Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Eugene:
Cascade, 2014. Critique by Joe Drisdale.
Austin Fischer pastors at Vista Community Church in Temple, Texas. In his book,
Young, Restless, No Longer Reformed, he relates how his early belief in Neo-Calvinism
failed to agree with his emerging understanding of Christ. This lead him to further
scrutinize some of its key points and to rebuild his theology around a loving sacrificial
God.
Fischer’s introduction to Calvinism came through his youth pastor, who gave him
a copy of Piper’s Desiring God as an answer to his restlessness for “more.” He accepted
Piper’s conclusion that “Romans 9 is like a tiger going around devouring free-willers like
me,” and declared himself Reformed (p. 12). He also equated the Calvinistic view of
God’s glory, metaphorically, with the gravitational pull of Sagittarius A. When forced to
explore key theological issues as a college student, he realized that some of these views
had “pushed God into the void of mystery” (p. 28). ‘Greater good’ arguments, the idea of
hell, and especially the concept of predestined reprobates failed to equate with the idea of
This also meant leaving Calvinism, which for him was a depressing experience. He came
theology. The mangled, endlessly giving Lamb he now understood as the center devoured
Protestant liberalism, Fischer defends his conservative approach. It led him to recognize
the Creator’s act of crucified love as His ontological self-revelation in five ways: (1) His
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revelation discloses His sovereign, free, self-giving, suffering, crucified love; (2) God
gives of Himself (3) His giving love stands in contradistinction to human love that takes;
(4) God wills His glory for the sake of His love; and (5) God’s love is both necessary and
complete, so that the gravity of His glory derives from His giving.
Fischer then defines free will beginning at Creation. God created man in His
image, with a limited degree of freedom. But, man chose to live outside of God’s will.
Rather than revoke free will, God in Christ crucified Himself to warrant forgiveness.
Christ’s voluntary act of gracious self-giving is described in the kenōsis hymn (Phil. 2:5–
Uncertainties about the extent of free will, the first sinful impulse, precisely how
salvation works out, and the existence of evil (Auschwitz imagery) have remained
troublesome. Alvin Plantinga partially satisfied his concerns, though, on the premise that
God knowingly created the world with evil as a necessary aspect of a world where great
moral good and genuine relationships between the Godhead and humans were possible.
Calvinist ideas, some doubts, but absolutely no doubt about Christ at the center.
the most important objective for all believers: Jesus proclaimed the gospel; God sent this
Son to establish Him as King; the King commissions the Church to bear witness to the
world of redemption in Him and to embody the kingdom as His people. In light of these
truths, Fischer prefers free-will theism, because it coheres organically with Gods plan. In
contrast, Calvinism can produce faithful disciples, but the task requires that adherents
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explain away the premise that human will is predetermined.
Jewish heritage and the first century milieu in Rome. This perspective reveals that God
partially and temporarily hardened Israel for failing to pursue righteousness by faith (not
grafted in because of their faith. The passage, then, displays the “wideness” of God’s
Fischer relies (above) on the scholarship of Witherington III and N.T. Wright. He
has nonetheless been accused of mirror-reading. In fairness, though, his primary accuser
text, though, Paul is certainly retelling the story of Israel – which culminates in Christ as
the Messiah – in chapters 9-11. And, his passion for fellow Jews is undeniable (9:1-3;
The author’s chosen genre, combined with his style of question raising and
creative use of metaphor, effectively exposes premises that just do not seem to agree with
the scriptural image of God. His supporting references generally provide enough depth to
as a test against soteriological arguments may not solve all the problems, but it does set
an important precedent. One might argue, for example, that Calvin recognized a
Christocentric scheme in God’s plan. He certainly defended the view of Irenaeus that
Christ is maker of heaven and earth, and “very God” (Institutes I, xiii, 27). And he
recognized in Christ the “saving seed,” in whom humanity could recover what was lost in
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Adam (Institutes IV, xiv, 21). Yet, that did not change his positions on predestination and
free will. The real value, then, is how a Christocentric view can impact community, and
recognizes and accepts the reality of hard theological questions. These things are all the