Book review: From Heaven He Came and Sought Her

From Heaven He Came and Sought Her:  Definite Atonement in Historical, Biblical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspective (Crossway, 2013).

by David and Jonathan Gibson

Genre:  Biblical Reference / Christian Theology

Size:  704 pages

What’s the big idea:  This is a well-researched resource on definite atonement (i.e. Christ’s death actually secured the salvation of those whom the Father elects and the Spirit regenerates) from a variety of historical, Old Testament, New Testament, systematic and pastoral angles.

Easy to read?  Yes and no. As each chapter is written by different contributors (including J.I. Packer, Sinclair Ferguson, Carl Trueman, John Piper, Alec Motyer and so on), the readability varies throughout. You may need to pause and re-read some sections to understand them.

What I appreciated:

  • The book’s range of contributors is impressive and it was great to see so many angles covered.
  • The inclusion of pastoral application is immensely helpful in showing how definite atonement offers Christians assurance and brings glory to God
  • The chapter by Amar Djaballah (pp165-200) offers a rare, primary-source engagement with Moïses Amyraut, a little-known French theologian who popularised a view that many Reformed evangelicals hold to today. It’s great that Djaballah translated so many sections of Amyraut’s writings on the issue.
  • The authors were honest where there was less evidence, or difficulties in supporting their conclusions (for example, Paul Williamson: “One most readily admit that the Pentateuch may seem infertile soil to yield the doctrine of definite atonement.” (p.227)

What I would have liked to see:

  • A bit more help for non-Hebrew readers in Alec Motyer’s chapter – the lack of transliteration may be off-putting for some.

Who I’d recommend it to:  Anyone x

Verdict:  A tour-de-force of compelling arguments for a definite atonement. It’s a long book, but worth the investment to peer at the heart of God’s difficult but definite love for His people.

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