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I posted this almost a year ago and am re-posting it in light of the loss of Clark Pinnock. Yes, a loss. While I can’t stand on the same ground as his Open Theism, I’ve found in him (and great stories about him – read below) a pious, humble expression of the faith. Orthodox or not, the impression I have is the man walked humbly with his God. So here’s the re-post.

Been reading this book again and synthesizing some of the BIG arguments – that go beyond just the free will thing… Norm Geisler says at one point in his ongoing feud w/ Clark Pinnock that the bigger issue here is Christian theism – how we view God. So yes it talks about free will but even more, the very nature of God. It’s a big thing. What interests me in this technical discussion is the ongoing Geisler / Pinnock feud. I dunno if there even is one but I know Geisler withdrew from the Evangelical Theological Society because of Pinnock and since then who knows what happened. They were always at odds. But that little feud is symptomatic of a bigger historic one, bear with me as I attempt to synthesize this ages-old clash:

The bigger themes:

• Predestination vs. Free Will
• Greek theology vs. non-Greek
• classic theism vs. open theism
• conservative theo vs. liberal theo

Some of my colleagues have called for a reconsideration of classic theology as it has been framed in the West – stemming all the way back to Europe. While I understand the socio-political framework of this challenge (striving for more non-white, non-power, non-West readings) I think this is calling for more than we can handle. It hearkens back to the Athens and Jerusalem question – that is to say, our theology is more (inextricably) Western than we realize. To extract an essential and pure Christian alloy from the Greek fathers is  to dance on untenable ground; and many who have done so from the vocal minority have suffered disassociation.

In conclusion – this is not a power struggle, rather it is a tearing apart of the fabric that has become interwoven with our faith. Again the question is posited: Is there an essential Christian faith that has nothign to do with the West?

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