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Title: God of the Possible: A Biblical Introduction to the Open View of God
ISBN: 080106290X
Author:
Gregory A. Boyd
Publicate Date: 2000-05-01
Publish: 2000-05-01
List Price: $15.99
Average Customer Rating: 3.0
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $8.32
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $4.77
Amazon Merchant Price: $10.87
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Great Book
This book clears up soooo much junk in Christian thought!
Thank you, Greg.
I wonder if the negative reviews even read the book or just
listened to a John MacArthur radio program - and was told what
to think on the matter.
Rick
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2: Critical Thinking Christian
I have always been curious about Open Theism. For years I was taught things in churches that conflicted with each other, some of which wasn't even found in the Bible! But, if you're looking for a way to understand the Bible in a light that has been around since the 5th Century, this is a great introductory book to the view of Open Theism.
God Bless.
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3: Interesting Ideas - Unbalanced Scripture Support
Boyd presents some interesting points in his discussion. For ex: God (according to Boyd) cannot know the future because it is logically impossible to know the decision a person with free will. But Boyd does maintain that God sort of knows what will happen. God knows us better than we know ourselves, therefore making God's "guess" highly likely to come true, but not 100%. Scetchy statement. Seems to limit or cripple God (though Boyd actually argues the opposite).
Boyd attacks the classical assumption that God exhaustively knows the future, by pointing to various Biblical passages - many of them interesting. For example, how could God truly be sorry if he knew what would happen beforehand? Or how could Moses convince God of sparing the Israelites? How could God change his mind? According to Boyd, it is because God exists just like us, in linear time. All these points are interesting, but if Boyd is going to bring scripture into the debate, he needs to address all the passages dealing with this theme. How does prophecy work, if God cannot see the future? There are other passages that can be seen in other reviews if one is interested.
But the ideas Boyd brings forth are still interesting. Can God not experience novelty? Does God have the power to change his mind? How is God able to function "in our time", if he is "above time"?
I think the answer to this lies in the nature of time itself. Both sides to the debate have something to offer. It is difficult to choose one side, and dishonest to omit certain areas of scripture.
I have one last thing. It seems many writers of today who deal with theological issues cannot write. Boyd repeats himself numerous times and has unnecessarily long sentences. It is quite annoying and distracting to be reading and know that you are reading pointless words, which could be editted without losing meaning. Overall though, an insightful, though not watertight, treatment of the nature of God's knowledge.
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4: Expand Your View Of God's Greatness
Through this book, my view of God and His greatness were expanded. Additionally, this book helped me to better understand the role that I play in what God does. I strongly recommend this book.
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5: Unknowable Freewill Future? Impossible for the LORD?
1 star for attempting to engage the Bible in determining if God can know freewill futures (author says it's impossible for God). 4 stars deducted for not engaging ALL relevant Bible texts on the subject. As I read the book, it was very selective in which verses it bolstered its case on, omitting others rather embarrassing to its case.
Questions for the author:
1) Gideon is shown a sign by the LORD that he will prevail against the Midianites. He overhears a soldier tell another of his dream about a huge barley loaf that rolls into the Midianite camp destroying all. The other soldier interprets this dream in Gideon's hearing that surely this can be nothing other than Gideon striking the Midianites in a resounding victory. When Gideon hears this, he worships God Who gave him this sign.
How does this unconditional prophecy foretold through pagans to an eavesdropping Gideon in direct fulfillment of God's promise of a sign reconcile with the author's open view that God cannot know freewill futures? Did the LORD stage a 'divine forecast' that fortuitously ended up being true, or is it possible He knew precisely what would freely occur in advance and foretold the predictive prophecy?
2) Elisha the prophet foretells that within 24 hours, the price of foodstuffs during a severe famine will suddenly be exactly 1 shekel - plenty of food for Samaria at precisely this time tomorrow. The king's servant disputes this prophecy. Then Elisha further predicts that this man will see the prophecy realized, but will not taste of it. And that's exactly what occurs. In fact, 3 times at the end of the account it says 'according to the Word of the LORD', 'just as the man of God had foretold'.
How does this unconditional prophecy (declared in advance as settled free market fact) reconcile with open view that God cannot foreknow this sort of detail involving not only the king's servant, but the local economy involving thousands of freewill individual and collective economic trading decisions, supply/demand, the lepers who find the windfall and then willingly decide to share the good news, etc?
3) The LORD through Jeremiah pre-announces to false prophets that they will be punished. God predictively prophesies that 2 in particular named Ahab and Zedekiah will be slain by King Nebuchadnezzar in a specific way: burned alive. Not only that, God foretells that Judah's exiles will take up a public curse, "May you end up just like Ahab and Zedekiah whom the king roasted in the fire!"
How does the author's open theory explain why God claims to know freewill future decisions in advance of their willingly being exercised by the agents involved? These decisions by the false prophets, the king and all Judah's exiles are announced as certain fact unconditionally. Could God possibly pre-know all the intricate details of events involving at- liberty independent agents acting of their own accord AND exactly quote an entire population group in advance verbatim word-for-word how/what they would decide on their own initiative as a new (not yet in use) curse?
Please let the author or any of his followers research these and other (Elijah & Elisha's prophetic foretelling of Hazael's murderous plot to be king) Bible texts and reconcile open view with such fulfilled unconditional predictive free agent prophecies 'according to the Word spoken by the LORD'. What is impossible among mortal minds is quite possible for God.
Thank you for your attention to this critical matter.
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