Book Review: From Heaven He Came and Sought Her
Thursday, June 26, 2014 at 8:57PM 
Definite Atonement in Historical, Biblical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspective edited by David Gibson & Jonathan Gibson
I knew I wanted to read this exhaustive study of definite atonement the first time I heard about it way back in July of last year. I pre-ordered immediately, waited until it finally arrived mid-December, and began reading right after Christmas, finishing (finally!) a couple of weeks ago.
Yes, it took me more than 5 months to make it through From Heaven He Came, not so much because it’s nearly 700 pages long (although that would be reason enough), but because every one of its pages is dense. I rarely write in a book as much as I have in this one, but I needed heavy marking to understand and remember what I read. Now it’s time to write a review, and this is not easy task, either. How can I sum up a book that took five months to read in one blog post?
Defining
Definite atonement, the doctrine defended within this book, means that
in the death of Jesus Christ, the triune God intended to achieve the redemption of every person given to the Son by the Father in eternity past, and to apply the accomplishment of his sacrifice to each of them by the Spirit. The death of Christ was intended to win the salvation of God’s people alone (page 33).
You may recognize this quote as a statement of what is more commonly called limited atonement, the L in the TULIP acronym used to represent the five points of Calvinism. But definite atonement is the name used for this doctrine throughout this book and there’s good reason for this: definite atonement is a simply a better descriptor of it. That the atonement is definite means it has a defined purpose and a defined effect. Christ died to save a specific group of people, his people, and his work actually saves all of them.
When someone embraces Calvinism, definite atonement is frequently the last of the five points of Calvinism to be affirmed, and some who accept the other four points who never accept it. If I had to explain this, I’d guess it’s because in a battle of proof texts it can look like definite atonement loses to universal atonement, although this is not really the case, as the biblical argument laid out in this book shows.
Summarizing
From Heaven He Came consists of 23 essays by 21 authors, plus a foreword by J. I. Packe—an interesting choice since Packer also wrote the now-classic introduction to a reprint of John Owen’s The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, the only other work in history that could also be considered a definitive study of definite atonement. The overarching aim of this volume is
to show that history, the Bible, theology, and pastoral practice combine together to provide a framework within which the doctrine of definite atonement is best articulated … (page 37).
Accordingly, the essays are grouped into four sections corresponding with these categories. Contributors include Michael Haykin, Paul Helm, Carl R. Trueman, Tom Schreiner, Robert Letham, Stephen Wellum, Sinclair Ferguson, and John Piper, to list some of the authors you may know.
Definite Atonement in Church History
The essays in the first section examine the history of the doctrine of definite atonement from the time of the ancient church through John Calvin and on until John Owen, the author of the treatise on definite atonement mentioned above. I’ve read criticism of the first two chapters focusing on definite atonement in the early church for “weakness,” but it could be the critic expected the impossible. There was no developed doctrine of definite atonement in early church history, only hints of arguments the Reformers would later use to defend definite atonement. These chapters are included to show that when definite atonement is eventually articulated, it grows from “seeds that had been planted long before … ” (page 95).
My favorite pieces in this section are Paul Helm’s on Calvin’s view of the extent of the atonement and Lee Gattiss’s on the Synod of Dort, where “definite atonement achieved confessional status” (page 143). Perhaps you’ve read that John Calvin believed in universal atonement, but Helm argues convincingly that although Calvin never used the term definite atonement, he makes statements that suggest he would have affirmed the doctrine. And the story of the discussions that went into the final wording on the question of the purpose and extent of the atonement in the Canons of Dort is a compelling read.
Definite Atonement in the Bible
The biblical defense of definite atonement starts with essays on atonement in Old Testament scriptures. In the Pentateuch, we see that “[a]tonement and intercession were made only for the people of Israel, representative of God’s elect” (page 245). Then in Isaiah 53, there’s the Suffering Servant, whose atoning death has a “‘particularistic’ edge,” saving his people and his seed.
The New Testament based essay examine definite atonement in the synoptic gospels, John’s writings, and Paul’s letters. As you might expect, this is where the strongest biblical case for definite atonement is made. Matthew Harmon looks at the purposes of Christ’s atonement as taught by the gospel writers, using Jesus’ Bread of Life Discourse, his High Priestly Prayer, and more. (As you can see from the definition above, definite atonement is a statement of God’s intent or purpose in the atonement.) Then Jonathan Gibson looks at the particularistic and (supposedly) universalistic texts in Paul’s writings, and, in a second essay, lays out Paul’s theology of salvation.
