Who Speaks and Who Acts for the God of Israel

In my forthcoming book Sovereign Story I examine the Calvinist-Arminian debate from the perspective of the biblical narrative, the Kingdom of God. It is my assertion that both sides have missed crucial points in the debate because they have not dealt with Scripture in its narrative framework. This paper focuses on debates between Jesus and the Pharisees and calls attention to the way John presents Jesus in them. In looking at this context, it calls into question the debates on Irresistible Grace that are promoted in John 6:44-45 and 12:32 and seeks to provide an explanation that is more “at home” in the theological environment of the first century than in the environment created by theologians in the 16^th-17^th centuries.