One of the finest theological pieces I’ve read regarding the doctrine of God’s benevolence is D. A. Carson’s The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God. Taken from lectures given in 1998, it is a brief work (a mere 77 pages of text) which is easy to read while retaining its profundity. Dr. Carson gives five reasons he believes the doctrine of God’s love is difficult. First, most people take their notions of God’s love from ideas outside of Holy Scripture. Second, many truths about God which are harmonious are believed to be incompatible by many people within the culture (and the Church). Third, a syncretistic and pluralistic view of the divine which emphasizes sentimentality is undergirded by postmodernism. Fourth, much of what is believed by people within the Church is this postmodern, sentimental view of God. Fifth, the Church portrays the doctrine of God’s love as simple, passing over critical distinctions which actually make it difficult.
Dr. Carson erects this work around four themes: the distortion of God’s love, that fact that God is love, God’s love and sovereignty, and God’s love and wrath. He mines from the Scriptures to deliver a clear message as to what God’s love involves and what it does not, defending the compatibility of apparent contradictions in God’s character. In doing this, he discusses how God’s love and sovereignty are both instrumental in His dealings with human beings. I recommend this work to you with the utmost confidence it will benefit both mind and soul. It may be read online for free.
