God’s Astounding Grace: The Doctrines of Grace, by D. Scott Meadows. North Bergen, NJ: Pillar and Ground, 2012, 32 pages, $3.99.

This little booklet displays a warmth of devotion and a clarity of truth that makes it very useful in convincing others of the truth of God’s amazing grace. It will be valuable in persuading Arminians as well as unbelievers of the richness and wonder of God’s grace. Professor John Murray always maintained that part of the work of evangelism is to convince poorly taught believers of the Reformed faith. This, of course, is best done by simply opening God’s Word. Thus, Meadows only quotes Scripture, and does so with the care and acumen of a true pastor theologian.

The booklet presents the five points of Calvinism without saying so. Meadows simply opens the Bible in a winsome way, calculated to show the reader the glory of God’s grace. He brings Scripture to bear on all of the well-known false notions and misconceptions that have always surrounded these doctrines. For example, in dispelling the idea that “foreknowledge” is simply a cognitive awareness, he shows that Scripture uses the word to “denote an intimate and particular love” (19). In doing so, Meadows build a theological case with peerless logic. He articulates these familiar doctrines with a care that makes them fresh for the novice or the theologically mature reader. It is obviously the work of a pastor as he frames his argument in a most irenic way. As a physician of the soul he convinces the reader of the dangerous nature of his spiritual disease and sets before him the wonderful cure offered in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The booklet is attractively designed and can thus be given to anyone with confidence that its looks reflect its content. D. Scott Meadows is a Reformed Baptist pastor serving as the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church (Reformed), in Exeter, New Hampshire. I highly recommend this booklet.

Gregory E. Reynolds serves as the pastor of Amoskeag Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Manchester, New Hampshire, and is the editor of Ordained Servant. Ordained Servant Online, February 2014.