Ready to Give an Answer

Now available in softcover!   Click for a sample     Throughout the ages God has led his church ever deeper into the truth by way of controversy and strife. Ready to Give an Answer tells how one small body of Reformed believers—the Protestant Reformed Churches—was born in a struggle to defend the sovereignty of God in salvation over against the false teaching of a well-meant gospel offer rooted in the corrupting theory of common grace, and it tells how, only twenty-five years later, this same denomination was almost destroyed, as once again the forces of Arminianism, clothed now in a conditional covenant, did battle with the doctrines of sovereign grace.      From these two controversies has emerged the distinctively scriptural Protestant Reformed teaching regarding the one and everlasting covenant of grace, that living and unbreakable bond of friendship and fellowship between God and his chosen people, a covenant purposed eternally, established unilaterally, and effected and maintained solely by the power of God’s unconditional and particular grace.     A brief introduction by Professor Herman Hanko establishes the historic and doctrinal setting for each of the struggles. Then, in an easy-to-read-and-remember series of questions and answers, the authors draw evidence from Scripture and the confessions, contrasting the bankruptcy of a conditional covenant and its salvation offered to all who will believe to the richness of a covenant whose realization is unfettered by the will of man and of a grace that is always full and free.     Ready to Give an Answer will be of interest to all who love the cause of God and truth, for it is the story of sovereign grace, a story that gives all the glory to God, who preserves his cause in the midst of the world, and makes his truth to triumph.     What others are saying about this book: “I would wholeheartedly recommend this book for all to read as it is easy reading. Though the doctrines at times become complicated, the format of a catechism allows the reader to understand the issues in a step by step format.” – the Beacon Lights     Read a review from the Beacon Lights.     Herman Hoeksema (HH) (1886-1965) was ordained into the ministry in the Christian Reformed Church in 1915. He is considered one of the founding "fathers" of the Protestant Reformed Churches in America. He taught in the Seminary of the Protestant Reformed Churches from its founding and until his retirement in 1964.     Herman Hanko (1930-2024) served as a minister in the Protestant Reformed Churches from 1955 to 1965, when he was appointed to serve as professor in the Protestant Reformed Seminary in Grandville, MI. He served in that capacity until his retirement in 2001. Until his passing in April 2024, he continued to lecture widely in the USA, the United Kingdom, and other countries, including Singapore and the Philippines. He is the author of several RFPA books.     258 pages softcover ISBN 978-1-959515-28-9 Release date: 1997 (hardcover), February 2026 (softcover)