Steven Colborne's Blog, page 65

Blog Tour (Day 8): Yellow Poppies

Hi everyone! In today’s blog tour post I’ll be sharing an interview I did for Ashley Tanner, who is the very kind and gracious writer behind the Yellow Poppies blog. Ashley is married with four children so I’m especially honoured that she has been able to work this interview into her busy schedule — thank you so much, Ashley!

It’s such a blessing to me that Ashley enjoyed reading God’s Grand Game, and she asked me some really good questions that enabled me to explain about my transition from atheist to theist and the motivations behind my writing. Click this link to read the interview:

Read the interview I did for Ashley of Yellow Poppies

What did you think of the interview? If you have any comments, feel free to share them either below this post or over on Ashley’s blog. Also, be sure to subscribe to Ashley’s blog as I’m sure there’s plenty of great content to come from this writer!

There are only two dates left on the blog tour (are you keeping up?!). I’m excited that tomorrow I’ll be featuring a review of my book by a Roman polytheist named Virginia who runs the Neptune’s Dolphins blog. This will be something quite different and is not to be missed!

If you’d like to purchase a copy of God’s Grand Game, the book is available in eBook, paperback, and hardcover editions from a range of popular retailers. Click the link below for all the details:

Buy God’s Grand Game

That’s it for today! I’ve been up since 3am working on banner designs for my YouTube channel, which will be relaunching very soon… more to come on that over the next couple of weeks.

Have a blessed day and I’ll see you tomorrow!

Steven x

Blog Tour (Day 7): Pilgrimage to Somewhere

Hi, friends! Welcome to the seventh instalment in the God’s Grand Game blog tour. Today’s contribution is a concise but fantastically well written review by a relatively new blogger named Logan Noland, who writes on his website Pilgrimage to Somewhere.

I really appreciate Logan’s kind, thoughtful, and open-minded review. I also love the way he has structured his review. Logan doesn’t agree with the main premise of the book (my belief that God is animating and controlling all activity in existence), but still finds value in the vision I present.

I will say no more, as I don’t want to introduce spoilers, but will simply invite you over to Logan’s blog where you can read the review:

Read Logan Noland’s review of God’s Grand Game

It’s worth pointing out that although Logan understood my view of God to be quite severe, in God’s Grand Game I do explain that I believe God always brings good out of even the worst experiences in life, so I certainly wouldn’t describe God as intrinsically cruel. I do believe He has the capacity to be cruel, but the evidence to me suggests that He ultimately chooses love and mercy for all sentient beings (at least, this is what I hope).

That’s all for today! Have you had a chance to pick up a copy of God’s Grand Game yet? The book is available in various formats from a range of popular retailers, and is eligible for Amazon Prime. For all the details concerning the book’s availability, click the following link:

Buy God’s Grand Game

There are only three episodes of the blog tour left! Thanks so much for sticking with me. Tomorrow’s piece will come courtesy of Ashley Tanner, a very interesting blogger who recently left the fundamentalist religion into which she was born and raised. As well as living a busy married life with four children, Ashley blogs at Yellow Poppies.

Wishing all readers of Perfect Chaos a wonderful day, and if you’re new around here, a very warm welcome!

Peace and blessings,

Steven x

Blog Tour (Day 6): Thinking Moon

Greetings, all! Welcome to today’s episode of the God’s Grand Game blog tour. Today I’d like to introduce Jenni (also known as Jay C / J.C.) who runs a diverse and very interesting blog entitled Thinking Moon.

Jenni has a background in anthropology and is currently teaching as well as studying for her PhD. She has a Philosophy section on her blog and we have been connected on Twitter for some time, so it was a no-brainer to ask her to be involved with the blog tour. I’m grateful to Jenni for agreeing to review my book.

You can read Jenni’s review via the following link:

Read Jenni’s review of God’s Grand Game on Thinking Moon

If you enjoyed Jenni’s review, please consider subscribing to her blog, I’m sure she’d love to have you as a moonling (the way she affectionately describes her followers!).

Thank you to everyone who has been following the blog tour so far. I’ll look forward to returning tomorrow, when I’ll be bringing you a review by Logan Noland of the blog Pilgrimage to Somewhere. Logan is a Christian and an expatriate teacher-librarian, living in Beijing, China.

Have you had a chance to pick up a copy of God’s Grand Game yet? It’s available in paperback, hardcover, and Kindle formats, from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, and plenty of other retailers. Click the link below for all the info!

