I got some light reading for Christmas...

...Oh, yeah, and by "light" I was totally being tongue in cheek. My brother in law (God bless him) gave me this book. I'm really psyched about reading it. My understanding is that this is the quintessential book written on the defense of the reformed understanding of the atonement from the Scriptures. This is the "L" portion of the TULIP acrostic, and it stands in reference to the theology of Limited Atonement (also called Particular Redemption). This was the last of the real objections that I had to deal with before I could take my stand in the Arminian vs. Calvin debate.

"The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (Owen Works, X:139:148) is a polemical piece, designed to show among other things, that the doctrine of universal redemption is unscriptural and destructive of the gospel. There are many, therefore, to whom it is not likely to be of interest. Those who see no need for doctrinal exactness and have no time for theological debates which show up divisions between so-called evangelicals may well regret its reappearance. Some may find the very sound of Owen's thesis so shocking that they will refuse to read his book at all, so passionate a thing is prejudice, and so proud are we of our theological shibboleths. But it is hoped that this classic may find itself readers of a different spirit. There are signs today of a new upsurge of interest in the theology of the Bible: a new readiness to test traditions, to search the Scriptures and to think through the faith. It is to those who share this readiness that Owen's treatise is now offered, in the belief that it will help us in one of the most urgent tasks facing evangelical Christendom today - the recovery of the gospel." - J.I. Packer (from the Introduction to the book)

I also found that you can read the whole introduction (not a small task) online. You can see it by clicking here.