Description: The theological movement known as open theism is shaking the church today, challenging the doctrines of God's sovereignty, foreknowledge, and providence. This timely work clearly describes open theism and evaluates it biblically. Frame addresses questions such as How do open theists read the Bible? Is love God's most important attribute? Is God's will the ultimate explanation of everything? Do we have genuine freedom? Is God ever weak or changeable? Does God know everything in advance? Frame not only answers the objections of open theists but sharpens our understanding of the relationship between God's eternal plan and the decisions or events of our lives.
Description: Revisiting the important topic of covenant fulfillment, Reformed theologian David Holwerda argues that God's promises to Old Testament Israel cannot be understood apart from Jesus Christ. Based on careful exposition of key New Testament texts-including a significant in-depth study of Romans 9-11-in dialogue with a wide variety of interpreters and theologians, Holwerda maintains that the Old Testament promises of God find their complete fulfillment in Jesus Christ and the church.
Description: Genuine Gold: The Cautiously Charismatic Story of the Early Christian and Missionary Alliance documents the supernatural heritage of the early Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA)-welcoming the supernatural with discernment-and calls the denomination to embrace again the charismatic dimensions of the Holy Spirit today and to return to its originally close relation to the Pentecostal-charismatic movement. Author Paul L. King, C&MA historian and theologian, shows how the early C&MA, a robustly evangelical movement, embraced many practices and doctrines of the new Pentecostal movement following the famous Azusa Street Revival of 1906. Yet in following decades, the C&MA distanced itself from the Pentecostal and later charismatic movements. The reasons? Partly because the C&MA insisted on a non-exclusive view of speaking in tongues and on discernment-distinguishing the gold of genuine manifestations of the Holy Spirit from the spurious. But also because the C&MA allied itself increasingly with non-Pentecostal evangelicalism. Genuine Gold urges the C&MA to rekindle the flame of spiritual renewal through its carefully documented history of the Alliance's early vibrancy.
Description: In Gift and Giver, a substantial revision of his 3 Crucial Questions about the Holy Spirit, prolific author Craig Keener takes a probing look at the various evangelical understandings of the role of the Holy Spirit in the church. His desire is for Christians to "work for consensus, or at least for unity in God's work despite our differences on secondary matters."
Employing a helpful narrative approach and an ample number of stories, Keener enters into constructive dialogue with Pentecostals, moderates, and cessationists, all the while attempting to learn from each viewpoint. He seeks to bridge the gap between cessationists and Pentecostals/charismatics by urging all Christians to seek the Holy Spirit's empowerment. His irenic approach to this controversial issue has been endorsed by charismatics and non-charismatics alike.
Sure to provoke helpful dialogue on a topic that has caused unfortunate divisions within the church, Gift and Giver will be a valuable addition to college and seminary courses on pneumatology. It will also be helpful to lay readers interested in a balanced discussion of spiritual gifts.
