W. Brian Shelton

This is a good exegesis of the idea of prevenient grace in the Bible, a good outline of a systematic theology with prevenient grace, and a theological defense of prevenient grace.

Prevenient grace—or preceding grace or enabling grace, from a mostly obsolete word "prevenient " meaning "preceding in time or order; antecedent"—is a concept in Arminianism that God solves man's inability (due to total depravity) to accept Christ by a little grace that goes before, that can then precede to saving grace. In Calvinism this is verboten. To state this simply, perhaps crudely: in Calvinism, God chooses who will believe and MAKES him believe; in Arminianism, God allows some grace to let the person CHOOSE to believe.

For Calvinists, this grace makes a mockery of total depravity, cancels out irresistible grace, and makes salvation into a WORK, as the person has the free will to choose salvation. For Calvinism, the choosing is a work. Thus Arminian doctrine is slandered as Pelagian, Semi-Pelagian, and the like. Others have countered this, look up the works of Picirilli, Forlines, and Olson. But, what Shelton does is write a logical and believable account of the Arminian ordo salutis from the grounding of prevenient grace.

Chapter 2 exegetes the idea of prevenient grace from the Bible text. (And he links it to Calvin's idea of common grace.) He finds some biblical underpinnings for prevenient grace in John 1:9, 8:12, Matthew 7:9-11, Romans chap. 1, and so on. In chapter 3 he discusses the history of the concept, moving on to chapter 4 with a discussion of the doctrine in Arminius and Wesley. Chapter 5, called "Systematic Theology: Final Validation of Prevenient Grace," shows how prevenient grace could be a step on the road to salvation. Throughout, Shelton addresses Calvinist concerns and the theological problems of Calvinism's insistence on irresistible grace, double predestination, and its failure to address the fact that God wants all to be saved (then why doesn't He?).

Shelton is in the Wesleyan tradition, and he leans a lot on Wesley. More attention to Free Will Baptist theologians like Picirilli and Forlines would have been helpful. Still, Shelton makes a fine case for prevenient grace in the Bible and in theology. Simply, salvation is still not a human work. Free will is a gift of God. And those who choose not to believe are rightly condemned by the justice hand of God. Prevenient grace creates a "graciously enabled free will" (p. 117) that can allow salvation to happen. A prevenient grace theology also allows all three persons of the Trinity to work in salvation (pp. 40-41).

It is a good book: well-argued, irenic, and Bible-based. Good footnotes and bibliography. A workable index. A little too Wesleyan, but for all Arminians. A better editor and layout would have helped (some minor formatting issues and typos). But, if you can find it cheap, it is a good addition to your shelf on Arminian theology.… (meer)