As I said in my first post in this series, my knowledge of open theism before reading Boyd was primarily dependent on the work of John Sanders and William Hasker (also David Woodruff and Tom Oord). I respect Sanders’ work very much but did not find his presuppositions with regard to open theism convincing. Hasker held my feet to the fire on a number of points of logic in very helpful and challenging ways, but again I found his understanding... Read more
Perhaps to the clear-eyed angelThere was nothing in the word he brought but glory:Infinite splendor in a point of flesh,Bursting, breaking through the veil of blood and mucus,Passing through a narrow gateTo fill creation with redoubled light. Only the old man, his rheumy eyesBlurred with false hopes,Back scarred by Roman rods,Feet hard with trudging up the stony hillTo watch the heroes die,Only he, perhaps, could taste in his body the sourness of the sweet word,Could see the sword quivering in... Read more
Boyd’s antagonist throughout his two volumes of “warfare theology” is something he calls the “blueprint model” or “the myth of the blueprint.” This view of Divine providence, according to Boyd, became prominent with Augustine, replacing the “warfare model” which had prevailed in the first three centuries of the Church’s history. In “blueprint theology,” God ordains in some way everything that happens. This may take Calvinist or Arminian forms, may use the language of “permission” rather than saying that God directly... Read more
Boyd’s “warfare theology” rests on a doctrine of creation as an act whereby God gives radical freedom to His creatures. This means that, for Boyd, the ultimate explanation of the acts of free beings is to be found in their own choice, not in some further cause such as the providential purpose of God. The world is what it is not solely because of God’s will, but because of the interplay of many wills, which may be acting against God.... Read more
Conservatives are fond of saying that one shouldn’t “immanentize the eschaton.” What else, I ask, is one to do with an eschaton? What they mean by this, of course, is that we should not use violent means to bring about a utopian society. Of course we shouldn’t. But the violent means used by Marxists and other secular seekers of the Eschaton are themselves decidedly means of “this age.” Marxists justify totalitarianism precisely because the perfect classless society isn’t here yet.... Read more
The first of Boyd’s two books on “warfare theology,” God at War, focuses primarily on the Scriptural evidence for a God who fights evil. Boyd places this picture of God over against what he calls “blueprint theology” in which God stands above the fray, having ordained in detail everything that happens. Boyd argues that the “blueprint” view is both un-Scriptural and practically harmful, because it leads Christians to accept evil as part of God’s plan rather than fighting against it. i’ll... Read more
A few things that jump out at me from reading Isaiah in Hebrew (I’m on chap. 11 now): 1. The word that the NRSV translates as “argue it out” in 1:18 (Come now, let us argue it out, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow) is the same word that the NRSV translates as “arbitrate for” in 2:4 (He shall judge between the nations, and arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their... Read more
One of the major theological controversies in the evangelical world in the past couple of decades has centered on the theological position known as “open theism.” The controversy seems to have died down in recent years, largely because open theists have been expelled from positions of influence in evangelical intellectual culture, not because their arguments have been effectively answered. For anyone reading with this not familiar with the controversy, I should define “open theism” before going further. Open theism is... Read more
Rodney Stark is one of the foremost living sociologists of religion. His 2000 book Acts of Faith, co-written with Roger Finke, expounded an extremely influential “supply-side” theory of religion as a social phenomenon, countering the “secularization” thesis and arguing that there was a pretty steady “demand” for the “goods” provided by religion. Differences in religious commitment over time or across space were due to supply rather than demand. People had different kinds of religious needs, so that in a “free... Read more
OK, since no one (except Stephen Milliken) is excited about monism, here are some theses about gay marriage: 1. Gay marriage really is the redefinition of marriage to make it gender neutral. It is not simply the granting of “equal access” to an institution whose meaning remains the same. 2. However, given the shifts that have taken place in our cultural understanding of marriage, such a redefinition makes sense. That is to say, we have privatized the concept of marriage... Read more
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