As an essentially reformed Christian, I first heard about this book and thought it was another in the long line of recent attacks on Calvinism, or the Doctrines of Grace. As a man who fought through my own inclinations toward Arminianism and the free grace mindset that I was indoctrinated into as a child, I did not want to waste my time reading another book that levels the same tired old arguments against what I have found to be the accurate and true reading of scripture. Heck, when God first saved me in April of 2004, I was a well-researched and deeply rooted evolutionist. As proof of God’s amazing grace and His power to move mountains, He not only converted my very soul, but transformed my mind and I am a firm believer in creationism today.

My walk out of Arminianism was, in the same manner, a long walk of redemption as I began to learn more and more about who God is, who I am in relationship to Him, and how I should respond to Him through the reading of scripture. I’ve fought every fight, thought through every alternative, and investigated every argument. The thought of reading yet another book on this subject was something that I wanted no part of. That was until I found out who has written the book. I had been following Eddie Edding’s site, Calvinistic Cartoons for the better part of a year and enjoying it daily. The Lighthearted Calvinist is a blog by Jeff Peterson, which I also frequent, rounding out the second of the three authors of this book. Given the insight present on the pages of these websites has led me to an interest in reading the book that they had authored.

I found this book to be a concise and thorough defense of the Doctrines of Grace. It defined the principles and stated clearly the history of both John Calvin’s views and those of James Arminius as well as the actions of their followers that have led to this debate. The authors then stepped through and biblically defended each of the five tenets of Calvinism, then rounded each chapter with humor and wit. I firmly stand behind this book and recommend it to anyone who would like to have a reference available to them that cleanly and precisely builds a defense for the Doctrines of Grace.

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