Posts
Jesus Did Not Teach Ethical Behavior
Category: General
Tags: Ethics, Judgement, Love, Repenting of Religion
Image by a2gemma via Flikr Paul teaches that love is not rude (1 Corinthians 13:4–5). If we forget that the New Testament is about the new life given us in Jesus Christ, we easily misinterpret this passage…
Lighten Up: Don’t Believe It
Category: General, Lighten Up
Tags: Conflict, Lighten Up
Image by Michael Leunig Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly…
Past Sermon Series: Crap Happens
Category: Sermons and Video Clips
Tags: Greg Boyd, Sermons, Theodicy, Woodland Hills Church
Topics: Apologetics, Open Theism, The Problem of Evil
Why God, why? This may be the most repeated prayer in history. Most people have said it at one point or another, if only under their breath. Why sickness? Why suffering? Why doesn’t God respond to my…
Our Real Battle is NOT with ISIS or any Other “Enemy”
Category: General
Tags: Evil, Spiritual Warfare, The Real Enemy, Warfare Worldview
Topics: Spiritual Warfare, Cosmic Conflict
There’s an old African proverb that says, “When Elephants fight, the grass suffers.” It expresses the important truth that when agents who have a domain of authority go awry, everything under their authority suffers. The…
Sermon Clip: Don’t Be A Butthead
Category: Sermons and Video Clips
Tags: Christianity, Church, Greg Boyd, Sermons, Woodland Hills Church
With so many people claiming to hold the truth, it can be easy to get lost in all the noise. We can be tempted to make our voice heard by shouting the loudest or…
What Unfulfilled Prophesies Say About the Open View
Category: General
Tags: Free Will, Future, Goldingay, Open Theism, Prophesy
Topics: Open Theism
Image by Lori Greig via Flickr Yesterday, we posted about how Messianic prophesies are understood in the open view of the future. Today, this post will look at prophesies that are not fulfilled in the way predicted…
The Open View of Messianic Prophesies
Category: General
Tags: Determinism, Divine Foreknowledge, Free Will, Open Theism, Prophesy
Topics: Open Theism
Image by Lawrence OP via Flickr A number of passages speak of particular events being foreknown by God, even events resulting from individuals’ free will. For example, dozens of prophesies in the OT accurately predict details about…
Lighten Up: What Jesus Said NEVER
Category: General, Lighten Up
Tags: Enemy Love, Jesus, Lighten Up, Love One Another, Non-Violence, Violence
Image via nakedpastor.com
Will Violence against ISIS Root Out Evil?
Category: General
Tags: Evil, Myth of a Christian Nation, Non-Violence, Upside-Down Kingdom, Violence, War
Topics: Following Jesus
Image by arbyreed via Flickr Fallen humans tend to identify their own group as righteous and any group that opposes them as evil. If they were not evil, we tend to believe, no conflict would exist. Hence,…
Read This Before You Drop the H-Bomb (“Heretic”) on a Fellow Christian
Category: General
Tags: Belief, Frank Viola, Heresy, Orthodoxy, Unity
Topics: Following Jesus
Image by yhoitink via Flickr Greg co-wrote the following article on heresy with Frank Viola for BeliefNet. Check it out! “Heretic.” It’s a favorite word that many Christians have no problem dropping on the heads of their fellow…
Why NO Violence in Jesus’ Name is Justified
Category: General
Tags: Enemy Love, Myth of a Christian Nation, Non-Violence, Obama, Violence
Topics: Following Jesus
Image by papapico via Flickr On Friday, Greg posted a response to Obama’s speech about religiously-inspired violence. Here are some further thoughts on why violence in the name of Jesus—no matter whether we call it just, redemptive,…
Thank You Obama for Denouncing “Christian” Violence: It is Actually Far Worse Than ISIS
Category: General
Tags: Crusades, ISIS, Non-Violence, Obama, The Inquisition, Violence
Picture Credit: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza It seems some conservative Christians are up in arms because of something Obama said at the National Prayer Breakfast yesterday. After condemning ISIS and religiously-motivated violence…
Lighten Up: Losing Sleep
Category: General, Lighten Up
Tags: Humility, Internet Behavior, Lighten Up
Cartoon via xkcd It’s OK. You can go to bed.
ReKnew Newsletter
Did you know that ReKnew sends out an electronic newsletter every month that features an original video message and book recommendations from Greg as well as top posts and video from the previous month, testimonies, upcoming…
Problems with the Simple Foreknowledge View
Category: General
Tags: Arminianism, Calvinism, Future, God, Open Theism, Satan and the Problem of Evil
Topics: Open Theism
Some have proposed a model of divine foreknowledge which allows them to avoid the dilemma of affirming either that God creates people for the purpose of sending them to hell (Calvinism) or that he creates…
Why Did God Allow Evil?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Evil, Free Will, Love, Problem of Evil, Satan and the Problem of Evil
Topics: Providence, Predestination and Free Will, The Problem of Evil
Is it possible to force people to love? Powerful people may be able to force others to do just about anything. Through psychological or physical torture, they may succeed in forcing them to curse their…
Sermon Clip: Through Samaria
Category: Sermons and Video Clips
Tags: Jesus, Sermons, Woodland Hills Church
In this final installment of the Women on the Outside series, we explore the story of the woman at the well Jesus encountered while traveling through Samaria and how he dives right in to the…
The Open View and Predestination
Category: General
Tags: Divine Foreknowledge, freedom, God's Character, Open Theism, Predestination, Satan and the Problem of Evil
Topics: Open Theism
Paul wrote in Ephesians, “For he [God] chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through…
Does the Open View Undermine God’s Sovereignty?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Determinism, Divine Foreknowledge, Free Will, God's Sovereignty, Open Theism
Topics: Providence, Predestination and Free Will, Responding to Objections
A common objection to the concept of a risk-taking God is that it seems to undermine God’s sovereignty. If any particular individual can opt out of God’s plan, then every individual could conceivably opt out…