The Great Divide: A Lutheran Evaluation of Reformed Theology
The Great Divide: A Lutheran Evaluation of Reformed Theology by Jordan B. Cooper My rating: 4 of 5 stars Overall, this is a tremendous work and will serve as a resource to reference time and again. I struggled at times with the argumentation: more than one straw man was triumphantly knocked down and far too many either/ors were forced on the reader. Add to that the double standard of what at least seemed like an "If it supports my position, good and necessary consequence is acceptable; if it confronts my position, good and necessary consequence cannot be claimed and an explicit Scriptural reference is required." My biggest gripe is the constant appeal to the "plain reading" of the text. In too many discussions, "plain reading" merely means "the reading that I prefer," and is used as a shortcut to rhetorical success while not really adding anything to the debate. For the most part, the uses of "plain reading" in this text don't