Determined to Believe? Audiobook By John C. Lennox cover art

Determined to Believe?

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

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Determined to Believe?

By: John C. Lennox
Narrated by: William Crockett
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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
Apologetics Christianity Religious Studies Science & Religion Theology
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Biblical Commitment • Well-reasoned Exegeses • Adequate Performer • Dismantling Calvinism • Affirming Assurance
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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.

Very Educational

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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.

Great book

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

Great content. Terrible narration.

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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.

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

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

long but comprehensive

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First, I greatly admire Dr. Lennox & have the utmost respect for him. However, I do question some of his arguments. I would like a definition of God's sovereignty; at times it feels as if God is thought of as sovereign overseer rather than sovereign creator exercising his will on all of his creation, including every human. There is a difference. Also, Lennox gave an exhaustive definition of faith, but not so much on grace by which you have been saved, Eph. 2:8-9. A reading of the biblical text gives a broad definition of grace well beyond salvation alone that was missed. Additionally, Lennox seems to ignore the divine tension, brought forth mostly by Paul, between God's sovereign will (sure wants & make sure) and human freewill. In the tension is where the truth lies, with God's sovereignty trumping our will at his divine discretion. One final question, Dr. Lennox seems totally comfortable with the LORD'S determination over a people group, but how is that possible without at least some determination over the individuals in the group? There is no simple answer to much of this, it seems; like the tension, we need to fully accept it, although in our human vessels, we are incapable of fully understanding. On an affirming note, I found Lennox's account of assurance, quite good and compelling.
The performer, although adequate, loses the kindly tone that is pure Lennox. Often sounds lofty and just doesn't fit well.

Valuable discussion, but lots of questions

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This narrator does such an amazingly terrible job that I feel sorry for the wonderful author, Dr. Lennox, for having his efforts poured down the drain by someone who mispronounces basic words and common names throughout. This narration is an embarrassment to the profession and ought to be re-recorded by someone with the ability and/or integrity to do this incredible work the justice it deserves.

Narrator ruined a wonderful book

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very well handled, very well explained. lieghton flowers is probably the best resource for debunking the calvanist evil, but Lennox did a really great job here. highly recommend

great

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As with John Lennox's other books, the content is excellent. It expanded my understanding and enriched my theological understanding of determinism and free will. It helped me think through a few aspects of TULIP (Calvinism) and eternal security in ways I have not previously. I greatly appreciate the author's Biblical commitment and focus, plus the considerable effort he put into well-thought-out exegeses of all of the relevant passages of Scripture.

Unfortunately, William Crocket mangled the narration. It seems like he did not bother pre-reading sentences, so he sometimes misread sentences whose structures or wording apparently surprised him. Worse, he consistently mispronounced a variety of common words. These mispronunciations initially prove distracting, but soon grow genuinely irritating. Sometimes they even change or confuse the meaning of the text. My quick Google search suggests this has been a consistent problem with his narrations. I'm far from the only person who will buy no more of his work.

Some mispronunciation examples:

1) He mispronounces "differ" as "defer", creating confusion.

2) Ditto with "Incur" as "in cure".

3) "Causally" and "casually" should NOT get pronounced the same. At first I had to listen again to determine what Lennox meant to communicate. Fortunately, as Crocket kept mispronouncing this, I learned to reintepret it on the fly... mostly.

4) "National" should have the emphasis on the first syllable, not the last, and does NOT rhyme with "pal". It should be pronounced "NASH-un-ul" not "nash-un-AAL.

5) "Disingenuous" does NOT contain the word "genius". (The irony...)

6) "Similarly" does NOT rhyme with "fairly" and has the emphasis on "sim", not on... uhh... "lair". Unfortunately, Lennox uses this word often enough that even if it were Crocket's only mispronunciation, his narration would grow somewhat grating.

7) "Subsequent" and "subsequently" do NOT have "seek" in the middle, much less with the emphasis on it. Lennox uses these often enough that Crocket's constant repetition of "sub-SEEK-went" alone would create an exercise in endurance... simi-LAIR-ly to the previous mispronunciation.

You get the idea. I highly recommend this book... in the printed / text editions.

Excellent content, irritating narration

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Lennox doesn’t disappoint, but this time the lucid emeritus dives so deeply into the subject that parts of the book felt like, paradoxically, one step too far for me to follow with an acute mind. Otherwise the brilliant Oxford professor achieves a thorough discussion on the topic of whether we are determined to believe in God and his Christ. The answer might surprise you.

Thorough but too lengthy?

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