I have good friends, the kinds of friends that will recommend good books and occasionally mail me a book without solicitation. This month represents the first time that a friend mailed me a book and assigned me homework. The enclosed note: “read this and write a review.” Well, I have completed the reading part and I am now writing the review, and I must admit, this is one assignment that I have enjoyed thoroughly.
Good books are more rare than many people suspect, but the really good ones stand the test of time, usually because they either have something unique to offer or are written extremely well (or both). Why God Created the World by Ben Stevens offers nothing unique or new. But, it is a very good book. It is a good book because it offers something old and great in a uniquely approachable format that can benefit the church and believers today. Why God Created The World is an adaptation of Jonathan Edwards’ Dissertation Concerning the Ends for Which God Created The World. Ben Stevens has taken Edwards’ work and made it approachable and useable for the church today.
Stevens comes to this task because he began to wrestle with the question, “Why did God create the world?” As a minister/missionary in Berlin, Germany, he soon realized that many of his atheist friends actually wrestled with the same question. In light of his personal struggles and the missiological implications of this question, Stevens set out to discover why it was that God created the world. In his quest, he stumbled upon Edwards’ grand work and took careful notes, rewriting Edwards work so that he could better understand and apply the message and meaning.
Jonathan Edwards helped Ben Stevens to realize that God did not create the world to fulfill a need or to receive something from the world. God exists in a state of perfect happiness and joy without needs or wants. The creation of the world must have come about then, “because of the way that it accomplishes something that He (God) values.” Ultimately, Stevens (and Edwards) show that the ultimate value in all the world is the glory of God, and that God’s ultimate value in creating was for his glory.
Stevens has made Edwards work accessible, and beautifully so. He has worked to retain many of Edwards’ illustrations, but has avoided the use of words like “refulgence.” Stevens has also shown the heart of God in this work. Why God Created The World is a much needed book for the Young, Restless, and Reformed crowd. Stevens shows that though his own glory is God’s chief end, love for humanity is still a pure goal for God. The Bible says that God loves us (John 3:16, Eph. 2:4, 1 John 4:9-10). Many in the new Reformed movement need to be reminded that even as God’s own glory is his chief end, he still loves humanity extravagantly. Stevens shows this clearly as he writes,
He lived and suffered on the cross and was resurrected not for a principle but for people whom He loved in a direct, personal way. You cannot read the Bible’s words about God’s motives and think that His desire to glorify Himself left Him without true and abiding passion for us.
In addition to re-telling Edward’s book in contemporary language, Stevens has included a study guide so that this book can be used as a group study. He has also included a short biography of Edwards and a sample of Edwards’ book in its original English. Finally, he has left his readers with encouragement, “to put these ideas to use” for the purpose of communicating the gospel. Stevens challenges us to make practical use of biblical theology in our apologetics. His belief: we should encourage non-believers to “consider the [Bible’s] coherency on its on merits first.” Jonathan Edwards felt the same way, and his ministry is remembered for the powerful proclamation of the Word that led to conversions and revival.
