Relating
his understanding of divine sovereignty and divine freedom to the
interpretation of Romans 9-11, Berkouwer wrote, "Words like
'sovereignty' ought not to be approached abstractly via a formal
concept: this can only create the impression that we are capturing our
own understanding or words in transparent definitions and then applying
them directly to God without deeper consideration, as though he
naturally fits the definition garnerd from human experience. Not
surprisingly, this abstract notion of sovereignty has a profound effect
when theologians apply it to ... Romans 9" (A Half Century of Theology,
p. 91). He asked this question: "If divine freedom explains everything
... how is it posssible that Paul ... in ... Romans 9-11 ... does not
end with a reasoned conclusion that the destiny of eveything and
everyone is sealed from eternity. Why does he, rather, end with a
breathtaking doxology" (A Half Century of Theology, p. 92 - followed by
the words of Romans 11:33).
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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