The article that has been chosen is called All of Grace by Charles H. Spurgeon.
Credibility: The book was published in 1894 and was only revisited to have it put in new books. The content went untouched. Seeing as this topic of salvation has been around since God created man, the time is not a factor in credibility.
Relevance: This book contains information to salvation. It demonstrates and explores how salvation is not something you work for but has to be something completely God ordained. The intended audience has to be common people because while the depth of the conversation is heavy the speech used is very understandable making it an easy read without lofty terms. This doesn't suggest that the author is lacking anything in the information he is presenting. While it is a easy read the information is not watered down at all. I have taken a poll among the school and anyone who has read it loves the book and what is written in it and I would feel comfortable citing this source because of the reputation of Charles H. Spurgeon and the informational truths he presents in this book.
Authority: The publisher is Marshall, Morgan & Scott LTD. Through a quick research on the company it is a Christian publisher. The author is a well-known theologian that has been studying the Bible for 41 year (until his death). Since the author has been studying the Bible for 41 years and has written many books on the study of God, this gives him the authority to speak on the topic.
Accuracy: The information comes from the Bible and his interpretation of the Bible through context and history of that time. Through his study of history and context we can be sure that it is accurate and correct. The language seems to be unbiased and very understandable.
Purpose: The purpose of this book is to enlighten the reader into the amazing grace that God has for us. The authors make it clear in the beginning of the book by making a note for the readers to learn from the information and grow. Also to think about everything in the book.
Summary: Salvation is given by God and for God's purposes. It is by grace that we do not have to live by the consequence of our sin but rather be able to go to heaven because of the gift of God through his son Jesus Christ. This is a gift not of works, so that no one person can boast, but rather since it is a gift we do nothing but accept Christ and live for him knowing that you are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Response: The weight of God's grace is extremely humbling and extraordinary to think of. The significance of this is that it aligns with the Bible and how one can get to heaven. Through reading the Bible I have come up with the same conclusion however it was less emphasized. This connects with other material like Mere Christianity, Erasing Hell and even Love Wins because it is the argument of grace that salvation will ultimately come down to. Through the definition of grace we can understand where the points of view come from and have a starting point to the argument of salvation.
Mike, you've written a well-developed CRAAP analysis. For phase seven, please find an academic journal article (not a book) to analyze.
ReplyDeleteI have just a couple of questions for you. You write that "Through his study of history and context we can be sure that it is accurate and correct." You don't believe a human author is infallible, do you? The language you use could imply this because it's not qualified (remember talking about qualifiers in class?) -- words like "accurate" and "correct" are signals when audience, limitations and biases (we all have them) are not acknowledged. Though Spurgeon is generally recognized and respected in the Evangelical Christian community as a Biblical scholar, keep in mind that even his perspective has limitations and is not exclusively "correct" just because he's Spurgeon. We have to be careful not to excuse ourselves from critical thinking and writing just because we whole-heartedly agree with author.
I'm curious what specific question you will ask about the controversy of salvation for your proposal paper, and beyond that, what kind of proposal do you hope to make? These are important questions to consider as we wrap up the research portion of this assignment.