"Reprobation and God’s Sovereignty: Recovering a Biblical Doctrine" (Peter Sammons)

TITLE: Reprobation and God's Sovereignty: Redeeming a Biblical Doctrine
AUTHOR: Peter Sammons
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2022, (296 pages).
 

It has often been said that the Gospel is Good News. Literally, that is true. For the gospel brings faith, hope, and love, all perfectly embodied in the Person of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, sin has affected our understanding of the gospel. Instead of seeking the whole truth, people tend to prefer the nice and pleasant ones. Instead of what is real, they prefer the falsehood that appears good on the outside but rings empty on the inside. For sin has made one preferring to hear what one craves and to see what one covets. Corrupted by sin, the mind begins to make hell out of heaven and heaven out of hell. While acknowledging the Sovereignty of God, man still tries to usurp control from time to time. As the popular saying goes, one cannot have the cake and eat it too. Like the marriage vow, the woman's choice to marry the man also means the decision to reject all other suitors. Acceptance of one automatically meant the rejection of others. Likewise, in the doctrine of election, being the chosen one (Predestination) also means that there are also those who are not (Reprobation). Author Peter Sammons aims to help us understand the doctrine of "Reprobation" which is essentially the "eternal, unconditional decree of God for the non-elect." In other words, if predestination is for the elect, then reprobation is for the non-elect (aka reprobate). This is sometimes referred to as "double predestination." When talking about God's Sovereignty, God exercises justice for all which includes reward as well as punishment. Using Romans 9 as his key passage, he states that the purpose of election is for both nations and individuals. He provides several interesting interpretations of:

• Significance of human will, like Pharaoh hardening his heart (and God hardening Pharaoh's heart);
• Issue of God loving Jacob and hating Esau;
• Unconditional double predestination
• Arminianism vs Calvinism
• Reprobation as an active choice by God
• Hyper-Calvinism and Misunderstanding of Calvinism
• God's Will vs Human Volition
• Four Scriptural Categories of Causality
• ...

Biblical doctrines of election, faith, grace, justification, sanctification, inspiration, salvation, and predestination are plenty. Many of them are popular because they talk about hope and the positive things about the gospel. Things like sin, punishment, and damnation are less pleasant and usually downplayed. Sammons boldly takes the leap to say that God has spoken to all and has meted out his judgment in his Sovereign will, first to the elect, and then to the reprobate. He then addresses some of the objections and guides us through the difficult issues arising out of this stand.

My Thoughts

Sammons's orientation is clearly cataphatic (as opposed to apophatic) in approach to explicitly support the calling for the elect and the express punishment of the non-elect. That is understandable, given his emphasis on the Sovereignty of God which gives God the ultimate authority to decide rewards or punishments for all. This manner of certainty does provide some problems too. For one, the argument is how a finite being like us could comprehend an infinite God? What about the places in Scripture that are silent on issues? Has the author taken his interpretation of the "will of God" too far? Must we become so certain of all things that we leave no room for mysteries to keep us humble? Sammons is aware of these and gives a somewhat cursory acknowledgment of these, which appears to me as a form of minimizing them. I think he is correct in terms of ascertaining clarity from Scripture. Where he lacks is the patience to allow divine mysteries to co-exist. This sense of determinism can sometimes minimize the journey of spiritual formation which needs time to cultivate and grow. One example is the rush to interpret Romans 9:11-13 as God's "pretemporal decision" to judge Esau. I believe this should be placed in the realm of divine mystery as we don't want to be guilty of limiting an infinite God with our finite understanding. 

Somewhere in the middle of the book, Sammons agrees that reprobation is a difficult doctrine and how it can be a stumbling block to new believers. I agree with him that it is the responsibility of all believers to study God's Word deeply so as to be guided by Scripture instead of fear. We should not let the world's version of love and goodwill stop us from letting God be who He is and what He is doing. After all, Scripture has declared: "Let God be true and every human being a liar" (Rom 3:4a). Author Mark Schaefer notes that "Religion is poetry. The great abuse of religion is that so many should treat it like prose." He observes our modern infatuation to be certain of everything to the point that we become inherently less tolerant people. I would take a position somewhat between Sammons and Schaefer. On the one hand, I agree with Sammons about the need to state the explicit truths as revealed in Scripture. at the same time, I agree with Schaefer that the unending quest for certainty might very well lead to a lack of humility. Granted that this book is a fruit of a doctoral dissertation by Sammons, though I am cautious about accepting his determination for cataphatic certainty, I understand the passion and energy behind the ideas clearly affirmed, eloquently argued, and boldly asserted. 

Peter Sammons (PhD, The Master’s Seminary) is both director of academic publications at The Master’s Seminary and managing editor of The Master’s Seminary Journal. He is the author of Reprobation: From Augustine to the Synod of Dort. He is also the Director of the Institute for Church Leadership by The Master's Seminary (TMS). 

Rating: 4 stars of 5.

conrade

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This book has been provided courtesy of Kregel Academic without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.