John Calvin Goes to Berkeley (First in the University Christian Fellowship Series)

Alex Kim has a secret and he’s certain that if the students of University Christian Fellowship had known it, they never would have elected him president. His hope was that if he did a good job and God blessed their ministry on campus, no one would care. That was before John Calvin came to Berkeley. Now Rod Sutherland, UCF’s vice president, is on a crusade. He’s trying to convince the others that Calvin was right about predestination: God has already decided who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. An increasing number of students agree with Rod. Jamie Alfono, the group’s treasurer, isn’t among them. “Anyone can accept Christ’s offer of salvation,” Jamie says. Angela León, a girl with a passion for truth, concurs. “God predestining babies to hell? I’m sorry; that can’t be right.” With UCF divided and ready to fold, Elliot, a doctoral student, proposes that they form a committee to solve the mystery of predestination once and for all. The only way to reunite the group and save UCF is for them to understand the true meaning of predestination. “If we figure it out,” Jamie says, “we could win the Nobel Prize for Theology.” If we don’t, Alex thinks to himself, UCF is finished and my year as president is going to end in disaster . . . again.