What do you think?
Rate this book
God Under Fire
God Never ChangesOr does he? God has been getting a makeover of late, a 'reinvention' that has incited debate and troubled scholars and laypeople alike. Modern theological sectors as diverse as radical feminism and the new 'open theism' movement are attacking the classical Christian view of God and vigorously promoting their own images of Divinity.God Under Fire refutes the claim that major attributes of the God of historic Christianity are false and outdated. This book responds to some increasingly popular alternate theologies and the ways in which they cast classical Christian theism in a negative light. Featuring an impressive cast of world-class biblical scholars, philosophers, and apologists, God Under Fire begins by addressing the question, 'Should the God of Historic Christianity Be Replaced?' From there, it explores issues as old as time and as new as the inquest into the 'openness of God.' How, for instance, does God risk, relate, emote, and change? Does he do these things, and if so, why? These and other questions are investigated with clarity, bringing serious scholarship into popular reach.Above all, this collection of essays focuses on the nature of God as presented in the Scriptures and as Christians have believed for centuries. God Under Fire builds a solid and appealing case for the God of classical Christian theism, who in recent years---as through the centuries---has been the God under fire.
336 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2002
10 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
About the author
Zondervan
1,693 books105 followersZondervan is an international Christian media and publishing company. Zondervan is a founding member of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). They are a part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc. and has multiple imprints including Zondervan Academic, Zonderkidz, Blink, and Editorial Vida. Zondervan is the commercial rights holder for the New International Version (NIV) Bible in North America.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 14, 2024
A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS BY TWELVE WRITERS CRITICAL OF "OPEN THEISM" AND OTHER MODERN CONCEPTS
This 2002 book includes essays by twelve authors (including William Lane Craig, Bruce Ware [God's Lesser Glory], etc.). The Introduction states, "God has come back from cultural exile quite different. This newer version is a kinder, gentler God---less threatening, more congenial, and more affirming... This God is actually quite harmless, supportive of all religion, and on everyone's side. Since no one is alienated from this deity, no one needs salvation from sin; on the contrary, God seems to think quite a lot of us... Hell seems to have been largely done away with...
"Upon close inspection, it becomes obvious that this new, improved deity is not the same God as was vanquished earlier in the twentieth century. This God is an imposter... In actual fact, the God of the Bible is no more popular than forty years ago; THAT God is still under fire and is not wanted back.... The purpose of this book is to draw attention to this ... and to call instead for a reembracing of the transcendent and relational God of historic Christianity..." (Pg. 12-13)
The editors state, "Admittedly, of the positions examined in this book, open theism is the closest to historic Christianity, and Christian theists should be grateful for whatever beliefs open theists share with us... Nevertheless, the contributors spend a good deal of time in this book interacting with open theism... In addition, open theism offers a recently developed, novel view of God... which requires thoughtful cross-examination... if the model of God of open theism can be shown to be inadequate, the other models of the alternate Christian theologies all likewise perish." (Pg. 28) They add, "a purpose of this book is to underscore our overall continuity with the theologians of the early church and medieval periods regarding the doctrine of God." (Pg. 30)
One essayist states, "Perhaps some early Christians who were overly influenced by some aspects of Greek philosophy did that. But if so, the fathers of the church long ago tackled them and produced a doctrine of God that is both faithful to the Scriptures and confirmed by the daily experience of Christian believers. Their theology has proved its worth over time... it has held up well, even in the face of modern challenges... Its modern detractors have not proved their case. Until they do, we may confidently assert that classical theism will continue to bear witness to the biblical faith for the foreseeable future." (Pg. 117)
William Lane Craig asserts, "Not only are there BIBLICAL grounds for affirming God's foreknowledge of future contingents, but there are good PHILOSOPHICAL reasons for thinking that God foreknows the future... Now the greatest conceivable being ... must be all-knowing or omniscient. For ignorance is an imperfection... Therefore, is there are truths about future contingents, God, as an omniscient being, must know these truths... In other words, he knows what will happen." (Pg. 143-144)
Another essayist admits, "It is now commonly remarked that what Christian philosophers offer in response to the theoretical or philosophical problem of evil is pastorally inadequate. Indeed, it is so woefully inadequate that those confronted with the religious or pastoral problem of evil are strongly advised to resist the temptation to trot our standard philosophical replies to the theoretical problem of evil as if this will somehow speak to the existential need of the moment. This seems to me to be generally good advice that philosophers would do well to heed." (Pg. 163)
Another notes, "In [the open theist's] own view, God must have known in advance that horrendous evils could result if he created this world. God's knowledge of the real possibility of such evils is no less a reason for God to abstain from creation than God's foreknowledge of such evils would be. In fact, if God would not be sure in advance of creating this world that its evils would not be too severe to justify his permission of them by his creation of this world, then [the open theist's] assumption is more telling against his open theism than it is against a classical view of omniscience, according to which God has infallible foreknowledge of all free acts. (Pg. 184)
He adds, "It is logically possible that God has a morally sufficient reason for permitting every evil there is, including heinous inscrutable evils. This we may know even if we do not know that there actually are morally justifying reasons for God's permission of the evils that exist. Still less are we required to know what reasons actually do justify God's permission of each instance of evil, if indeed they are justified." (Pg. 186)
This collection will be of great interest to thoughtful evangelicals dealing with current issues such as open theism.
