Definite Atonement in Biblical, Historical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspective

Andy Naselli — November 19, 2013 —

For the last several years, I’ve been corresponding with my friends David and Johnny Gibson about a 700-page book they’ve been editing on definite atonement.

During this time, Mark Snoeberger and I have been editing a much smaller debate-book titled Perspectives on the Extent of the Atonement: Three Views, with essays and responses by Grant R. Osborne, John S. Hammett, and Carl R. Trueman (B&H, forthcoming).

So I’ve been eagerly anticipating this book for several years:

David Gibson and Jonathan Gibson, eds. From Heaven He Came and Sought Her: Definite Atonement in Biblical, Historical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspective. Wheaton: Crossway, 2013. 703 pp.

It doesn’t disappoint my high expectations. It’s amazing. It’s definitely the most thorough and compelling book describing and defending definite atonement. And best of all, it not only refutes other views and presents strong arguments for definite atonement; it addresses the issue with the right tone. It leads the reader to worship the triune God!

This free 72-page PDF sample includes the front matter and chapters 1–2, so you can browse that to see the contents and authors. These are my favorite chapters:

ch. 1. David and Johnny Gibson’s introduction
chs. 12–13. Johnny Gibson’s meticulous exegesis of Paul’s letters
ch. 14. Tom Schreiner on “problematic texts” in the pastoral and general epistles
ch. 19. Steve Wellum’s “The New Covenant Work of Christ: Priesthood, Atonement, and Intercession.” The Gibson brothers say this about Wellum’s chapter in their introduction: “Stephen Wellum presents an argument for the priestly nature of Christ’s atoning work which reflects new covenant theology understandings of the nature of covenant, election, and ecclesiology. His rich theological thinking leads the reader to see the reality of definite atonement in the Scriptures, but the particular route he takes through the biblical terrain is different from our own classically Reformed understanding of the nature of covenant, election, and ecclesiology. The book maps different routes to the same destination, and not all readers will want to travel each and every path in reaching the same goal” (p. 40n21). I think Wellum’s route and synthesis is more compelling.
ch. 23. John Piper’s concluding chapter addresses how to preach definite atonement, and along the way he refutes the multiple-intentions view that Bruce Ware, Mark Driscoll, and others hold. Here’s an excerpt from Piper’s chapter (p. 640):