Recognizing the goodness of God

Pastor Boyd,

…I just wanted to express my gratitude to you for the courage with which you have taught on open theism. My father was the one that introduced me to your work, and I cannot thank you enough. I previously attended a private, Presbyterian high school, where I was forced to study the theology of Calvin and other Reformed theologians, and I was driven into a deep depression by the view of God my teachers were espousing. I awoke each morning with the intellectual conviction that God despised me, and that my suffering as a human being was really part of some divine plan to make me into a better person. Soon I was contemplating suicide. Fortunately, God didn’t allow that to happen – my father confronted me about my feelings and discussed with me those passages in Scripture which seem to point to God’s uncertainty concerning certain things. He gave me a copy of your book “God Of The Possible”, and my spiritual walk has never been the same.

For the first time, I can honestly say I love God. Where once I feared that He might strike me down or afflict me at any moment to teach me some lesson I could have learned another way, I now recognize the goodness of God as essential to His nature, as the substance of His being. Thank you for taking the time to read this email.

In Christ,

D