This 2002 book includes essays by twelve authors (including William Lane Craig, Bruce Ware [God's Lesser Glory], etc.). The Introduction states, "God has come back from cultural exile quite different. This newer version is a kinder, gentler God---less threatening, more congenial, and more affirming... This God is actually quite harmless, supportive of all religion, and on everyone's side. Since no one is alienated from this deity, no one needs salvation from sin; on the contrary, God seems to think quite a lot of us... Hell seems to have been largely done away with...
"Upon close inspection, it becomes obvious that this new, improved deity is not the same God as was vanquished earlier in the twentieth century. This God is an imposter... In actual fact, the God of the Bible is no more popular than forty years ago; THAT God is still under fire and is not wanted back.... The purpose of this book is to draw attention to this ... and to call instead for a reembracing of the transcendent and relational God of historic Christianity..." (Pg. 12-13)
The editors state, "Admittedly, of the positions examined in this book, open theism is the closest to historic Christianity, and Christian theists should be grateful for whatever beliefs open theists share with us... Nevertheless, the contributors spend a good deal of time in this book interacting with open theism... In addition, open theism offers a recently developed, novel view of God... which requires thoughtful cross-examination... if the model of God of open theism can be shown to be inadequate, the other models of the alternate Christian theologies all likewise perish." (Pg. 28) They add, "a purpose of this book is to underscore our overall continuity with the theologians of the early church and medieval periods regarding the doctrine of God." (Pg. 30)
One essayist states, "Perhaps some early Christians who were overly influenced by some aspects of Greek philosophy did that. But if so, the fathers of the church long ago tackled them and produced a doctrine of God that is both faithful to the Scriptures and confirmed by the daily experience of Christian believers. Their theology has proved its worth over time... it has held up well, even in the face of modern challenges... Its modern detractors have not proved their case. Until they do, we may confidently assert that classical theism will continue to bear witness to the biblical faith for the foreseeable future." (Pg. 117)
William Lane Craig asserts, "Not only are there BIBLICAL grounds for affirming God's foreknowledge of future contingents, but there are good PHILOSOPHICAL reasons for thinking that God foreknows the future... Now the greatest conceivable being ... must be all-knowing or omniscient. For ignorance is an imperfection... Therefore, is there are truths about future contingents, God, as an omniscient being, must know these truths... In other words, he knows what will happen." (Pg. 143-144)
Another essayist admits, "It is now commonly remarked that what Christian philosophers offer in response to the theoretical or philosophical problem of evil is pastorally inadequate. Indeed, it is so woefully inadequate that those confronted with the religious or pastoral problem of evil are strongly advised to resist the temptation to trot our standard philosophical replies to the theoretical problem of evil as if this will somehow speak to the existential need of the moment. This seems to me to be generally good advice that philosophers would do well to heed." (Pg. 163)
Another notes, "In [the open theist's] own view, God must have known in advance that horrendous evils could result if he created this world. God's knowledge of the real possibility of such evils is no less a reason for God to abstain from creation than God's foreknowledge of such evils would be. In fact, if God would not be sure in advance of creating this world that its evils would not be too severe to justify his permission of them by his creation of this world, then [the open theist's] assumption is more telling against his open theism than it is against a classical view of omniscience, according to which God has infallible foreknowledge of all free acts. (Pg. 184)
He adds, "It is logically possible that God has a morally sufficient reason for permitting every evil there is, including heinous inscrutable evils. This we may know even if we do not know that there actually are morally justifying reasons for God's permission of the evils that exist. Still less are we required to know what reasons actually do justify God's permission of each instance of evil, if indeed they are justified." (Pg. 186)
This collection will be of great interest to thoughtful evangelicals dealing with current issues such as open theism.
September 23, 2022
I enjoyed this book. I thought the multiple contributor approach would be a challenge to maintain coherence, but the authors did a fine job of keeping things focused. This is not an easy read unless you're very familiar with the conflicts, but by investing a little extra effort to review the footnotes, it will be well worth any time you invest.
One valuable aspect of this book is it will prove useful as a reference. I don't suspect the issues being addressed will go away any time soon, so I'll keep them on my radar and visit them periodically.
As much as I enjoyed the analysis and arguments for the various theological topics, I was surprised that a critical element of understanding theology properly was never raised or addressed - the participation of God's Holy Spirit in understanding the things of God; his nature, character, etc. Since the approach for the book appears to me to be more of an academic one, that might explain the oversight. But for a book that seeks to defend the classical Christian perspective, factoring in the necessity of the Holy Spirit seems, to Biblical teaching at least, a vital necessity in the arguments to properly recognize and understand the nuances brought out by the contributors.
That said, their arguments were sound, coherent, logical, and most important, Biblically based. Nicely done.
One valuable aspect of this book is it will prove useful as a reference. I don't suspect the issues being addressed will go away any time soon, so I'll keep them on my radar and visit them periodically.
As much as I enjoyed the analysis and arguments for the various theological topics, I was surprised that a critical element of understanding theology properly was never raised or addressed - the participation of God's Holy Spirit in understanding the things of God; his nature, character, etc. Since the approach for the book appears to me to be more of an academic one, that might explain the oversight. But for a book that seeks to defend the classical Christian perspective, factoring in the necessity of the Holy Spirit seems, to Biblical teaching at least, a vital necessity in the arguments to properly recognize and understand the nuances brought out by the contributors.
That said, their arguments were sound, coherent, logical, and most important, Biblically based. Nicely done.
April 12, 2020
A waste of paper. Read something else.
February 19, 2017
A must read for all Christians.
June 8, 2012
Very difficult book to read.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews