Greg Boyd, "Prayer and God Changing His Mind?

Kinda funny.

As primer for diving into open theism, this is a question I've often asked of myself. Greg's response is intriguing.

READER:  You’ve argued that since God is all-good, he’s always doing the most he can do in every situation to bring about good. But you have also argued that prayer can change God’s mind. How are these two beliefs compatible?

GREG: The beliefs aren’t incompatible if you believe, as I do, that God wants humans to have significant “say-so” in affecting what comes to pass. As such he created a world in which we have “say-so” on a physical level, making decisions that affect what comes to pass through our physical activity. We also have “say-so” on a spiritual level, affecting what comes to pass through prayer. By God’s own sovereign will, he bound himself to be affected by whether or not humans engage with him in prayer.

For the rest of Greg's answer, go to ReKnew and enjoy.

--Nick

Greg Boyd's "Godless Sermon"

Greg Boyd:

We’re not called to be big. We’re not called to be mass-marketing Jesus. We’re not called to have fancy churches. We’re not called to have high steeples. We’re not called to have soft pews. We’re not called to have great programs…

What we’re called to do is love.

Love is by definition, sacrificial.

It’s got to grieve the Lord to the core of his being when he sees… the American church… that is so up in other things. We’re to be followers of the Lord who said “If you don’t give up all your possessions, you can’t be my disciples”…

[Christians say they can't help because they have their own problems.] But what are the problems that so many American Christians think they have? Well, you look at what they do with their resources, that’s how you tell what their problems are. It’s the problems of upgrading your curtains! It’s the problem of upgrading your car! It’s the problem of finding bigger closet space because you’ve got too many clothes! It’s the problem of “I gotta get a job promotion; I want the best for my kids, and I gotta have this and I gotta have that and I’ve got my own problems. I gotta make house payments!”

…I think the Lord would say, “You’ve got the wrong set of problems! You’ve got the wrong set of problems.”

…But you say, “Greg, you can’t solve the world’s problems!”…

That’s true. You can’t.

But the Good Samaritan wasn’t trying to curb the crime rate in Jericho. There’s this one guy here in need, and he met that need.

You can’t solve the world’s problems, but maybe this person over here could use your friendship, and this person over here could be helped out by you…

Have you seen the movie Schindler’s List? Schindler was a man who bought about 6,000 Jews out of destruction by putting together a phony business… At the end of the war, when the Jews were freed, they came and thanked him and said, “Thank you, you’ve done so much.”

And Schindler began to cry. He says, “It wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough!”

They said, “But you did so much!”

And he says, “But I could have done more! This watch – I could have bought three lives with this watch! … And this tie clasp – this would have been a life! And these shoes, how many lives are these shoes worth? And this car! How many lives was this car worth? Why didn’t I sell the car? I could have bought more lives! It wasn’t enough!”
And the question that the gospel… would put right in my face is this: “Who is paying a price for my curtains?”

This cuts right to the heart of the American dream. What else could I be doing with what I’ve got?

To listen to the entire sermon (17 minutes is roughly where the quote is), click HERE. 

It is well worth your time. 

--Nick

Scot McKnight, "Top Five Most Influential Books"

Mine are in no particular order:

1) The Inescapable Love of God by Thomas Talbott


Thomas Talbott's ability to make an exegetical and logical case for trinitarian exclusive universalism that leave room for a will that could be free is refreshing. A very logically concise and rigorous example of an evangelical universalist who deals with proof-texts and actively engages with those who disagree with him.

2) The Coming of God by Jurgen Moltmann


As Talbott is logical and philosophical, Moltmann is very Eastern in his thinking. He writes as if he is telling a very grand story that is far beyond anything you've ever heard. His background as a drafted German soldier experiencing hell in prison camps and him saying "Jesus found him" is not only a powerful example of God's sovereignty, but also God's desire to be all in all. An intimate and powerful case for universalism. 

3) Man and Woman, One in Christ by Philip B. Payne


I was raised Complementarian, and this book certainly helped changed my mind on the entire issue. Payne spends countless pages addressing each counter-example, using his experience in textual criticism and detailed exegesis, leaving no stone unturned. His findings on I Corinthians 14 are unprecedented, and he has indeed shown me that it is very reasonable to be an Egalitarian. Of which I proudly am. 

4) Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard


Most people put Mere Christianity here. When I first read MC at Biola, I was going through a pretty rough time spiritually, and found MC trite. This is not to suggest that MC *is* trite, but after rereading it several times, I didn't find much of it compelling. However picking up F&T did indeed offer a different way of looking at things. That is the strength of Kierkegaard. 

5) God At War by Gregory A. Boyd


If one is looking for not only a holistic take on atonement, theodicy and God's foreknowledge, look no further. Boyd tackles all three in this weighty book, which reads like a textbook filled with mythological battles. His use of Scripture is compelling, his belief in Christus Victor has given me much food for thought, and even his "open" view of God has shown to be reasonable, even if I don't believe in it.

Jesus Creed/ Top 5

McKnight's top five are:

Martin Buber, I and Thou
Augustine, Confessions
Dante, Divine Comedy
John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship

Which books make your top 5? Excluding the good book, of course.

--Nick