Skip to content

Reading list

This is not a bibliography of everything cited. It is a short, opinionated list of the books that actually help — with a note on what each one is good for. Entries marked OSAS argue the other side; read them.

The best of the other side

These are the books to read if you want the OSAS case at its strongest, not its weakest.

  • D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John (Pillar New Testament Commentary, 1991). The best conservative commentary on John. On 10:28-29 and 15:1-11, Carson gives the Reformed reading with exegetical care. If you are going to disagree, disagree with this.
  • Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (1994), ch. 40. A clear, pastoral statement of perseverance. Grudem takes the warnings seriously and tries to integrate them; his treatment is a fair test of the classical position.
  • Thomas R. Schreiner and Ardel B. Caneday, The Race Set Before Us: A Biblical Theology of Perseverance and Assurance (2001). The most sophisticated recent defense of the Reformed view that the warnings are means of perseverance. The casebook disagrees with the conclusion but learned from the argument.
  • John Piper, The Pleasures of God and Future Grace. Not a technical treatment, but the pastoral heart of the Reformed doctrine: God keeps his people for his glory and their joy.
  • R. C. Sproul, Chosen by God (1986). A popular defense of the Reformed system; useful for seeing how the pieces fit together.
  • John MacArthur, The Gospel According to Jesus (1988) and Faith Works (1993). MacArthur is a strong critic of the "carnal Christian" synthesis and of Free Grace antinomianism, even though he holds eternal security. His arguments about the nature of saving faith are worth wrestling with.
  • Michael S. Horton, Norman L. Geisler, Stephen M. Ashby, and J. Steven Harper, Four Views on Eternal Security (Counterpoints, 2002). A fair, multi-view debate. Horton defends the Reformed view; Ashby and Harper defend conditional security; Geisler occupies a mediating position. Good for seeing the range.

The case for conditional security

  • Robert Shank, Life in the Son: A Study of the Doctrine of Perseverance (1961). The classic modern exegetical case. Shank is thorough, sometimes polemical, and relentlessly focused on the texts. Start here.
  • I. Howard Marshall, Kept by the Power of God: A Study of Perseverance and Falling Away (1969). The best scholarly treatment from a conditional-security perspective. Marshall is careful, irenic, and exegetically disciplined. If you read only one book on this side, read this one.
  • J. Rodman Williams, Renewal Theology, vol. 2. A charismatic systematic theology that treats perseverance and apostasy seriously.
  • Dale Moody, The Word of Truth (1981). A Baptist systematic theology with a substantial treatment of apostasy; older but useful.
  • Jerry L. Walls and Joseph R. Dongell, Why I Am Not a Calvinist (2004). Not directly about OSAS, but the best recent critique of the wider Reformed system, with a good chapter on perseverance.
  • Roger E. Olson, Arminian Theology: Myths and Realities (2006). Explains the Arminian alternative and corrects common caricatures. Useful for the theological architecture.
  • Scot McKnight, "The Warning Passages of Hebrews: A Formal Analysis and Theological Conclusions," Trinity Journal 13 (1992). A careful argument that the warnings are real and addressed to believers. Worth reading alongside the commentaries.
  • Gareth Lee Cockerill, The Epistle to the Hebrews (NICNT, 2012). A major commentary that takes the warnings seriously without collapsing into insecurity.
  • William L. Lane, Hebrews (Word Biblical Commentary, 1991). Detailed exegesis of the warning passages; a good check on overclaiming.

The classical sources

  • The Canons of Dort (1618-19), Fifth Head. The classical Reformed doctrine of perseverance, with its own account of the warnings. Read it before you criticize a popular version of the doctrine.
  • The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), ch. 17. The most influential English statement of perseverance. Note the careful language about means, sins, and assurance.
  • The Remonstrance (1610), especially Article 5. The Arminian counter-statement: true believers can fall away through negligence and must be restored. Short and important.
  • Jacob Arminius, Works (public domain). Arminius's own treatment is more cautious than some of his later followers. Read the disputations on perseverance with care.
  • John Wesley, Standard Sermons, especially "The Witness of the Spirit," "On Christian Perfection," and "The Scripture Way of Salvation." The Wesleyan synthesis: assurance, holiness, and the possibility of falling away.
  • Augustine, On the Gift of Perseverance and On Rebuke and Grace (public domain). The origin of the later Western doctrine. Augustine is not a modern OSAS teacher; read him in his own context.
  • John Owen, The Doctrine of the Saints' Perseverance Explained and Confirmed (public domain). The Puritan classic. Dense, but the strongest exegetical defense of the Reformed view.

History and context

  • J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines (5th ed., 1977). A reliable guide to the patristic debates.
  • Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian Tradition, vols. 1-3. Broad and learned; useful for tracing how the doctrine developed.
  • The Shepherd of Hermas (public domain). An early Christian text that takes post-baptismal repentance seriously. Not Scripture, but historically illuminating.
  • Cyprian, On the Lapsed (public domain). The third-century controversy over Christians who denied the faith under persecution. Essential background for the early church's practice.
  • Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Reformation: A History (2003). For the Reformation context of justification and perseverance.
  • George Marsden, Jonathan Edwards: A Life (2003). For the Edwardsian synthesis and its influence on American Calvinism.

Free Grace and the Lordship debate

  • Zane C. Hodges, Absolutely Free (1989) and The Gospel Under Siege (1981). The classic Free Grace statement. Hodges distinguishes salvation from discipleship and grounds assurance in the promise.
  • Charles C. Ryrie, So Great Salvation (1989). A more moderate Free Grace treatment.
  • Lewis Sperry Chafer, He That Is Spiritual (1918). The source of the "carnal Christian" synthesis. Read with care.
  • John MacArthur, The Gospel According to Jesus (1988). The Lordship response. MacArthur's exegesis of the demands of discipleship is a useful corrective, even where one disagrees with his doctrine of security.
  • Zane Hodges and John MacArthur, The Lordship Controversy (various editions). The debate in its own words.

Commentaries and reference

  • D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John (Pillar, 1991). The best all-round commentary on John.
  • Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of John: A Commentary (2003). Detailed, with rich background.
  • F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews (NICNT, 1964). Clear and reliable.
  • Philip Edgcumbe Hughes, A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews (1977). Strong on the warning passages.
  • Gordon D. Fee, God's Empowering Presence (1994). On the Spirit's role in assurance and sanctification.
  • Richard B. Hays, The Moral Vision of the New Testament (1996). On the ethical shape of the New Testament, including the warnings.

A note on reading

Do not read only your own side. The casebook's argument is strengthened, not weakened, by reading Carson, Schreiner, Grudem, and Owen at their best. If the conditional reading cannot survive contact with the strongest OSAS exegesis, it is not worth holding. If it can, the reading will be clearer for having been tested.

See also