Buy God’s Grand Game

Right, I’m going to brew myself a cup of spicy chai, pop on some lofi hiphop, and return to reading the gory details of the sacrificial practices of ancient religious groups such as the Aztecs and the Mayans. Some of the things these people got up to are too horrendous for words!

See you tomorrow!

Steven x

Blog Tour (Day 5): Faith’s Pen

Hello, friends. I hope you all had a good weekend? The blog tour continues today with another review of God’s Grand Game, this time written by Christian blogger Faith Okpoyo.

I never expected my book would be warmly received by all Christians, because in many ways the book presents a challenge to the key doctrines of the Christian faith. However, I always hope that even Christian readers will try to understand my arguments, and at least present them coherently and fairly, even if they disagree.

As much as I love Faith, and am grateful for her involvement in the blog tour, her review doesn’t really engage with the subject matter of the book. Her choice of quotations from the book seems strange. For instance, in her short review she quotes my statement that I don’t believe God has a particular gender (He is a spiritual being). This was a mere introductory note in the book, so I’m not sure why Faith selected this for comment.

I know Faith is an incredibly busy woman, and perhaps — pressed for time — she wasn’t able to read the book in its entirety. Fair enough. But if you’re considering reading God’s Grand Game, I just want to highlight that Faith’s review doesn’t do justice to the tremendous investment of research, time, thought, and effort, that I put into the book. If you’d like to read an article about God’s Grand Game by a Christian that (by way of contrast) does present the book fairly, I highly recommend Lily Pierce’s article from last week which you can read here.

All of that said, I’m sure many Christians will enjoy Faith’s criticisms of my work, because… well, she’s sticking up for Jesus. Click the following link to read Faith’s review:

Read Faith Okpoyo’s review of God’s Grand Game

What did you think of the review? Feel free to leave a comment either on Faith’s blog or below this article. Thank you, Faith, for being a part of the blog tour!

God’s Grand Game is continuing to sell well. When I checked this morning it had made the Top 40 new releases in the Philosophy category on Amazon. So if you purchased the book over the weekend, thank you so much!

If you haven’t picked up a copy yet, the book is available from a selection of leading retailers, and all the details can be found by clicking the link below:

Buy God’s Grand Game

I’m very much looking forward to tomorrow’s blog tour post, which will come courtesy of blogger and YouTuber J.C. Lynch who will be posting a review on her fabulous blog, Thinking Moon.

God bless you all and I’ll see you tomorrow!

Steven x

Blog Tour (Day 4): Retrospective Lily

Hi folks! I’ve been very excited about today’s post. We’re now on Day 4 of the blog tour and all the articles this week have been super. If you’ve missed any of the posts thus far, you can catch up here.

Today’s instalment — an interview I did for the fabulous Retrospective Lily — provided a wonderful opportunity for me to talk about the key themes in God’s Grand Game and also talk a bit about the spiritual experiences that have contributed to my worldview.

Lily’s questions frankly blew me away. She took the time to really understand the key themes of my book, and asked what are probably the best interview questions I’ve ever been asked. So enough preamble, please click the link below to read Lily’s piece!

Read the interview I did for Lily Pierce of ‘Retrospective Lily’

What did you think of the interview? Feel free to leave a comment below (or on Lily’s blog), and if you like Lily’s style, be sure to subscribe to her blog for quality weekly content about faith, classic works of literature, living with a disability, and a whole lot more!

That’s a wrap for this week. The blog tour will be having the weekend off, but I’ll be back on Monday with the next episode, which will be a review by the inspirational blogger Faith Okpoyo of Faith’spen.

If you haven’t yet done so, you can click the link below to avail yourself of a copy of God’s Grand Game in a choice of formats from a range of popular retailers. If you’ve got some leisure time this weekend, may I suggest this would be a marvellous way to fill it?

Buy God’s Grand Game

If you’ve already purchased a copy, I hope you’ve been enjoying the book! If you liked it, and feel like leaving a positive review on the relevant retailer’s website (or on your blog), that would be a great help! No pressure though — to know you’ve read the book is more than enough to make me incredibly grateful.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend — see you Monday!

Blog Tour (Day 3): Gestaltic Ocean

Hi folks! Welcome to the third instalment of the God’s Grand Game blog tour. Today I’m delighted to direct you to an interview I’ve done courtesy of a fantastic blogger named Christopher Schallert, who writes about a range of philosophical and theological matters on his blog entitled Gestaltic Ocean.

