Sovereign Grace

The Reformation thinker John Calvin had significant and unusual things to say about life in public encounter, things which both anticipate modern thinking and, says William Stevenson, can serve as important antidotes to some of modern thinking's broader pretensions. This study attempts to give a coherent picture of Calvin's political theory by following the stream that flows from his fascinating short essay, "On Christian Freedom," one chapter in the magisterial Institutes of the Christian Religion. Stevenson argues that a full examination of this essay yields not only a more thorough explication--and historical placement--of Calvin's political ideas proper but also a more complete and coherent picture of their theological underpinnings.

The Reformation thinker John Calvin had significant and unusual things to say about life in public encounter, things which both anticipate modern thinking and, says William Stevenson, can serve as important antidotes to some of modern thinking's broader pretensions. Although much has been written about Calvin's political theory, a coherent picture has yet to emerge. He has been seen variously as a proto-liberal democrat, a reckless revolutionary, a "constructive" revolutionary, an unforgiving authoritarian, and an intransigent traditionalist. Can these pictures be reconciled? This study attempts such a reconciliation by following the stream that flows from Calvin's fascinating short essay "On Christian Freedom," one chapter in the magisterial Institutes of the Christian Religion.

Collected writings from both past and present preachers of God's Gospel of Free and Sovereign Grace through Jesus Christ. Includes works by William Tiptaft, Tobias Crisp, William Huntington, William Gadsby, Robert Murray M'Cheyne, J.C. Philpot, John Kershaw, James Bourne, Eli Ashdown, Francis Covell, John Vinall, John Warburton, Don Fortner, Henry Mahan, Don Bell, Gary Shepard, Todd Nibert, Tom Harding, Peter Meney and Benjamin A. Ramsbottom. The book also includes an Introduction on 'Sovereign Grace', background information about each author and a useful appendix containing much information about other works written by or about the authors. These works are by authors whose lives span several hundred years, yet their message is the same - they proclaim the grace of God which brings salvation - because the One of whom they speak never changes, He is "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever".