Common Grace and the Gospel, Second Edition

What point of contact does the Christian have with the world in order to bring the biblical message to the nonbeliever? How can the doctrines of election and total depravity be reconciled with the universal offer of the gospel and human responsibility? Does our Lord show favor to saint and sinner alike?

Restoring the full text of the original 1972 work, this collection of annotated essays addresses questions on common grace and its relevance to the gospel. A pioneer in presuppositional apologetics, Cornelius Van Til sets forth a Christian philosophy of history; examines the views of Abraham Kuyper, Herman Hoeksema, and others in the debate over common grace; and replies to criticism.

Contents

Part One

1. The Christian Philosophy of History
2. Abraham Kuyper’s Doctrine of Common Grace
3. Common Grace in Debate

I. Recent Developments
II. Some Suggestions for the Future

Part Two

4. Particularism and Common Grace
5. Common Grace and Witness-bearing
6. A Letter on Common Grace
7. A Reply to Criticism
8. ‘Reformed Dogmatics’ of Herman Hoeksema
9. Terminal Considerations

Endorsement

“Van Til’s account of the matter has been controversial, even among his disciples. But there is much we can learn form him on this subject, and anyone who wants to understand his apologetic and theology must engage his thought at this point. Scott Oliphant, who has edited other works of Van Til, has taken up the difficult but worthy task of explaining Van Til’s thoughts on common grace to twenty-first – century readers.”
—John M. Frame, J.D. Trimle Chair of Systematic Theology and Philosophy, Reformed Theological Seminary, Florida