In his discussion of the 'pre' element in predestination, Berkouwer
insists that "he who speaks of God's counsel in terms of human
categories will have to be aware of the inadequacy of his words" (Divine
Election, p. 152). In this respect, Berkouwer closely follows Bavinck
who, in his discussion of predestination, insists that "one cannot speak
of before or after with respect to God" (Divine Election, p. 152).
Recognizing the inadequacy of human language, Berkouwer seeks to
understand the language of predestination in connection in terms of the
"depth-aspect" of salvation (Divine Election, pp.113, 150, 168). He
emphasizes that "the depth-aspect of salvation ... is not a matter of
hiddenness which goes beyond the knowledge of faith ... not something
far distant, not a vague threatening reality, but the foundation of
salvation ... " (Divine Election, pp. 113-114).
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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