Grace, Faith, Freewill

Grace, Faith, Freewill is a book that was written by Robert E. Picirilli. In the forward, he expresses that his purpose, in composing this book, was to explain Calvinism and Arminianism, and their positions in order, “to help readers intelligently decide for themselves”, which one is correct (i). As a result, the author writes thirteen chapters, which are divided into five sections dealing with the matter of Calvinism and Arminianism.

The first section, of this book, is labeled the historical setting, which contains only the first chapter. The author states that chapter one is “a ‘historical theology’ treatment of the issues that divide Calvinists and Arminians” (3). The author summarizes the life of Arminius, which includes his childhood, education, occupations, and death (4-17). The author also gives explicated details surrounding Arminius objection to the doctrine of Calvinism (6-15).

The book’s second section is labeled the plan of salvation, and it contains chapters two through four. Section two deals with the decrees of God, which is the decisions God made before creation concerning salvation (19). In chapter two, the author expounds on the Calvinistic view, which dealt with the concept of God, man, and salvation (21-23). The author also defines predestination in the positive, which is the “election to salvation”, and the negative, which is the “by- passing of regenerating” (27-31).

The third chapter, the author explains the doctrines that Calvinism and Arminianism agrees on, and disagrees on (35-43). The author then defines that the elect are people who believe in Christ, and that the reprobation consists of people who have chosen not to believe (48). He states that the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism...

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...to write about apostasy, but with the goal of using Hebrews and Second Peter to prove the correctness of the doctrine of apostasy (211). Therefore, the author states the context, theme, and structure of Hebrews, with the goal of discovering the meaning of Hebrews 6:4-6. (211). He concludes his study of Hebrews; by stating, “personal apostasy from a truly regenerate condition really is possible and recovery from it impossible” (228). He then reveals after presenting information about Second Peter, that Peter also believed in apostasy (229-232).

In the conclusion of this book, the author restates in simply words what Calvinism and Arminianism believe. In his words, he states that Calvinism, “sees salvation by election without regard to any decision by man” and Arminianism views salvation through God’s grace, which enables man to put his faith in Him (235).