A Book Review of:
God
of the Possible by Gregory Boyd
A superb outline of the 'Open' view of God (also known
as Neo-theism, Free-will theism or Presentism); Boyd challenges the classical
view of divine exhaustive foreknowledge and presents a concise (yet logically
exhaustive) argument that a faithful reading of Scripture will teach us
that God faces genuine possibilities and that some aspects of the future
are unknown even to Omniscience Himself.
Written in a style combining
the gentleness of a pastor with the argumentational prowess of a scholar,
Boyd gives a very well-timed and accessible Biblical look at the openness
of God. This book distinguishes itself from some of the recent works
from the 'Open God' school by its almost exclusive focus on Scriptural
data and exegesis (the first two chapters - short but full of sting - form
the best intellectual offensive from the Bible that I've read for
Neo-theism), giving only a bare sprinkling of philosophical theology.
I believe that anyone seriously
interested in the nature and attributes of God must thoroughly examine
the exegetical arguments set forth here, especially from the OT.
Do not brush aside the 'divine repentance' passages but ask honestly why
you have trouble accepting statements about God changing His mind as literal
(if indeed you do - I know I did!).
The third chapter proceeds
to list down certain practical and experiential advantages in adopting
the Open God model, and the fourth chapter rounds up with an apologetic
which tackles 18 most common objections to this view. Given the book's
introductory purposes, these two chapters are unfortunately kept to an
outline format. Still, Boyd gives good insightful responses to some
knee-jerk reactions to his view ("What do we mean by a partially open
and partially determined future?", "How can God promise to be ultimately
victorious without knowing the future?", "How can God then guarantee ANYTHING?",
etc.), as well as briefly elaborating a Neo-Arminian view of Romans
9 (especially with its many apparently deterministic passages).
It's for certain that many
authors (including Boyd) will be building on the sketches presented in
God
of the Possible. A new evangelical paradigm shift is on (putting
classical Reformed theology firmly on the defensive), and it's hard to
foresee its full emergence and acceptance being prevented in the near future.
Representatives of the opposition will have to do a lot more and a lot
better than argue by philosophical outrage (which, I feel, is what almost
all critics of free-will theism begin with).
Like Boyd, they will need
to have a firm footing in Scripture. But they need to take caution
- for it is in His Word that the God of the possible will show us that
even the most strongly held convictions are not impossible to disprove.
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