By J.I. Packer & Mark Dever
(Crossway, 2008), pb. 188 pp.
I received my copy of this book today and have just enjoyed looking through it. It is primarily a compilation of three classic Packer essays on the atonement. The T4G guys (Duncan, Mohler, Dever and Mahaney) decided to gather these into one volume after reflecting on how beneficial these essays had been to them. I can say that these three essays have also been beneficial to me along the way. The essays are:
“The Heart of the Gospel” from Knowing God– I still remember reading this for the first time and then the basic content of that chapter becoming the sermon I preached at every opportunity for months. It continues to be a key shaping element in my thought.
“The Logic of Penal Substitution”, first delivered as a Tyndale lecture
Packer’s introduction to John Owen’s The Death of Death in the Death of Christ– I suspect I am like many others who have greatly benefitted form this introductory essay even though I never read (completely) Owen’s book itself! This essay is already legendary!
Added to these essays is Dever’s “Nothing But the Blood” which previously appeared in Christianity Today, some brief introductory and concluding essays and some very helpful bibliographic remarks from Ligon Duncan. The annotated bibliography on the atonement will be a very helpful resource.
This is a great book to have and to make available to others.