich historical background and warm devotional, pastoral and personal application. This makes “Grace Worth Fighting For” a work that satisfies on all three fronts at the same time. Here you will learn and be challenged in a solid and profound way.
It is quite rare to find a book that discusses the grace of God in such a rich and full way. Daniel Hyde has managed to combine profound theological insight, rich historical background and warm devotional, pastoral and personal application. This makes “Grace Worth Fighting For” a work that satisfies on all three fronts at the same time. Here you will learn and be challenged in a solid and profound way.
November 26, 2019
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
---
He goes on from this point for five more paragraphs but to have included it all would've been overkill (and possibly copyright infringement), but it's hard to imagine a more inspiring rally-cry to a book about a 400-year-old document.
It's always with the books that I take the most notes on that I have the hardest time writing about—I just have too much to sift through to come up with a post. That's definitely the case here. It's taken me about a month to come up with a post I can live with (although I'll probably be mentally re-writing it until February).
In this 400th anniversary of the Synod of Dort which produced the subject of this book, the Canons of Dort, I've read three books about the Canons. I apparently saved the best for last (although I started strong, too). This combines the best parts of the other two and builds on them. We get the depth and pastoral insight of Godfrey and the approach of deYoung.
After a great chapter giving the historical background and explaining why the Canons were needed—then and now (see above)—Hyde gives a commentary on each Head of Doctrine, both the positive position and the rejection of errors (the rejections are pretty short, Hyde focuses on what is affirmed).
I don't have the time to write, and you likely don't have time to read, a good overview of the book as a whole, so I'm going to use Chapter 7, which covers the Fifth Head of Doctrine "The Perseverance of the Saint." Sixty-three pages on fifteen paragraphs might seem like overkill, but it almost feels like it's not (I don't mean to suggest that Hyde skimped on anything, but you can't help but feel there's more to say about all of this). The details will vary, but this'll give you a taste.
He starts off explaining the Remonstrant position, aka the stuff the Canons are responding to, acknowledging that parts of their position are correct, before highlighting the major problems and then showing how large segments of contemporary Evangelicalism agree with the Remonstrants. Following this Hyde looks at the development of this doctrine throughout Church History, focusing on the contributions of Augustine and Aquinas. Then he summarized the Reformed position. With the context established, Hyde goes through—paragraph by paragraph—the text of the Canons, explaining Scriptural references, focusing on and teasing out particular phrases. He not only explains the position but shows how it's relevant to the reader's life and interacts with contemporary critics. A particular strength of this chapter was Hyde's focus on the Trinitarian nature of God's preserving His people and tying that to the assurance of faith.
This is an intimidating looking book—over 400 pages if you include the appendices and bibliography—and there's something daunting about that cover. But no one should be intimidated by it. It's not a breezy read by any means—but it's warm, pastoral and approachable. Anyone over 13 should have no problem with it. Sure, some of the topics will leave some scratching their heads and pondering for a while, but that's because these are weighty, thought-provoking topics, not because of Hyde's text.
There's so much more that I want to say, but I'm going to call it quits here. I may have read a better theological book this year, but I can't think of it off the top of my head. This is simply excellent—rich theology, rich application, solid history, smartly writing, occasionally stirring. I can't recommend it highly enough.
---
We need the canons in our fight to preserve and propagate a pristine doctrine of God’s grace in the salvation of sinners like you and me. Here we are plunged to the depths of depravity then raised to behold the eternal love of God. Here we are taken to the cross where we bow before the satisfaction made for us but then arise because it is so sufficient that we must promiscuously publish its news to all tribes, in every nation, on every continent. Here we experience the uncontrollable power of the Holy Spirit (John 3) efficaciously applying the infinite merit of the Son of God to the hearts of sinners like us. Here we feel the pain and struggle that comes with being Christian, loved by the Father but struggling to love, buried with Christ but constantly digging up our sins, filled with the Holy Spirit but being led astray by our own passions. Yet God the triune God is powerful to preserve us in his loving arms and to bring us to the Celestial City.
He goes on from this point for five more paragraphs but to have included it all would've been overkill (and possibly copyright infringement), but it's hard to imagine a more inspiring rally-cry to a book about a 400-year-old document.
It's always with the books that I take the most notes on that I have the hardest time writing about—I just have too much to sift through to come up with a post. That's definitely the case here. It's taken me about a month to come up with a post I can live with (although I'll probably be mentally re-writing it until February).
In this 400th anniversary of the Synod of Dort which produced the subject of this book, the Canons of Dort, I've read three books about the Canons. I apparently saved the best for last (although I started strong, too). This combines the best parts of the other two and builds on them. We get the depth and pastoral insight of Godfrey and the approach of deYoung.
After a great chapter giving the historical background and explaining why the Canons were needed—then and now (see above)—Hyde gives a commentary on each Head of Doctrine, both the positive position and the rejection of errors (the rejections are pretty short, Hyde focuses on what is affirmed).
I don't have the time to write, and you likely don't have time to read, a good overview of the book as a whole, so I'm going to use Chapter 7, which covers the Fifth Head of Doctrine "The Perseverance of the Saint." Sixty-three pages on fifteen paragraphs might seem like overkill, but it almost feels like it's not (I don't mean to suggest that Hyde skimped on anything, but you can't help but feel there's more to say about all of this). The details will vary, but this'll give you a taste.
He starts off explaining the Remonstrant position, aka the stuff the Canons are responding to, acknowledging that parts of their position are correct, before highlighting the major problems and then showing how large segments of contemporary Evangelicalism agree with the Remonstrants. Following this Hyde looks at the development of this doctrine throughout Church History, focusing on the contributions of Augustine and Aquinas. Then he summarized the Reformed position. With the context established, Hyde goes through—paragraph by paragraph—the text of the Canons, explaining Scriptural references, focusing on and teasing out particular phrases. He not only explains the position but shows how it's relevant to the reader's life and interacts with contemporary critics. A particular strength of this chapter was Hyde's focus on the Trinitarian nature of God's preserving His people and tying that to the assurance of faith.
This is an intimidating looking book—over 400 pages if you include the appendices and bibliography—and there's something daunting about that cover. But no one should be intimidated by it. It's not a breezy read by any means—but it's warm, pastoral and approachable. Anyone over 13 should have no problem with it. Sure, some of the topics will leave some scratching their heads and pondering for a while, but that's because these are weighty, thought-provoking topics, not because of Hyde's text.
There's so much more that I want to say, but I'm going to call it quits here. I may have read a better theological book this year, but I can't think of it off the top of my head. This is simply excellent—rich theology, rich application, solid history, smartly writing, occasionally stirring. I can't recommend it highly enough.
July 30, 2025
Exhaustive but not exhausting.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews