Determined to Believe?

The Sovereignty of God, Freedom, Faith, and Human Responsibility

By: John C. Lennox

Narrated by: William Crockett

Determined to Believe is written for those who are interested in or even troubled by questions about God's sovereignty and human freedom and responsibility. John Lennox writes in the spirit of helping people to get to grips with the biblical treatment of this issue for themselves. In this comprehensive review of the topic of theological determinism, Lennox seeks firstly to define the problem, looking at the concepts of freedom, the different kinds of determinism, and the moral problems these pose. He then equips the reader with biblical teaching on the topic and explores the spectrum of theological opinion on it. Following this Lennox delves deeper into the Gospels and then investigates what we can learn regarding determinism and responsibility from Paul's discussion in Romans on God's dealings with Israel. Finally Lennox tackles the issue of Christian assurance.

This nuanced and detailed study challenges some of the widely held assumptions in the area of theological determinism and brings a fresh perspective to the debate.

©2017 John Lennox (P)2018 Monarch Books

Great book

Lennox does a wonderful job on this hotly contested topic. I recommend because of the content. It’s just too bad Lennox doesn’t read himself.

Very Educational

This book provided an excellent education on the subject. Our God is an awesome loving God!! The narrator though was very robotic, almost sounded like an artificial telephone voice. Realized that this book is also available on audible using a different narrator. So I am returning this book because of the narrator.

Excellent treatment of determinism and the nature of the freedom that God has given to man.

I’ve been in a Reformed (AKA, Calvinist) church for about 20 years. I’ve struggled with the, so called, Doctrines of Grace for much of that time. As I’ve read through the Bible I have found many passages that seem to call those doctrines into question. John Lennox touches on many of them to give a very well reasoned alternative. The only problem I have with the Audible version of the book is the reader, William Crockett. He is a terrible reader. I have a strong feeling that he cloned his voice and that the book is actually being read by AI. I actually bought the paperback just to get away from his reading (it’s reading?). The reading voice is not only monotonous, it mispronounces words quite often. For example, it renders “subsequently” as “subseéquently”. It’s quite annoying. Edit: after further listening I became so annoyed with the narration that I returned the book and have purchased the other one on Audible that is narrated by an actual human being. I am convinced that William Crockett cloned his voice and has AI reading it for him. It’s a weak thing to do and will cause me to be on the lookout for anything narrated by “him” so that I don’t make the mistake of purchasing it.

Great content. Terrible narration.

“Casual” is not the same as “causal”. The misread this word makes a profound truth confusingly nonsensical.

long but comprehensive

I found the issue to be addressed politely and in detailed. Comprehensive in defending Freewill doctrine.