Answers. Not Arguments

When you are given a brand-new book on a controversial topic and asked to put it in your new Christian library, what do you do? Research! Luckily for me, election and predestination, Calvinism and Arminanism, are not new ideas to me. But still, the goal of The Study Room is to bring understanding to the Bible, not cloud the gospel with rhetoric and opinions. So how to approach this biblically? How to tell if this book is hogwash or a genuine tool for clarifying a complicated issue? Is Election and Predestination: Looking for Answers, not Arguments, by Peter Kerr, a yay or a nay?

Firstly, I started off with prayer. Secondly, this verse was on my heart.

1 Corinthians 1:11-13, “My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?”

Am I of John Calvin? Am I of Jacobus Arminius? I pondered this. Are my views truly based on scripture or man-made theology that sounds like it makes sense of those confusing passages? Hummm…..

Then I decided to see what we already had in the study room. I mean, let’s be honest, I haven’t read ALL the books yet. So, after heading over to the website and clicking on “Library,” I typed in “Predestination.” Two books came up: The Faith of God’s Elect by John F. Parkinson and Predestined For Hell? by Dr. John R. Rice. (Having finished the new resource in question, these books follow the same vein of thought and worth a read).

Then I typed in “Election.” The first two books came up again, but so did Knowing God by J.I Packer and Principles of Biblical Hermeneutics by J.Edwin Hartill. Knowing God is a deep read; however, well worth the time! Read it slowly. Ponder. Then continue. If you need more than the six weeks we allow, just let us know!

Now, this book on hermeneutics, well, this was an “aha” moment for me. I’ve heard the term before, but not being a bible college student myself it held an air of mystery. To keep this blog a reasonable length, we’ll stick with a simple history and definition of hermeneutics.

Things to know:

Hermes was a Greek god who was the “interpreter of Jupiter (another Greek god)” (Hartill).
Therefore, hermeneutics is the science of interpretation.
Biblical hermeneutics is a “how-to” guide for studying and interpreting the Bible.
And am I the only one who sees a bit a humor in this? 😊

Studying biblical hermeneutics really sets us up for success by establishing the frameworks we need to properly analyze the Bible. Here are a few key principles of interest for the task at hand with a very brief summary of main points:

The Election Principle: “God has a purpose, and this is worked out all through Scripture” (p. 94).
The Principle of Human Willingness in Illumination: “It is the principle by which a knowledge of God’s truth is guaranteed to souls willing to know the truth [and] must be guided by the Holy Spirit” (p. 68).
The First Mention Principle: “That principle by which God indicates in the first mention of a subject, the truth with which that subject stands connected in the mind of God” (p. 70).
The Context Principle: “That principle by which God gives light upon a subject through either near or remote passages bearing upon the same theme. Every verse must be studied in the light of its context. Never take a verse out of its setting and give it a foreign meaning” (p. 79).
The Agreement Principle: “That principle under which the truthfulness and faithfulness of God become the guarantee that He will not set forth any passage in His Word which contradicts any other passage” (pg.84).

Should knowing more about these topics interest you, stop by and borrow this book by Hartill. Might seem like a rather dull subject, but as I said earlier, it was an “aha” moment for me. These principles can provide a way to better understanding these challenging biblical views.

Now that I completed this research, what approach should I take with this new book, Election and Predestination: Looking for Answers, not Arguments, by Peter Kerr? What criteria would I use to either accept the book or not? For starters, it needed to be based on scripture. Was he looking at the Bible passages directly or commenting on another’s opinion of the passages? Was he looking at the context of a passage and the meaning of the words in their original language? Was he using the Bible to comment on the Bible (hermeneutics in action!)? Lastly, did the book confess to the mystery of election and human willingness? Let’s find out!

The Author

Peter A. Kerr was born again in his later teens and “those who first discipled [him] were loving, godly believers who carefully instructed [him] in the Arminian perspective which they held” (p. 15). During his Bible college years, he “became convinced of, and thoroughly grounded in, Calvinistic theology. Once again, [he] was instructed by godly people whom [he] respected” (p.15). Then after a medical procedure that left him bed-ridden for a long time and unable to read, Kerr listened to the Bible. It was during this time that he became unsettled with his theology surrounding the topic at hand. It was here that the journey towards this book began. First he studied all the main views on election. Then after seeing the confusion between the different views and the traditions surrounding them, Kerr decided to bring it back to the Bible and to let God define His own words. This deep study Kerr did was for his small group Bible study, but over time others struggling with this doctrine convinced him to publish his findings.

The Layout

Peter Kerr’s findings are well laid out and easy to follow. He begins in the Old Testament to see how God elected people and to what they were elected, and in so doing, Kerr is using the First Mention Principle (good old hermeneutics back again). Then Kerr moves on to how the words are used in the New Testament (The Progressive Mention Principle). Then the other six sections dig deeper into the key passages, including those found in Matthew, John, and Romans to name a few.

Points of Interest

Here are a few of my favourite take aways:

Kerr’s humble and honest attitude which endeared me to keep reading with an open mind instead of feeling either stupid or defensive.
Kerr’s approach was refreshing. He clearly laid out his plan which was to see how the key terminology was first used in the Bible, how the truth behind the word/concept was revealed throughout scripture, and he did it all in the “original historical, grammatical, and theological context” (p. 28). Hermeneutics in practice!
Being chosen/elected in the Old Testament was always to a specific purpose and privilege. For example, David was chosen “for a privilege (to be king)—which included a special position (king of Israel) and an enabling power (Holy Spirit), and for a particular purpose (through him the biological line of the Messiah)—which included a task (actually do a good job as king!) to be performed and a testimony (to bring glory to God which in turn would draw others to God) (Italics mine; p. 35).
This theme of being chosen/elected for a privilege and a purpose continues to be demonstrated throughout the scripture. Kerr dives deep into each applicable passage and really takes the time to address the truths. It was interesting and enlightening. Kerr did not shy away from any of the controversial passages but did impart a comment in keeping with his studies. You’ll have to read the book to find out his conclusions!
Kerr left room for the mystery and for a margin of error on his part. How exactly does predestination, election, and our choice and responsibility actually play out together? A complete understanding is not for this side of Heaven, but what we can understand should lead us to our knees in prayerful praise before a holy and loving God.

The Bottom Line

If you are a seeker of God and this all sounds like too much, here is the bottom line:

• God is love. He created us and loves us.
• We are sinners by nature, and because of sin our relationship with God is broken.
• Because of His love, God pursues us and leads us all to a point where we see our need of Him.
• We can either turn to Him and accept the salvation that is offered in the death and resurrection of Jesus; or we can stay lost.
• If you would like more information on this, please reach out to us here are The Study Room. We would love to chat with you.

So, curious about my decision regarding Election and Predestination: Looking for Answers, not Arguments, by Peter Kerr? I really did enjoy the book, though I’m unsure I agree with all his interpretations. Conclusion: It is a “yay” for adding it as a resource here at The Study Room. Thanks, Dad, for the book! 😊

A blog post by Nathalie Davidson

January 26, 2022.