Grace Evangelical Society

P.O. Box 1308, Denton, TX 76202
  • About
    • Home
    • Beliefs
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
  • Resources
    • Grace in Focus Blog
    • Grace in Focus International Blogs
    • Grace in Focus Radio
    • Grace in Focus Magazine
    • Free eBooks
    • Journal of the GES
    • Book Reviews
    • Partners in Grace Newsletter
    • Audio Messages
    • Videos
    • Email Subscription
    • Bookstore
    • Online Tracts
  • Store
    • Main Page
    • On Sale
    • Return Policy
    • Your Cart
    • Your Account
  • Events
  • Connect
    • Contact Us
    • Free Grace Church and Bible Study Tracker
    • Free Grace Jobs
    • Ministry Links
  • Donate
    • One Time Donation
    • Monthly Donation
    • Your Account
  • Search
Home
→
Journal Articles
→
Book Reviews
→
The Assurance of Things Hoped for: A Theology of Christian Faith

The Assurance of Things Hoped for: A Theology of Christian Faith

Posted in Book Reviews

The Assurance of Things Hoped for: A Theology of Christian Faith. By Avery Dulles. New York : Oxford University Press, 1994. 299 pp. Paper. $14.95.

What a fascinating book this is. Avery Dulles, a well-known and highly respected Roman Catholic theologian, presents a Catholic view of saving faith that is in places quite similar to that of Reformed Lordship Salvation.

He goes through church history and shows what different theologians have said. He discusses Calvin’s view that assurance is of the essence of saving faith, yet without using that precise expression (p. 47).

Infant baptism and the issue of whether babies in some sense receive faith when they are baptized (he says they do, pp. 241-42), is also discussed.

Chapter 14, entitled, “Concluding Synthesis,” is worth the price of the book. Here Dulles reviews all of his findings in the book. Here are some of his conclusions: “Faith in the theological sense…is a self-surrender to God” (p. 274). “Although not reducible to belief, faith includes belief as a fundamental and essential ingredient” (p. 276). “Faith is obscure. It lays hold of its object not directly but through signs and testimonies that present the object only in partial and inadequate ways” (p. 277). “The saving plan of God includes mysteries that are to some degree impenetrable by the human mind” (p. 277). “Faith sets the believer on the path to eternal life” (p. 279). “Eternal life will be the lot of those who believe, who strive to put their faith into practice, and who persevere in faith to the end” (p. 279).

Those are just a few example of a host of references that pastor s and Bible study teachers can use to show that for many today, saving faith is unknowable and that the Roman Catholic view of faith is, in many of its expressions, identical to that of Calvinists who hold to Lordship Salvation.

How sad it is that most people in most churches, Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant, view faith as surrender to God and something which will gain us eternal life if we keep on living the surrendered life to the end.

I highly recommend this book for any person who is well grounded in the truth of the gospel and who interested in the nature of saving faith, or in Roman Catholicism and Lordship Salvation.

Robert N. Wilkin
Editor
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society
Irving , Texas

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
Bob_W

by Bob Wilkin

Bob Wilkin (ThM, PhD, Dallas Theological Seminary) is the Founder and Executive Director of Grace Evangelical Society and co-host of Grace in Focus Radio. He lives in Highland Village, TX with his wife, Sharon. His latest books are Faith Alone in One Hundred Verses and Turn and Live: The Power of Repentance.

Cart

Recently Added

March 20, 2023

1 Peter–Part 01–1:1-2 Introduction

Welcome to Grace in Focus radio. Today, Ken Yates, Philippe Sterling and Bob Wilkin are introducing a short study about the New Testament book of...
March 20, 2023

Is Everlasting Life Everlasting?

Chris from West Virginia asks an important question: I found myself Googling, “What is eternal life in Greek,” and stumbled upon a Quora forum where...
March 17, 2023

How Should One Define the Phrase “Belief in Jesus”? What is Saving Faith?

Welcome to Grace in Focus radio. Today, Bob Wilkin, Steve Elkins and Ken Yates answer a question about the nature of saving faith. What does...

Grace in Focus Radio

All Episodes

Listen to Stitcher

Listen on Spotify

Grace In Focus Magazine

Grace In Focus is sent to subscribers in the United States free of charge.

Subscribe for Free

The primary source of Grace Evangelical Society's funding is through charitable contributions. GES uses all contributions and proceeds from the sales of our resources to further the gospel of grace in the United States and abroad.

Donate

Bookstore Specials

  • Here Walks My Enemy: The Story of Luis (Hardcover) $13.95 $5.00
  • The Road to Reward, 2nd Edition $9.95 $5.00
  • Hebrews: Partners with Christ $22.00 $15.00
  • Absolutely Free, 2nd Edition $20.00 $12.00
  • Here Walks My Enemy: The Story of Luis (Paperback) $6.95 $3.00
Grace Evangelical Society

(940) 270-8827 / ges@faithalone.org

4851 S I-35E Suite 203, Corinth, TX 76210
P.O. Box 1308, Denton, TX 76202

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube