God of the Possible by Greg A Boyd - Book Review

Title: God of the Possible
Author: Greg A. Boyd
Pages: 175
Publisher: Baker Book House (Grand Rapids, Michigan) 2000

Review:

Someone once asked me if there was an "Open Theism for Dummies" to read. Yes, this is it. Greg Boyd is probably the person most responsible for getting the message of open theism out there and this is the book that has done most of the work. It is and will be regarded a classic among the open theist community of theologians.

God of the Possible is a book that addresses the fundamental questions of God's foreknowledge. It has one of those questions across the top: Does God Ever Change His Mind?. Boyd, through this book attempts to take on this question and at the same time presents the basics of what has become known as the open view of God's foreknowledge.

The book is divided into sections. In the first, Boyd presents the classic view of foreknowledge and the Bible verses that support it and why he feels they are wrong. In the second, he then presents the case for the open view and the Scripture that supports it. In the third section, he presents the practical advantages of the open view as compared to the classic view. In the forth section he answers common questions and objections to the open view. There is also an appendix with further verses that support the open view as well as a solid index.

Boyd has a couple of key objectives that he states in his introduction: 1) to present the open view relying as much as possible on the Biblical support and 2) to present this in a easy to read and understand book. He succeeds on both counts. While there is some reasoning and philosophical arguments, the main appeal is to the direct wording of Scripture. It is also an easy to read book.

Rating: Four and a half stars. I like books like this. Make your case, use the Bible and do it in a way that everyone can understand it. If you are looking for an introduction to the open view of God's foreknowledge and want it in plain language - this is it.