Does God sovereignly elect some individuals for salvation while passing others by? Do human beings possess free will to embrace or reject the gospel? Did Christ die equally for all people or only for some? These questions have long been debated in the history of the Christian church. Answers typically fall into one of two main categories, popularly known as Calvinism and Arminianism.
The focus of this book is to establish how one nineteenth-century evangelical group, the Brethren, responded to these and other related questions. The Brethren produced a number of colorful leaders whose influence was felt throughout the evangelical world. Although many critics have assumed the movement’s theology was Arminian, this book argues that the Brethren, with few exceptions, advocated Calvinistic positions. Yet there were some twists along the way! The movement’s radical biblicism, passionate evangelism, and strong aversion to systematic theology and creeds meant they refused to label themselves as Calvinists even though they affirmed Calvinism’s soteriological principles–the so-called doctrines of grace.
About the author
Tim Grass is a Senior Research Fellow at Spurgeon’s College, London, Assistant Editor for the Ecclesiastical History Society, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He also serves as Facilitator of the Lausanne-Orthodox Initiative. Tim has authored Gathering to His Name: The Story of Open Brethren in Britain and Ireland (2006), SCM Core Text: Modern Church History (2008), The Lord’s Watchman: A Life of Edward Irving (2011), and F. F. Bruce: A Life (2011). `