Christopher asked me about why I named my blog ‘Perfect Chaos’, and then asked some excellent questions about my philosophical perspective and my reasons for writing God’s Grand Game. Click the link below to go to Chris’s blog to read the interview.

Read the interview I did for Chris from Gestaltic Ocean

I was delighted to discover that God’s Grand Game has already made it into the Top 10 books in the ‘Free Will and Determinism’ category on Amazon, and when I checked yesterday it was nestled at Number 8, alongside Sam Harris’s ‘Free Will’ — very appropriate as Harris’s book is criticised in Part IV of God’s Grand Game.

Amazon have also featured my book as a ‘Hot New Release’ in the same category, which is excellent news and a great bit of added exposure! Fancy grabbing a copy?

Buy God’s Grand Game

That’s all for today. If you have any questions related to my book or the blog tour, you’re welcome to leave a comment or email me via the Contact page. I’ll be back again tomorrow with another interview, this time courtesy of one of my favourite bloggers Lily Pierce of Retrospective Lily, and that one is not to be missed, I assure you!

As always, thank you for your support!

Peace and blessings,

Steven x

Blog Tour (Day 2): Madman’s Lantern

Hi friends. Welcome to the second instalment of the God’s Grand Game blog tour. I hope you enjoyed yesterday’s post which was David Robertson’s overview of the book on his blog ‘A Perennial Follower’. In case you missed it, you can read the article here.

Today, we have another David! This time I’d like to introduce David Wilson and his wonderful blog, Madman’s Lantern. When I discovered David’s work I was captivated by his first-hand experience of immersing himself in a variety of different faith communities. David doesn’t just talk theology, he lives theology, and I really respect that.

Here’s a link to David’s review of God’s Grand Game. He’s very frank in the review and offers some criticisms in places, but such is the right of any reviewer. I have made a few short responses to David’s criticisms in a comment below his article.

Read David Wilson’s Review of God’s Grand Game

I’m delighted to say the release is off to a great start, and has already made the Top 10 in Amazon’s ‘Free Will and Determinism’ category. It’s currently occupying virtual shelf space next to Sam Harris’s book ‘Free Will’, which is rather appropriate as that book is discussed in God’s Grand Game.

Remember that my book is available in paperback, hardcover, and eBook formats from a range of retailers (including Amazon). For all the details, click the link below.

Buy God’s Grand Game

That’s it for today! If you’ve bought the book I hope you’re finding it to be a stimulating and enjoyable read. I’ll be back tomorrow with the next instalment of the blog tour.

Peace and blessings,

Steven x

Blog Tour (Day 1): A Perennial Follower

The God’s Grand Game blog tour kicks off today with my good friend and amazing blogger, David Robertson. This is the perfect way to start the blog tour because David has read the book closely and considered the ideas presented in the book with intelligence and depth of understanding. If you’re considering buying the book, read David’s article for an insightful introduction!

Read David Robertson’s ‘God’s Grand Game’ article

In his article, David presents an excellent overview of my theological perspective, drawing upon his own knowledge of different spiritual traditions as he considers the ideas that are discussed in God’s Grand Game.

I highly recommend not only reading the article but also subscribing to David’s blog if you aren’t already linked up with him — his blog is among my favourites and you need only take a look at a few of his posts to see why I’m such a big fan of his work.

Thank you, David, for taking part in the blog tour!

Interested in buying a copy of God’s Grand Game? The book is available in a range of formats from a range of popular retailers (including Amazon). The link below has all the details.

Buy God’s Grand Game

I’ll be back tomorrow with the next instalment of the blog tour. Until then, I hope you enjoy David’s article and have a wonderful day!

Peace and blessings,

Steven x

God’s Timing is Perfect

There are certain phrases Christians use that reveal a belief that God is in control of our lives in their entirety. The title of this blog post is a prime example. What I’d invite readers to consider is whether it’s possible to believe that God is unfolding all the events of our lives and at the same time to believe that we are free to act independently of the will of God (that we have, as it is commonly referred to, free will).

The reason why this matter is important is because the very doctrines at the heart of the Christian faith (such as sin, salvation, redemption, the atonement, judgment, etc) depend on the notion that human beings have free will. We only need to be ‘saved’ if we have ‘sinned’, and the notion of sin only makes sense if we have free will. But when Christians use a phrase such as ‘God’s timing is perfect’, isn’t this an implicit recognition that we are not free at all — that God is in control?

