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Decision Making and the Will of God : A Biblical Alternative to the Traditional View by J. Robin Maxson and Garry Friesen (1999, Trade Paperback)
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Decision Making and the Will of God: A Biblical Alternative to the Traditional View by Friesen, Garry; Maxson, J. Robin Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less
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About this product
Product Identifiers
PublisherDoubleday Religious Publishing Group, T.H.E.
ISBN-101576733211
ISBN-139781576733219
eBay Product ID (ePID)1580357
Product Key Features
Book TitleDecision Making and the Will of God : a Biblical Alternative to the Traditional View
Number of Pages464 Pages
LanguageEnglish
Publication Year1999
TopicChristian Life / General, Religion / Bibles Stories / General
GenreReligion, Juvenile Nonfiction
AuthorJ. Robin Maxson, Garry Friesen
FormatTrade Paperback
Dimensions
Item Height1 in
Item Weight13 Oz
Item Length6.9 in
Item Width4.2 in
Additional Product Features
Intended AudienceTrade
Dewey Edition22
Dewey Decimal248.4
SynopsisDoes God have a perfect will for each Christian? Does it matter? Can you be absolutely sure of God's individual will for your life? In an easy-to-follow narrative style, Gary Friesen examines the prevalent views on God's will today, then rejects them to propose a different view that he believes more accurately reflects biblical teaching. This rerelease of Decision Making takes up the practical issues of choosing a mate, picking a career, giving of one's resources, and areas of disagreement between Christians to give readers a new approach to knowing the will of God.
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Ratings and Reviews
Most relevant reviews
- Feb 10, 2020
Fantastic Book that Brings Clarity to a otherwise Clouded Subject
A few words suffice to describe this book: Life-changing, liberating, controversial, and completely Biblical. At the time he was penning the book, Dr. Friesen was on staff at Multnomah Bible College, where, as at many other Bible colleges, he was bombarded with questions regarding God's leading for student's lives. Marriage, which ministry position to take, and whether they should be in ministry at all, were all subjects that students were desperately asking about. Thankfully, this book, (the 25th anniversary edition) has the answers. It's 526 pages leave few stones unturned. Lengthy endnotes add additional detail at the end of chapters, while graphs, figures, and Scripture references are littered liberally throughout. One benefit of this updated edition is the inclusion of "Frequently Asked Questions" where he addresses the questions most asked of him since the first edition released regarding those particular concepts. The first of the four major sections does a marvelous job explaining and elaborating on what he dubs the "Traditional View." This is the view that proclaims "For each of our decisions, God has an ideal plan that he will make known to the attentive believer." (Page 28) He clarifies the difference between the oft confused "Moral Will" "Sovereign Will" and "Individual Will" of God. Briefly, the first is God's commands, the second is the unknowable "behind the scenes" working of God, and the third is said to be the perfect plan God has for each individual person that he will reveal step by step if they seek it. Friesen masterfully explains the reasoning behind the "Traditional View" and details how preachers have defended it, how it is said to work, and how Christians are to know they have found that "individual will." Part 2 of the book, covering chapters 3-7, critique the "Traditional View." Chapter 3 begins with the bombshell question "Does God have three wills?" and opens with a warning that this critique may be unsettling to those who are used to the "Traditional View." He is right. Over the next 60 pages, he draws readers to the logical and Scriptural holes that pepper the "Traditional View," showing how proper exegesis brings the entire idea to it's knees. In a statement near the end of this section he writes: "Not only is the individual will of God not found in Scripture, but the suggested process for finding it is absent as well." This will doubtlessly shake your world. About this time in reading the book, I began a personal study of, not only every single use of the phrase "Will of God" in the Bible in the effort to verify Dr. Freisen's findings. The study did not tare down his conclusions, as some might expect, but rather, strengthened them. If this were the end of the book, it would be a dreary end. The normal paradigm of many genuine Christians would be destroyed with nothing put back in it's place. However, the book is only getting started. The final two sections again draw readers back to Scripture, the logical interpretation of it, and the principles exegetically refined from it to build a new view; The "Wisdom View." The vast majority of the book is then dedicated to first explaining this view (Part 3) and applying this view. (Part 4) His premises for this view are as follows: 1. Where God commands, we must obey (chapter 8) 2. Where there is no command, God gives us freedom (and responsibility) to choose. (Chapter 9) 3. Where there is no command, God gives us wisdom to choose (chapters 10-11) 4. When we have chosen what is moral and wise, we must trust the sovereign God to work out all the details for God (Chapters 12-13) Following after, Part 3 continues to detail the way God guides, how the "Wisdom View" repairs the weakness and even improves the strengths of the "Traditional View," and how this affects the way we think and live. Part 4 dives into applying this new view in everyday life, not only looking at ministry, marriage, jobs, and the so-called big decisions of life, but also the smaller ones. This section ends with two chapters on how to interact with those that disagree with the "Wisdom View" wrapping up with a chapter devoted to the limits placed on this freedom to chose imposed by Romans 14 and I Corinthians 8-10. Capping the book are numerous resources, indexes, and even brief reviews of other books on the "Will of God" from all sides of the debate. While the sheer thickness and academic weight of this book may overwhelm some, I firmly believe this, or some other book espousing the same views, should in the library of every single Christian, especially teenagers who are near graduation and about to face many of life's biggest and most challenging decisions.Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned
