Exposing the Straw Man: Grudem's "Free Grace" Excludes Lewis Sperry Chafer and Charles Ryrie

I recently noticed how Wayne Grudem misrepresents “Free Grace” theology BIG TIME! Although Grudem's book on the topic is titled “Free Grace” Theology: 5 Ways It Diminishes the Gospel (Crossway Publishers, 2016), it really does not fairly critique mainstream “Free Grace” theology, because it mostly focuses on minority views within the movement (i.e. the teachings of Zane Hodges and his followers). For example, I looked at the General Index of Grudem’s book (pp. 152-156), and to my shock and surprise I realized that Charles Ryrie’s name isn’t even listed! For those who may be unaware, Charles Ryrie is probably one of the foremost Free Grace theologians of all time. Yet strangely, Grudem never mentions him anywhere in the book! The same can be said in regards to Lewis Sperry Chafer, arguably one of the most influential voices in the Free Grace movement. You won’t find Chafer’s name in Grudem’s book either, not even in a footnote! How can anyone honestly write a book about “Free Grace” theology and never once mention two of its most well-known proponents? If the “shoe were on the other foot,” this would be like writing a book purporting to be about “Calvinism” and then never once mentioning John Calvin or Theodore Beza (Calvin's successor in Geneva), but instead discussing a minority view. It would be like writing a book purporting to critique “Calvinism” but only discussing the off-shoot view of Amyraldianism. (Amyraldianism is generally rejected by mainstream Calvinists.) This is the logical fallacy called “The straw man argument”: misrepresenting someone’s argument to make it easier to attack. There are actually more references to Zane Hodges in the General Index of Grudem’s book than there are references to Jesus Christ and John MacArthur combined! Grudem strangely has a myopic fixation on Zane Hodges, to the exclusion of other (more prominent) Free Grace voices. And worse, Grudem seems bent on giving the (false) impression that the views of Zane Hodges characterize the Free Grace movement. Sadly, Grudem's book appears to be built on the premise that the views of Zane Hodges are representative of Free Grace theology in general. But this is hardly the case, as even a novice would know from reading just one Wikipedia article on the subject! Thus, Grudem’s entire book is built on a completely false premise and is a misrepresentation of Free Grace theology. Buyer beware!