Berkouwer's concept of the depth-aspect of salvation may be viewed as a
serious attempt to understand the complex problem of the relation of
human language to divine revelation. It need not be dismissed as a
denial of what Scripture says. It may be regarded as an interpretation
of what Scripture says, an attempt to understand what a particular
passage teaches in relation to the "entire Biblical message" (Divine
Election, p. 18). The recogniton of a depth-aspect of salvation need not
involve a denial of Biblical authority. We may regard it as a way of
asking the question, "Is this what the Bible is really saying?", a way
of developing a penetrating analysis which recognizes that we must make a
clear distinction between Scripture itself and theological
interpretations of Scripture. This distinction emerges directly from the
nature of human language, the precise meaning of which is not
immediately evident in its reference to God.
A response to a comment by G. R. Osborne on Berkouwer’s understanding of the doctrine of final perseverance
In his contribution to Clark Pinnock (editor), Grace Unlimited (1975), G. R. Osborne states that Berkouwer, in Faith and Perseverance, pp. 9-10, “speaks of the time less ness of the doctrine of final perseverance, founded on ‘the richness and abidingness of salvation” (p. 188, emphasis mine). This single-sentence comment on Berkouwer’s view hardly gives a fair indication of the type of thinking found in Chapter 1 of Berkouwer’s Faith and Perseverance - “Time li ness and Relevance” (pp. 9-14, emphasis mine). Berkouwer insists that “the living preaching of the Scriptures, which offer no metaphysical and theoretical views about … ‘permanency’ as an independent theme in itself, does nothing to encourage ‘a continuity which is … opposed in any way to the living nature of faith” (p. 13). Berkouwer stresses that “The perseverance of the saints is not primarily a theoretical problem but a confession of faith” (p. 14) and that “The perseverance of the saints is unbreakably connected wi...
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