Bethlehem College and Seminary hosted the “Theology for Everyone” Conference on April 4–5, 2025. The videos are now available for the five talks and the panel:
John Piper | Providence
Fred Sanders | The Holy Spirit
Tom Schreiner | Justification
Greg Allison | The Church
Andy Naselli | Predestination
Here are my publications that released in 2023—plus some books I endorsed. (I prepared this list so that I can conveniently link to one post.) As I explain in the article “Three Reflections on Evangelical Academic Publishing,” I aim to be academically responsible more than academically respectable. The ultimate reason I research, write, teach, and shepherd is to glorify God by serving Christ’s church.
In this new book, I invite you to hike up a mountain with me:
Andrew David Naselli. Predestination: An Introduction. Short Studies in Systematic Theology. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, January 2024.
When you arduously hike up a mountain, it is satisfying to take in the breathtaking panoramic view at the top. God designed us so that we complete our joy by seeing God’s beauty, by savoring him, by praising him, and then by sharing our joy with others. In this new book, I invite you to let me share my joy with you. The hike is not easy, but it’s worth it because the view at the top is awe-inspiring. The more you know about God and his ways, the deeper and sweeter will be your praise.
Here’s how I define predestination:
God predetermined the destiny of certain individuals for salvation (election) and others for condemnation (reprobation).
Who is this book for?
This book’s target audience is thoughtful Christians—both pastors and laypeople—who want to study what the Bible teaches about predestination. I wrote it with several types of Christians in mind, including my students at Bethlehem College and Seminary, the members of my church (to whom I preached the gist of this book in four sermons), my wife (a homemaker and homeschooling mom), and my oldest daughter (who was thirteen when I drafted it). My main audience is not professional academics, but I attempt to be academically responsible. I aim to explain a complex topic simply but not simplistically. (pp. 1–2)
(See endorsements from Joel Beeke, Rosaria Butterfield, Steven Lee, Sam Storms, and Steve Wellum.)
Here are the book’s contents (15 chapters):
Introduction
PART 1: VESSELS OF MERCY
What Does the Bible Teach about Election?
1. What Is the Goal of Election?
2. When Did God Choose to Save Some Humans?
3. Did God Choose to Save Individuals?
4. Did God Choose to Save Individuals Based on Foreseen Faith?
5. Is Unconditional Election Unfair?
6. Do We Have Free Will?
7. Does Election Contradict God’s Desire That All Humans Be Saved?
8. How Does God Accomplish His Plan to Save Individuals?
9. How Do I Know If God Has Elected Me?
10. Did God Elect Babies Who Die?
PART 2: VESSELS OF WRATH
What Does the Bible Teach about Reprobation?
11. Who Ultimately Causes Reprobation?
12. How Does God Accomplish Reprobation?
13. What Is the Result of Reprobation?
14. What Is the Goal of Reprobation?
15. Who Deserves Blame for Reprobation?
Conclusion: Exult in God as You Take in the View
Here are four sermons I preached on predestination to my church in summer 2022 (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4):
Here’s an interactive two-hour talk I gave at my school’s Godward Life conference on September 29, 2023—“Do We Have Free Will?”:
Updates:
Matt Tully interview for the Crossway podcast: “Answering Hard Questions about Predestination and Free Will” (36:39 minutes, recorded 11/16/2022, released 1/29/2024).
“How Important Is It for Me to Affirm the Doctrine of Predestination?” (3:53 min. | transcript):
“2 Primary Goals of God’s Election of Sinners to Salvation” (3:33 min. | transcript)
“What Does Free Will Mean?” (4:10 min. | transcript)
“How Do the Arminian and Calvinist Views of Election Differ?” (2:42 min. | transcript)
“A Helpful Way to Understand Free Will” (5:19 min.)
“Getting Our Terms Right in the Predestination Discussion” (3:12 min.)
“How to Preach on Predestination” (1:00 min.)
“Predestination” talk at the “Theology for Everyone” Conference (15:56 min.) (4/5/2025)
The MacArthur Center’s new podcast episode is on apostasy: “When Believers Stop Believing.”
(See my post on episode 1—on theological triage.)
It was my pleasure to contribute to this episode on the sobering topic of apostasy.
Related: Here are five short articles I contributed in 2020 to TGC’s 250 concise theology essays:
Related: On 11/16/2022, I recorded some short videos for Crossway on Romans. Here’s one of them:
I’ve Heard It Said, “Once Saved, Always Saved” (2:54 min. | transcript)
In 2011, the Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology published my article “D. A. Carson’s Theological Method.”
In 2023, Crossway has published a book of essays by D. A. Carson in which I update my 2011 article, and Crossway has graciously granted me permission to upload a PDF of my updated essay on my website:
Andrew David Naselli. “D. A. Carson’s Theological Method.” Pages 11–50 in The Gospel and the Modern World: A Theological Vision for the Church. Edited by Brian J. Tabb. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2023.
Related: In 2017, P&R published a book in which I unpack the theological method I learned from Don Carson. It’s about how to interpret and apply the Bible.
The latest issue of Eikon is mostly a chapter-by-chapter review of the third edition of Discovering Biblical Equality.
I contributed an article on Galatians 3:28:
Naselli, Andrew David. “Yet Another Attempt to Justify What God Forbids: A Response to Cynthia Lang Westfall, ‘Male and Female, One in Christ.’” Eikon: A Journal for Biblical Anthropology 5.1 (2023): 32–39.
Here’s my phrase diagram of Galatians 3:26–29:
I wrote this short article for Logos:
Naselli, Andrew David. “Is the Holy Spirit an ‘It’? 7 Proofs for the Spirit’s Personhood.” Word by Word, 19 April 2023.
I start by suggesting three reasons that people (even some Christians) refer to the Holy Spirit as an “it.” Then I give seven reasons the Holy Spirit is a person—and thus seven reasons we should refer to the Holy Spirit as he and not it.
I taught on justice in Bethlehem College and Seminary chapel last week: “Justice: Divine, Imputed, Imparted, Public, and Ultimate.”
Here’s the pocket definition of justice I work with in the talk:
Justice is (1) getting what you deserve and (2) giving others what they deserve.
Here’s the talk’s outline:
Related: