Summary: Dr. Gregory Boyd is a professor of theology at Bethel College. He attended such universities as the University of Minnesota, Yale Divinity School, and Princeton Theological Seminary. As well as being a professor he is a preaching pastor at Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, and has authored three books and several articles. This particular book is a dialogue between he and his father, Edward Boyd. Edward lives in Florida and worked for 35 years in sales management. He has six kids, 15 grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren. Gregory attempted for years to try and convert his father to Christianity without any success. About the time he felt like giving up on his father, he felt the Holy Spirit leading him
He is omniscient, but until I make the decision there is simply no decision to know. This theology is called Open Theism and I have never heard it before. It did not make sense to me until my wife asked if I believed that God creates people knowing they will go to hell. If you take Dr. Bowland's theory, then yes He does. If you take Dr. Boyd's theory, then no He does not. I do not like the idea of God creating people knowing that they will choose hell, but I also do not like the idea of limiting His power. What is your stance?
One other thing that I found that I am not quite sure about is Dr. Boyd's stance on baptism. As I mentioned earlier, I thought he did an exceptional job of explaining salvation to his father, but he never mentioned baptism as a necessary step in that process. He might have been waiting until his father believed, repented, and accepted Christ to lead him to that point, but I am just a little unsure as to why that was never mentioned. There was a correspondence between the two about the Christian life and all that it entails, but never the mention of baptism. I am just a little curious as to why?
I thought that the book, in general, was very clear and relevant. I think that Edward kept that progression going because of his straight forwardness at the very beginning and because of the types of questions he asked. I also found Gregory's credentials, backed up by his responses and the heart that he portrayed