David N. Steele

This book on Calvinism is organized in three parts plus appendices:

Part One ("The Five Points Defined") gives a brief historic overview of the controversy between Arminianism and Calvinism. The authors provide a side-by-side comparison between the two theological systems -- in my opinion, the table is concise and helpful.

Part Two ("The Five Points Defended") explains the five points and provides a list of Scriptural references to support each of the positions. As the authors point out, this book is not intended to be a treaty on TULIP but a quick reference, therefore do not expect exhaustive discussions and arguments on each of the Five Points. The subheadings together with the Scriptural references serve this purpose well.

Part Three ("The Five Points Documented") gives a list of recommended readings -- works broadly on Calvinism, and books on the Five Points individually (totaling 80+ pages). The book list is actually an annotated bibliography. The annotations give reasons why the authors believe the work is important enough to be listed here. The reading list is definitely a good resource for those who desire to study Calvinism in depth. As with any list of this nature, it could get out-dated fairly quickly as new books and essays are published. To compensate this drawback, this part provides some websites as resources.

In addition to the main contents, the book also includes eight appendices. The appendices are excerpts or essays by other writers (such as James McGuire, C. H. Spurgeon, etc.) -- they are highly readable and informative. Even the pitfalls peculiar to Calvinists are briefly discussed in one of the appendices.

The second edition of this title is a welcomed update to the first edition which was published forty years ago. While it is not an exhaustive discussion on or defense of Calvinism (as the authors noted), the book serves as an introduction to the theological system, and a quick desk reference.… (more)