Q&A
Terror in the Night
Category: Essays
Tags: Essay, Fear, God, God's Love, Q&A, Spiritual Warfare
Topics: Spiritual Warfare, Cosmic Conflict
I’ll never forget the night it first happened to me. I was thirteen, sharing a bedroom with my older brother. I woke up in the middle of the night and felt as if something was…
Q&A: If God is So Great, Why Would He Care About Us?
Category: General
Tags: God, Q&A
Question: I’ve read that scientists estimate that the number of stars in the universe is 10 to the 24th power (10 with 24 zeros after it). I’m told that finding the earth amidst all these stars…
Q&A: If Salvation Depends on our Free Choice, How are we Saved by Grace?
Category: General
Tags: Grace, Open Theism, Q&A, Responding to Calvinism, Salvation
As a companion to today’s testimony and the link to Greg’s thoughts on Romans 9, we thought it would be helpful to post this Q&A on salvation by grace within the Open View of the…
Making Room for Doubt and Questions in Our Youth Curriculum
Category: General
Tags: Doubt, Q&A
This article from a Christianity Today blog was sent to us from a reader (Thanks Laura!) reflecting on the need for making space for doubt and questions in our youth curriculum. From the article: In our Sticky…
Greg and Paul Tag Team to Answer Your Questions
Greg Boyd and Paul Eddy answered questions submitted from Woodland Hills Church and podcasters during all three services this last Saturday and Sunday. They covered a wide range of topics so, chances are, you’ll find…
Isn’t it contradictory to say Jesus is “fully God” and “fully human”?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Incarnation, Jesus, Q&A, Theology
Topics: Christology, Jesus: Lord or Legend
READER: God is, by definition, eternal, having neither beginning nor end. Human beings are, by definition, finite, beginning at a certain point in time. How, then, can Jesus be both God (eternal) and human (finite)?…
Answering an Objection to a Cross-Centered Approach to Scripture
Category: Q&A
Tags: Bible, Cruciform Theology, Inerrancy, Q&A, Scripture
Topics: Christus Victor view of Atonement
Through Greg’s Facebook and Twitter, we’ve been getting some great feedback and questions regarding his cross-centered approach to Scripture. Several have voiced questions similar to the reader’s (below), so we thought it would be helpful to post Greg’s answer here on his blog.
If God is already doing the most he can do, how does prayer increase his influence?
Category: Q&A
Tags: God, Prayer, Problem of Evil, Providence, Q&A
Topics: Defending the Open View, Hearing God, Prayer, Providence, Predestination and Free Will
Question: If God always does the most that he can in every tragic situation, as you claim in Satan and the Problem of Evil, how can you believe that prayer increases his influence, as you…
If God anticipates each possibility perfectly, how does he differ from the “frozen God” of classical theism?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Foreknowledge, God, Open Theism, Q&A
Topics: Attributes and Character, Defending the Open View
Question: If God anticipates each and every possibility as if each were only possibility, how does God ever experience novelty and adventure? It seems that a God who perfectly anticipated (from all eternity) every single…
If God shouldn’t get blamed when free agents do evil, why should he be thanked when they do good?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Free Will, Predestination, Q&A
Topics: Providence, Predestination and Free Will, The Problem of Evil
Scripture tells us that every good gift comes from God the Father who “does not change like shifting shadows” (Ja 1:17). I interpret this to mean that God is always good and that he’s always…
How Does God Hear All Our Prayers?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Christian Life, God, Prayer, Q&A
Topics: Hearing God, Prayer
Q: At any given moment there are millions of people praying to God. How is it possible for God to pay attention to my little, silent prayer amidst all the chatter? The reason you or…
Why Did Jesus Curse The Poor Fig Tree?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Bible, Jesus, New Testament, Q&A
Topics: Enemy-Loving Non-Violence
Why Did Jesus Curse The Fig Tree? One of the strangest episodes recorded in the Gospels is Jesus cursing a fig tree because he was hungry and it didn’t have any figs (Mk 11:12-14; Mt…
What about the thief on the cross?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Afterlife, Heaven and Hell, Q&A
Topics: Death and Salvation, End Times
Question: You hold that most people who are saved will nevertheless have to go through a “purging fire” to have their character refined and fit for heaven. Whatever is unfinished in our “sanctification” in this…
When Did Jesus Bind the Strongman?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Bible, New Testament, Q&A
Topics: Atonement and The Cross, Spiritual Warfare, Cosmic Conflict
Question: In Luke 11:21-22 Jesus said: “When a strong man, with all his weapons ready, guards his own house, all his belongings are safe. But when a stronger man attacks him and defeats him, he…
Is Open Theism Incompatible With a Chalcedonian Christology?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Incarnation, Q&A
Topics: Christology, Defending the Open View
Question: The Chalcedonian Creed says Jesus was “fully God and fully human” and that these “two natures” remained distinct in the Incarnation, even though Jesus was one united person. I’m told that part of the…
How do I avoid feeling like God is absent?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Open Theism, Q&A, Warfare Worldview
Topics: Hearing God, Prayer
Question: I used to see God involved in everything and used to believe every event expressed God’s will. After my wife and I lost our child in a tragic accident, and as a result of…
What is the difference between “libertarian” and “compatibilistic” freedom?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Free Will, Predestination, Q&A, Responding to Calvinism
Topics: Free Will and the Future, Providence, Predestination and Free Will
Question: I often hear philosophers and theologians talk about “libertarian” and “compatibilistic” freedom. What do these terms mean? Answer: A person who holds to “libertarian” freedom believes that an agent (human or angelic) is truly free and morally…
Will people get married in heaven?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Afterlife, Heaven and Hell, Q&A
Topics: End Times
Question: I lead a Bible study group for teenagers. One recently asked a question: “Will there be marriage in Heaven? And if not, why? God created marriage when He created the perfect earth, so why…