Book Review: LBB - Predestination

This book is something of an oddity - a short, youth-focused, trendily-produced paperback that deals with the difficult issue of predestination. This, written by a youth minister called Scott Petty, is actually a pretty useful doorway into discussion of some fairly hefty topics. "Predestination" is a small book that deals carefully and calmly with one of the most emotive elements of Christian theology - God's Sovereignty, and his providence and predestination.

Given that the whole book is less than 90 pages long, this is not an exhaustive treatment of the topic. But it is a very readable, biblical, calm and reasonable attempt to explain the Doctrines of Grace. Right from the outset Petty sets his exploration in the context of how God works generally, looking at the providence of God. There is an interesting blend of technical theological terms and normal-life anecdotes, which help to illustrate the pretty massive ideas that Petty is engaging with! 

You get five chapters for your money in this little book - which for some reason seems to have the dimensions of a CD case - and they are all useful introductions to their topics. The first looks at God's providence, under the title of "The super-involved God", and is a helpful opener. We then move on to chapter 2, "Chosen by God", which looks carefully and joyfully at the biblical idea of election. Thirdly we have the tension - which Petty resolves by an appeal to compatibilism - of "God's choice and my freedom", and we have here a very helpful chapter on this tension. The penultimate fourth chapter deals with the great objection of the Christian; "But that's not fair!". There is a helpful discussion of issues of Grace here, and I believe it is a good attempt at engaging with the question of fairness. The final chapter takes the form of a Q&A, looking at the questions of evil, prayer and evangelism, God forcing us to love him, and the difference that predestination makes to the Christian life.

This is a very helpful little book, which provides an accessible and readable introduction to a tough topic. I expect that I found it good largely because I agreed with it, but I do feel it makes the case and explains the truth carefully and calmly. As an introduction to the discussion, it is very useful, and I would recommend it to someone wanting to grapple with these issues from a biblical perspective.

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