Election of Grace: A Riddle without a Resolution?

Few issues in Christian theology have sparked as much debate over the centuries as the question of election. In this book Stephen Williams offers a coherent account of the doctrine of election and argues that we should diminish the role of system in Christian theology. After discussing the biblical teaching on election, Williams turns to questions of theological method and substance. He maintains that the subject of predestination has to be considered in a wider biblical context than it often is and that it is a mistake to expect election to be understood within a comprehensive systematic framework. What matters is the relation of particular truths to the particulars of life, not the systematic relation of truths to each other. Williams draws on and applies the insights of nineteenth- century evangelical Anglican leader Charles Simeon throughout and concludes his study with a long appendix on Karl Barth's view of election.