Review: The Wonderful Decree by Travis James Campbell

296 pages

Publisher: Lexham Press

ISBN-10: 1683593324

ISBN-13: 978-1683593324

"The Wonderful Decree" is one of those theological works that formidably condenses many subjects. When I started reading this book, I was impressed by the first chapter entitled "Musing over a Dark Providence", in which Dr. Travis James Campbell opens his heart to each reader, placing us in a story that is not foreign to our reality, in which we feel identified in many doubts, questions and resolutions. If you omit this chapter in your reading of this work, you lose something very valuable.

About the author:

Travis James Campbell (PhD, Westminster Theological Seminary) is a history teacher at Deerfield-Windsor School in Albany, GA, where he lives with his wife. They have one son who is now in college. Dr. Campbell also serves as a Ruling Elder at Northgate Presbyterian Church.

What is the book about? Well, it could be said that it is a masterful and well argued exposition on issues such as the sovereignty of God, the love of God and human freedom from the Augustinian and Calvinist perspective. But, wait, this is not the typical book that makes an incomplete presentation of other theological positions (such as Arminianism), but rather with reliable sources, the author presents important aspects of each position.

The book is divided into two parts: The first part is titled "Prolegomena", which is made up of two important chapters that function as the basis of the book. The second part entitled "The Wonderful Decree", consists of five chapters, in which the presentation of the matter, the conditional-sovereign choice and the benevolence of God are developed. At the end of the book, the reader will find interesting appendices, of which the entitled "Isaiah 45: 7 and the Origin of Evil" was very useful for me. The book also has index names and subjects, allowing us to do specific searches in the text, as well as scripture references. And yes, the footnotes are not at the end of the books (I know that many prefer that)

It is important to mention that, although the book addresses deep theological issues, it is very accessible to read. The author does an exceptional job of accurately segmenting and explaining each issue.

In short, this book is a useful tool for both Calvinists and not. To the former, it helps a better understanding of Reformed soteriology, for the latter, it is a book that helps to better understand the Reformed perspective in a well-argued way.

You can get more information about this book, here

I received this book for free from the publisher and was not required to write a positive review for the book.