The Justice and Goodness of God by Thomas Schreiner Book Review

About the Book:

Understanding God’s Righteousness through His Final Judgment of Sin

The reality of God’s ultimate punishment is central to the gospel. Only by facing sin’s devastation can believers fully grasp the beauty of their salvation and help unbelievers confront their need for forgiveness. Unfortunately, many Christians and Bible scholars neglect God’s final judgment.

In his book The Justice and Goodness of God, theologian Thomas Schreiner offers a comprehensive, biblical analysis of eternal destruction. Explaining that “final judgment doesn’t contradict God’s goodness but verifies and displays it,” he examines themes of sin, death, and redemption in the New Testament and other passages of Scripture. With helpful personal and theological application, this brief guide helps readers see how God’s judgment is anchored in his holiness, justice, and righteousness. Readers will see that God’s judgment isn’t bad news but good news. Life doesn’t make sense without it, and salvation shines brighter against the backdrop of God’s judgment. 

• Brief yet Insightful: Examines themes of sin, death, mercy, and holiness, with helpful Scripture references and summaries in each chapter
• Rich Biblical Analysis: Studies eternal destruction as described in the Gospels, the Pauline Epistles, and throughout Scripture
• Ideal for College and Seminary Students

You can read chapter one here.

My Review:

Judgment by God makes many Christians uncomfortable. Some reject all together the concept of the final judgment. But Schreiner reminds Christians that judgment is prominent in Scripture. He helps us understand the nature of God and that His holiness, righteousness and justice requires judgment. We also see that God is not vindictive nor is His judgment always immediate. God longs to show mercy and invites people to repent. We are also reminded of the ugliness of sin. Schreiner explores the nature of judgment (that it is eternal). Finally, we are given encouragement as how to live in the reality of judgment.

This is a good book for Christians to read to be reminded of the reality of judgment as revealed in Scripture.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

About the Author:

Thomas R. Schreiner (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is the James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation and associate dean of the School of Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Crossway, 160 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)