by Greg Baxter
Pastor of Faith Journey Church, Lawton, OK
A book review for Salvation and Sovereignty:
A Molinist Approach
By Kenneth Keathley
Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Company, 2010
ISBN: 978-0805431988
Baptists, especially those who distance themselves from the theologies of the Protestant Reformation, are rightly skeptical about being labeled as Calvinists or Arminians. When dealing with the doctrines of salvation, many will reject either label and call themselves “biblicists.” Based on our understanding of the texts of the Bible, we come to conclusions held in part by both camps. Like Calvinists, I believe the Scriptures teach God’s sovereignty, but I reject irresistible grace and limited atonement. Like Arminians, I firmly uphold human freedom, but I reject the possibility of losing salvation once one makes a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Maintaining this balance is critical for those of us who are interested in being true to what the Bible says about these important doctrines, but a position not well thought out can lay us open to the charge of inconsistency or naivety.
Finally, I have come upon a book that reflects what I consider a biblical view of salvation. Kenneth Keathley, professor of theology and dean of graduate studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC, has taken this very confusing topic and made it more consistent and scriptural.
I have studied this issue for many years and Kenneth Keathley has put in writing what I have long believed based on my understanding of the text, historic/systematic theology, and what most Christians know intuitively — God is sovereign, and we are free to believe or to disbelieve. In my opinion, the author changes the paradigm of how we understand salvation from the traditional five points of Calvinism to what I consider a much more biblical model. To give an idea of what I mean, Keathley suggests that instead of the standard Calvinist TULIP, we should be thinking ROSES, an acronym also advocated by Timothy George in Amazing Grace: God’s Initiative, our Response.
These are the five points of Calvinism:
Total Depravity
Unconditional Election
Limited Atonement
Irresistible Grace
Perseverance of the Saints
Kenneth Keathley says the ideas underlying these points could better be demonstrated this way:
Radical Depravity
Overcoming grace
Sovereign Election
Eternal Life
Singular Redemption
A little background for those who want to dig further. The book argues for Molinism, a model of divine sovereignty/human responsibility. The authors says, “Molinism is a precise philosophical system that arose out of a commitment to certain principles clearly taught in the Bible” (p 19), and Molinists argue that “God perfectly accomplishes His will in the lives of genuinely free creatures through the use of His omniscience.” Christian theologian and philosopher William Lane Craig says Molinism is “one of the most fruitful theological ideas ever conceived. For it would serve to explain not only God’s knowledge of the future, but divine providence and predestination as well.”
Keathley’s book shows how the Bible balances the truths of God’s sovereignty and our freedom:
a) God is both good and great
b) Human freedom is both derived and genuinely ours
c) God’s grace is both monergistic and resistible
d) God’s election is both unconditional and according to foreknowledge
e) The saved are both preserved and will persevere
f) Christ’s atonement is both unlimited in its provision and limited in its application
Some sample statements and conclusions I have drawn from the book include:
1. Depravity, yes; determinism, no. We have the ability to make a wide range of choices within our fallen character (p 63, 73).
2. Salvation is all of grace; damnation all of sin. Grace is monergistic (salvation is the work of God from beginning to end) and grace is resistible (p 101, 104).
3. With regards to election, Molinism replaces TULIP. The doctrines of sovereignty and permission are both true. God controls all things but He does not cause all things (in the real sense that God did not directly cause any evil). He also gave us and angels permission; the ability to choose and with choice comes moral responsibility for our choices (p 138- 9).
4. Our assurance is based on four principles: 1) the only basis for assurance is the objective work of Christ, 2) assurance is the essence of saving faith 3) saving faith perseveres and remains until the day when it gives way to sight 4) there are rewards after salvation for the believer to win or lose.
5. The Bible teaches that Christ died for all men. He provided a particular redemption that is universal in scope (p 202).
I highly recommend this book to every pastor/missionary and other ministry leaders.
Greg Baxter recently received the Doctor of Ministry degree from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in Lynchburg, VA.