Looking for a great book on Calvinism? There have been enough of them written to fill several shelves in a library, and only a few of them are really needed. My favourite is one first published in 1957 by Sovereign Grace Publishers. The Five Points of Calvinism edited by Jay Green is an excellent addition and I’ll tell you why. The Points are presented as a series of letters by some of the giants of the faith. The book begins with a lengthy introduction by Jay Green which covers a whole host of issues as they relate to Calvinism: Missions, Evangelism, Worship, Society, Freedom, Family, etc. After that, we get into the meat of the book which are the doctrines explained using extracts from the writings of some of the church’s greatest examples of vibrant Calvinism.

The Introduction is by Horatius Bonar (1808-1889) and consists of much of his book Truth & Error, the heart of which is the essay he wrote entitled God’s Will and Man’s Will which is readily available all over the internet.

T - Total Depravity is then handled by Andrew Fuller (1754-1815) and comes from his Works as a series of dialogues between two characters named Crispus and Gaius.

U - Unconditional Election consists of several excerpts from the writings of John Calvin (1509-1564) on the subject. Calvin also covers various aspects of election and the practical outworking of the doctrine.

L - Limited Atonement is from the writings of John Gill (1697-1771). It is not stated explicitly but it appears as if the majority of it is taken from his volume The Cause of God of Truth; his excellent treatise against Arminianism.

I - Irresistible Grace comes from the pen of the puritan Thomas Goodwin (1600-1679). It is a methodical treatment of the doctrine that traverses through much of the Bible to adduce proofs as the Puritans so often did.

P - Perseverance of the Saints is then left in the more than capable hands of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758).

Five Points, and five men worth reading! Hardly anything else need be said.

[There is currently one of the original hardcovers available on Ebay dirt cheap and a couple others available on Abebooks.com.]