Paul Dubuc's Reviews > Letters from a Skeptic: A Son Wrestles with His Father's Questions about Christianity

Greg and Edward Boyd have have given us a great blessing in publishing their correspondence on the nature of Christianity. This book is unique among the many apologetic sorts of books I have read for a few reasons:


1)It's honest. Ed Boyd doesn't go easy on his son about Christianity. The questions are thoughtful, penetrating and genuine, not straw men set up to be easily knocked down. Greg Boyd's answers are equally thoughtful and well stated. He doesn't overwhelm with theological language but does a very good job of explaining difficult ideas in simple language. He honestly admits to uncertainty in places, but does a fine job of showing that uncertainty need not be a serious impediment to genuine faith and rational belief. I have never seen so many difficult questions about Christianity answered so well in so little space.


2)It's intimate. This is a discussion between a father and son who genuinely love and respect one another. It's a model for how important, ultimate issues can be debated in a very constructive manner.


3)It's powerful. Ed Boyd's conversion is more than a mere acceptance of certain religious beliefs. It is a powerful testimony to the power of God to change a human life wonderfully "from the inside out."


Many have objected to parts of Greg Boyd's theology. For example one review I read goes so far as to say this isn't really a Christian book because of Boyd's "Open Theism." (See his other books for a more detailed treatment of his theology.) Though I have some questions about this position myself, I think Boyd is a genuine evangelical Christian theologian who is wrestling honestly with how to make the best sense out of the whole Bible's portrayal of God. This reviewer's objections seemed one-sided. There are plenty of places in the Bible where God is portrayed as being shocked (even surprised?) at human behavior. He changes his mind. He is passionate and emotional (if the prophets are to be believed and Jesus is really God incarnate). God doesn't fit in a neat little conceptual box and Greg Boyd is honest about that. He deserves a fairer more open-minded reading than many of his critics give him.


If God is the most powerful being in existence, he can do anything; even limit himself in some respects (not all) with regard to his knowledge of the future. To some people this implies a diminshment of God. If so, it is a self-diminishment--no other being has done it to him--and he is still is the most powerful being in existence--no one else has more foreknowledge than he. So how is God diminished? Is God unable to right any wrong just because he didn't "know" it would happen beforehand (because it wasn't part of reality before it happened)? I don't think so. I think Boyd makes a good point when he suggests that the conception of God that many Christians have may owe itself more to the ancient Greeks than to Christianity (or the Judaism from which it sprang) and biblical teaching.

Greg Boyd is a passionate, whole-hearted Christian with the Highest regard for the Bible. That comes out very clearly in this book. I highly recommend it.