From Orphans to Heirs

From Orphans to Heirs
Mark Stibbe
The Bible Reading Fellowship 1998, 2005

Three quarters or more of this book is an excellent and heart-warming treatment of the doctrine of adoption. This is the important, but often neglected biblical teaching, that when we become Christians we enter into a family relationship with God, we are adopted as God's sons and daughters, and we then have Jesus as our elder brother and all other believers as our brothers and sisters.

The fact that Stibbe was himself adopted as a child gives an edge to the book as he warms to his subject and understands it at both a head and heart level in a deeper way than perhaps many others have.

It is interesting that Stibbe sees adoption as absolutely central to the Christian faith and life alongside justification. So much so, that he almost sees adoption as the overarching theme of salvation as we move from slavery to sonship, from sin to salvation. He then goes through various aspects of adoption and views its relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

As I said, most of the book is brilliant and I found it both inspirational and heart-warming. The only significant problem is that Stibbe is a Charismatic with a capital C. This extends to his acceptance and even praise of the so-called Toronto Blessing some years ago. Peppered throughout the "good stuff" are charismatic views that this reviewer certainly does not share. The charismatic views get in the way rather than support the main thrust of teaching on adoption.

As long as the reader knows that this is part of Stibbe's theological make-up, and can filter out the parts that it is not necessary to accept in order to accept the parts on adoption, then this book could be a breath of fresh air for many Christians and many churches.