There are many complex and convoluted ways in which Christians attempt to make sense of the predicament outlined above, and those who are interested might wish to explore ideas such as compatibilism, open theism, and Molinism, which all attempt to present a solution. These ideas, as well as many other ideas related to the divine sovereignty versus human free will problem, are discussed in detail in my new book, entitled God’s Grand Game, which is released today.

My book is an invitation for Christians, Muslims, Jews, and others, to be brave in relation to this subject, and to consider the intricacies of the free will debate with an open mind. I have not arrived at my conclusions lightly; only after many years of studying Scripture, praying fervently, examining my own subjective experience, reading widely, and discussing deeply, have I come to an understanding that God is indeed in control of everything we will ever do, and that this necessarily means we do not have free will.

Buy God’s Grand Game

If you do choose to read the book, I hope you will find it stimulating and enjoyable, and you are welcome to return to this blog to discuss and debate with others the ideas contained within its pages.

Over the next two weeks, I’ll be posting every day (Monday to Friday) with links to posts by other bloggers who have received advanced copies of God’s Grand Game and written posts related to the book. I hope that you will get involved in the discussions that arise from these posts and consider reading God’s Grand Game yourself. Thank you and God bless

God’s Grand Game Chapter Listing

Hi all. Firstly, let me share something that will (hopefully) brighten up your day. When I was working in the music industry many years ago, I worked with a band called Gotan Project. They are a group of French musicians making ‘neo-tango’ music. I had all but forgotten about them, but the other day I had an urge to revisit one of their albums on YouTube. I discovered that they’ve continued to release a lot of music, and it is fantastic.

Take a listen to this track and let me know if you love it as much as I do! Just be aware that the track fades in with the sound of a train, just be a little patient, the music is coming!

Anyway, on to the subject of today’s post…

GOD’S GRAND GAME IS RELEASED ON MONDAY!



[image error]

The blog tour kicks off next week and I’ll be posting every day Monday to Friday, sharing details of the reviews and interviews that are being published.

To whet your appetite for the release, I thought I’d share the chapter listing for the book today.

God’s Grand Game Chapter Listing

PART 1
THE NATURE OF GOD

1. How Do I Know God Exists?
2. The Cosmic Animator
3. What Are God’s Attributes?
4. God in Inanimate Objects
5. Determinism and the Nature of God
6. Does God Have Foreknowledge?
7. The Creativity of God
8. The Aseity of God
9. Sovereignty

PART II
THE HUMAN MIND AND GOD

10. God’s Control of Mental States
11. Modes of Mind
12. What is Causing Our Thoughts?
13. The Experience of Understanding
14. Hearing Voices or Hearing God?

PART III
CHRISTIANITY AND GOD

15. God’s Grand Game
16. Is Jesus the Only Way?
17. The Myth of the Fall
18. The Confusion of Calvinism
19. Molinism Refuted
20. Jesus the Creator?
21. The Authority of Scripture
22. What Prayer Reveals About God

PART IV
FREE WILL

23. Materialism and Free Will
24. The Bible and Free Will
25. Compatibilism
26. Open Theism
27. Divine Conservation and Occasionalism
28. Divine Omnipotence and Free Will

PART V
MORALITY AND GOD

29. Dimensions of Reality
30. Do Good and Evil Exist Objectively?
31. The Agony of God
32. Bringing Good out of Evil
33. Do We All Deserve Hell?

PART VI
SCIENCE AND GOD

34. Why I Believe in God and Also Love Science
35. Cause and Effect
36. Reflections on Time
37. What is Truth?
38. Creation and Evolution

PART VII
MY PHILOSOPHY AND THE WORLD RELIGIONS

39. Introduction
40. The Abrahamic Religions
41. There Is No Enlightenment
42. Karma
43. Polytheism
44. Interfaith Dialogue

PART VIII
THE CHURCH OF THE FUTURE

45. The Church of the Future

Many of you will recognise some of the themes of the book from blog posts I’ve published here on Perfect Chaos in recent years. Some of my blog content has been developed and expanded upon in God’s Grand Game, but there is also a great deal of original content.

I’m hugely excited to be releasing this book, which represents the culmination of 10 years’ study and reflection on the divine sovereignty versus human free will problem.

Will you be giving it a read? Let me know in the comments!

Have a great weekend and I’ll see you next week!