Q&A
Isn’t the World Unsafe If God Doesn’t Control Everything?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Determinism, Fear, Free Will, freedom, God of the Possible, God's Character, Open Theism, safety
Topics: Providence, Predestination and Free Will, Responding to Objections
If God isn’t in control of everything, the world feels unsafe. If the future is open and if things can happen outside of God’s will, what guarantee is there that there is a point to…
To What Extent is the Future Open to Real Possibilities?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Choice, Free Will, Future, Judgment, Open Theism
Topics: Free Will and the Future
We frequently get questions about the extent to which the future is composed of actual possibilities rather than settled or determined. Here’s what Greg has to say in response to these questions: 1. We can…
Why Does God Need Prayer?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Letters from a Skeptic, Prayer, Q&A
Topics: Hearing God, Prayer, Providence, Predestination and Free Will
Greg Loves Questions. In his best selling book Letters from a Skeptic, he responds to questions from his father, who was then an atheist. Tomorrow Greg will be hosting a AMA (Ask Me Anything) on…
Is Hell Eternal Punishment?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Annihilationism, Hell, Revelation, Warfare Worldview
Topics: End Times
The end of time, according to the Bible, is marked by hope, the hope that God’s will shall someday be done “on earth as it is in heaven.” The hope is that however terrible our…
Does The Open View Limit God?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Calvinism, Divine Foreknowledge, Future, God of the Possible, Open Theism
Topics: Attributes and Character, Responding to Objections
Suppose you and I both agree that God is omniscient and thus knows all of reality, but we disagree over, say, the number of trees on a certain plot of land. I say there are…
Is Suffering Part of God’s Secret Plan?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Calvinism, Compassion, Faith, Is God to Blame?, Problem of Evil, Spiritual Warfare, Suffering, Theodicy, Warfare Worldview
Topics: Providence, Predestination and Free Will, The Problem of Evil
In the Christian tradition since Augustine, the most common explanation for the apparent arbitrariness of life and God’s interaction with humanity has been God’s mysterious will—his “secret plan,” as Calvin says. Whether or not a…
How Are We To Love the Soldiers of ISIS?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Enemy Love, ISIS, Jesus, Kingdom Living, Love Your Enemies, Non-Violence, Sacrifice
Topics: Enemy-Loving Non-Violence, Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
Over the last several weeks I’ve received some form of this question almost every day. In some cases the question is asked rhetorically, as though the very question exposes the absurdity of suggesting we are…
Why Can’t I Feel God?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Cataphatic Prayer, Experiencing God, Experiencing Jesus, Imagination, Imaginative Prayer, Prayer
Topics: Hearing God, Prayer
Question: Greg, you’re always talking about how we need to keep our eyes fixed on the cross to see and experience God’s love for us. But I find myself arguing with God, asking him: “How…
“I’m Saved, but I Still Struggle. Why?”
Category: Q&A
Tags: Escaping the Matrix, The Mind, Transformation
Topics: Sin
Many people become Christians thinking that salvation means that they will be free from the struggle with sinful behaviors or destructive ways of thinking. How can Christ live in us while at the same time…
How Can Salvation by Grace Involve Free Will?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Calvinism, Free Will, Grace, Salvation, TULIP
Topics: Death and Salvation, Responding to Objections
How does salvation by grace work if people have free will? If salvation hinges on whether individuals choose to be saved or not, is salvation based on grace or works? If we have to choose…
Is God Immutable? Part II
Category: Q&A
Tags: Attributes of God, God's Character, time
Topics: Attributes and Character
Yesterday, we looked at the common understanding of divine immutability and the problems inherent to it. Click here to read that post. Today, let’s look at what the immutability of God actually means. Instead of…
Is God Immutable? Part I
Category: Q&A
Tags: Attributes of God, Character of God, God, Jesus, time
Topics: Attributes and Character
For a number of reasons, Plato believed that something changes only to become better or to become worse (Rep. II). Since a perfect being can’t be improved or diminished, he argued, God must be completely…
Does Prayer Really Make a Difference?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Kingdom Living, Prayer
Topics: Hearing God, Prayer, Open Theism
I know the traditional cliché that prayer is for our sake, not God’s. It changes us, not God, or God’s plans. Even C .S. Lewis said that! I have the greatest admiration for Lewis, but…
Predestination: What Does It Mean?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Calvinism, Destiny, Determinism, Free Will, Is God to Blame?, Open Theism, Predestination
Topics: Free Will and the Future, Providence, Predestination and Free Will
When some people hear the biblical teaching that God “chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4) and that “he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Christ,” (Eph 1:5) they…
Divorce and Remarriage
Category: Q&A
Tags: Divorce, Remarriage
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues, Relationships
Question: My spouse and I are regular podrishioners of WHC. We recently viewed Pastor Greg’s “Divorce and Remarriage “ sermon and fully agree with his grace-filled conclusion. [Also check out Greg’s sermons on this topic here…
Is God Personal?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Apologetics, God, Letters from a Skeptic, Love
Topics: Attributes and Character
Hamed Saber via Compfight How can we trust that God is personally involved in our lives? Are our seemingly “small” lives significant enough for God to get involved when you consider the vastness of all…
Is A Non-violent Jesus in Revelation A New View?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Non-Violence, Sermons
Topics: Enemy-Loving Non-Violence
In this Q and A from Greg Boyd’s series on the book of Revelation, someone asked if the view that Jesus is a non-violent “lamb” a new view? You can view the full Q and…
Why Doesn’t God Make Himself Obvious?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Apologetics, Doubt, Free Will, God, Letters from a Skeptic
Topics: Attributes and Character, Hearing God, Prayer
Why is faith so difficult? Why isn’t God more obvious? Why doesn’t God come out and provide irrefutable proof that he is God so that there is no more doubt? Greg’s father raised such questions…
The Revolutionary Mission of the Church
Category: Q&A
Tags: Kingdom Living, Kingdom Revolution, Myth of a Christian Religion, Warfare Worldview
Topics: The Church
Last week Greg tweeted the following: YES! “[T]he mission of the church is to participate in a drama that has a cross for its climax…” K. Vanhoozer This quote from Vanhoozer summarizes a theme that…
Molinism and Open Theism – Part II
Category: Q&A
Tags: Determinism, Molinism, Open Theism, The Great Omission
Topics: Open Theism What it is and is not, Providence, Predestination and Free Will
In the previous post on this topic I briefly outlined Molinism and then discussed “the grounding objection.” In this post I’ll first discuss another fundamental objection to Molinism and then discuss how it is overcome…