THE TRINITY & THE COVENANT OF REDEMPTION
By J V Fesco
Christian Focus. 414 pages. £19.99
ISBN 978 1 781 917 657
There is no doubt that very few readers of
en will have read a book on this particular
doctrinal topic, not least because so few works have been written on it.
In addition, it is only to be expected that our primary focus with respect to redemption will be on the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. However, this author draws our attention to the fact that the good news did not begin on earth but in the purposes of God in eternity past. So Fesco seeks with great care to explain from the Bible a covenant made between the persons of the Trinity, in particular the Father and the Son, with the purpose of redeeming lost sinners.
The first part covers the historical origins and development of the doctrine. Here he highlights the biblical basis, but admits that the first explicit statement and exposition of the doctrine was given by David Dickson at the 1638 General Assembly of the Church of Scotland; it was not explicitly set forth in the Westminster Assembly documents or the 1644 Particular Baptist Confession, but was clearly affirmed in the subsequent Savoy (Congregationalist 1658) and London (Particular Baptist 1689) Confessions.
The author works through the biblical passages in Zechariah, Psalms, Ephesians and 2 Timothy to lay the exegetical foundations prior to explaining the relationship with the doctrine of the Trinity, predestination, imputation and the ‘order of salvation’ in Reformed Theology. In summary, the author has made a strong case for the importance of this doctrinal conviction and has sought to answer the criticisms of other Reformed scholars who are unconvinced of this understanding of these texts. This book is more likely to appeal to specialists than to general readers, but it is written in a style that is accessible for anyone interested in this subject.