To conclude this section, Tom Schreiner examines the “problematic texts,” the bible verses often used to argue for universal atonement and against definite atonement. This is the one essay I wish were longer so that more texts could be included. I’d like to see, for instance, how Schreiner would explain 1 John 2:2.
Definite Atonement in Theological Perspective
Many of the arguments for definite atonement are theological ones. Other doctrines—like the Trinity, the incarnation, and the New Covenant, to name three of several—have implications for the doctrine of atonement, and the essays included in this section argue that these other doctrines push us toward definite atonement because it is the only view of the atonement that fits within the framework these doctrines provide.
Some of this section went over my head, especially Garry Williams’ essay on double payment. I’ll read it again someday in hopes I eventually get it.
However, this section also includes what I consider the strongest essay in From Heaven He Came, Steven Wellum’s chapter on the atonement in the context of the New Covenant. He argues that as the New Covenant’s High Priest, Christ secures all the promises of the covenant, including the Spirit’s application of the atonement for all those in the covenant. If this is true, then Christ’s work on the cross was particular to his people. It’s interesting that Wellum’s argument, set in his form of New Covenant Theology, makes a tighter case for definite atonement than could be made from traditional Covenant Theology, where the New Covenant is a “mixed” covenant.
Definite Atonement in Pastoral Practice
The three pieces in this section show us that the doctrine definite atonement contains “the understanding of the atonement that affords church and world the greatest good” (page 52). It is definite atonement, according to Daniel Strange, that gives believers the strongest motivation to proclaim the gospel message world-wide, confident that God is preparing people to receive it. Sinclair Ferguson argues that the firmest grounds for Christian assurance is in a definite atonement because, for one, God cannot demand double payment for sin (If Christ paid for our sin, God can never require payment from us.); and two, the three persons of the Trinity work in harmony to accomplish the salvation of those for whom Christ died. John Piper closes From Heaven He Came with an essay showing that when definite atonement is preached
in its biblical fullness, the glory of the work of Christ, the glory of the freedom and power of grace, and the glory of the being of God himself are wonderfully magnified (page 667.)
Evaluating
The strengths and weaknesses of this book both come from it’s nature as a collection of individual essays. Each author is an expert on his subject—historians write the history, biblical scholars make the biblical arguments, and so on—making this a stronger book than it would be if it were written by a single author.
But it’s also because it’s made up of individual essays that there is so much repetition. The justification for calling the doctrine definite atonement instead of limited atonement, for example, is repeated several times. And in my judgment, there was entirely too much included on the subject of hypothetical universalism. According to my count, ten of the essays used two or more pages to argue against one version or another of this view of the atonement.
Along with the repetition, there is a bit of disagreement. For instance, Jonathan Gibson interprets “Savior” in the first half of that famous phrase in 1 Timothy 4:10 as non-spiritual salvation: “God,” he explains, “preserves the lives of all people now in the present age, and especially of believers in the life to come.” Tom Schreiner, on the other hand, dismisses this interpretation because, “there is not a single instance in the Pastorals where the word group refers to anything besides spiritual salvation.” I think these differences make the book stronger by showing the authors’ agreement on the doctrine of definite atonement came by way of honest individual thought rather than group-think, but some may find them disconcerting.
I haven’t regretted buying and reading From Heaven He Came for a second. It’s the kind of book a theology geek like me loves best. Whether you’ll enjoy it as much as I did depends on how interested you are in the doctrine of definite atonement—how and why it came to be formulated as it is, and why it’s important.
A few excerpts of From Heaven He Came and Sought Her that I’ve posted:
Reader Comments (2)
Thanks for the great review Becky. I'll have to order this. Definite atonement was the hardest of the five points of Calvinism for me to come to grips with. It's like unconditional election - once you see it, the lights go on and those difficult passages come into focus. I agree with Daniel Strange that this reality greatly improves our approach to evangelism.
I think you'll enjoy it, Diane.
And good to hear from you!