Sin, Grace and Free Will: A Historical Survey of Christian Thought: Volume III From Molina to Barth

"In the third and final volume, Matthew Knell takes his readers through the crucial thinkers of the early modern and modern period. Tracing the new traditions of authority in the interpretation of scripture, and the continuities and developments that emerge through the work of thinkers such as Luis de Molina, Arminius, Jonathan Edwards, and Karl Barth, Knell illuminates his key concepts of Sin, Grace and Free Will anew. Considering the impact of such ideological and cultural shifts as Modernism and the Enlightenment, as well as the growing influence of agnostic or atheistic philosophy, his nuanced, source-focussed approach is an indispensable primer for any beginning scholar. "

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Luis de Molina 2. Jacobus Arminius 3. Jansenism and Blaise Pascal 4. Jonathan Edwards 5. John Wesley 6. Karl Barth Final Thoughts Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Matthew Knell is Lecturer in Historical Theology and Church History at the London School of Theology, as well as lecturing for Notre Dame University, Indiana, in the London Global Gateway and for the London programme of Biola University. He studies historical theology and is the author of The Immanent Person of the Holy Spirit from Anselm to Lombard: Divine Communion in the Spirit (2009). In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his wife, two daughters and his students past and present.

Review :
In this third volume of his ambitious project to provide a historical survey of Christian thought on the central doctrines of sin, grace and free will, Matthew Knell has provided something more than a thematic organization of extracts from primary texts. Instead, through translation, quotation, commentary and elaboration, Knell puts their writings in our hands, offering a guide to specific theologians whilst keeping in mind the developing Christian witness to the grace of God in its variegated whole. By getting the words of formative and reformative theologians in front of our eyes, Knell's volume offers a valuable resource that will support classroom learning and keep our soteriological horizons appropriately broad in view of the grace of God in Jesus Christ. - Revd Dr Alex Irving (Lecturer and Tutor in Theology, St Mellitus College) This third volume in Knell's trilogy of "readers" on the topics of sin, grace, and free will is a work that should prove of great value, not only to students, but to anyone interested in acquainting themselves with the thought of the major post-Reformation figures on whom Knell focusses. While the chapter on Molina, being more an attempt at a summation of Molina's thought than the guided compilation of quotations we find in the subsequent chapters, will probably prove most challenging to students, each part of this work skilfully invites readers to begin engaging with the words and the thoughts of some of the most significant Christian authors in the last four centuries who have wrestled with the issues involving freedom, sin, and grace. Knell's work is truly a significant achievement, a "reader" to which readers will no doubt be fruitfully turning for years to come. - Professor Thomas P. Flint (Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame) This excellent three-volume series offers a comprehensive guide to the views of the most significant theologians who have wrestled with the topic. Unlike other studies it focusses on primary sources, with substantial extracts taking the reader back to the original sources, which makes it is an ideal resource both for teachers and students. It is especially useful for those lacking the time or resources to read the originals in full for themselves - as is likely to be the case for Molina and Barth in particular, who are covered in volume three. The series will be a valuable addition to any theological library, whether personal or institutional, and is highly recommended. - Professor Tony Lane (Professor of Historical Theology, London School of Theology)