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God Unbound: Reconsidering Tradition in Search of Truth
This book is an exploration into the shortcomings of the traditional evangelical view of the character of God from an evangelical perspective. Questions asked within 1. Does our view of God come from the Bible or from the cultural norms during the era in which the Bible was written? 2. Is God a God of free will or has He chosen a system of determinism? Do traditional responses to the deterministic world view adequately address its issues? 3. What is the correct response to the ""problem of pain""? 4. Is eternal suffering in hell the final destination of non-believers? 5. Are the ideas of Darwinian evolution really contradictory to the teachings of the Bible? 6. Does the Bible have to be inerrant in order to be inspired?
114 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 28, 2022
Theology is not just the province of the academically trained scholar. It is something that we all engage in. Hopefully, we are all committed to the search for truth, even if that requires a reconsideration of our traditions. It is useful for laypersons to engage in this effort, even writing books that express their journey toward truth. Such is the case here in Chad Bahl's book God Bound.
Bahl embraces open and relational theology from an evangelical perspective. He holds a doctorate in pharmacology and has a blog -- TheLayTheologian.com. The version of Bahl's book God Unbound was recently published under the SacraSage imprint and was originally self-published on Lulu. How much has been revised since the 2016 original is difficult to discern. There is a reference to the Center for Open and Relational Theology, which I am part of and I believe it was set up by Tom Oord more recently than 2016. So, there may have been some adjustments to the original version.
Bahl offers his take on what he believes are the challenges posed to evangelicalism by traditional, what some call "classical theism." He traces this to Hellenism (Plato/Neoplatonism), which he believes has led Christians and evangelicals to stray from a truly biblical theology. He believes that open and relational theology is more biblical. I see a lot of my own earlier journey in the book. I recognize the struggles with biblical literalism and the question of one's eternal destiny. I, once, like Bahl, embraced conditional immortality and thus annihilationism -- that is, for the unbeliever, one ceases to exist rather than experiencing eternal torment in hell, which he traces to Augustine's embrace of Plato. Though, that embrace of the immortal soul goes back much further in time than Augustine. In other words, Augustine was working with a commonly held theology. There is also wrestling with theodicy -- what about the problem of pain and suffering. Is all of this determined by God? These are all commonly held positions within evangelicalism, especially the Reformed side of things. So, I appreciate his willingness to explore questions of faith, putting to work his scientific training to pursue the questions. My guess is that if he continues to do this and has an open mind, he will eventually take on positions on matters of theology. The more we learn, if we're open, the more likely we are to evolve in our thinking.
I do want to push on a couple of things here. First of all regarding Hellenism. For some, it's something of a bogeyman that undermines the true Christian faith. it's important to remember that it was the Hellenistic context that enabled the message of Jesus to go forth from Jerusalem. Paul makes of Hellenistic categories, even if he modifies them. The historian in me was concerned about the way in which early Christianity was interpreted. More specifically, it's important to remember that theology will get contextualized, and so the theology that we have inherited will have elements of that context. That doesn't mean we don't challenge it, but it doesn't explain everything. As far as the immortal soul, it is useful to remember that Origen contemplated the likely possibility that all things will be restored, and thus eternal torment wouldn't take place. In fact, all things would be saved, not just those who confess Jesus.
I'd like to push a bit on his rejection of religious pluralism. He seems open to some form of inclusion, but I think it needs further work. In fact, this might help clarify some conflicting points I found present in the book.
On the science end, I'd like to suggest pushing a bit farther away from his original creationism, by suggesting he might read scientists/theologians such as John Polkinghorne. He says he leans toward theistic evolution -- I'd like to push him further along the path. He might also enjoy reading Jurgen Moltmann on this.
One other item that may seem picky but I think it's important. Bahl tends to use masculine language not only for God but for human beings -- thus man and mankind. Inclusive language is may seem politically correct, but for many women especially such language usage excludes from the conversation.
I hope Chad will continue his journey into an open future!
Bahl embraces open and relational theology from an evangelical perspective. He holds a doctorate in pharmacology and has a blog -- TheLayTheologian.com. The version of Bahl's book God Unbound was recently published under the SacraSage imprint and was originally self-published on Lulu. How much has been revised since the 2016 original is difficult to discern. There is a reference to the Center for Open and Relational Theology, which I am part of and I believe it was set up by Tom Oord more recently than 2016. So, there may have been some adjustments to the original version.
Bahl offers his take on what he believes are the challenges posed to evangelicalism by traditional, what some call "classical theism." He traces this to Hellenism (Plato/Neoplatonism), which he believes has led Christians and evangelicals to stray from a truly biblical theology. He believes that open and relational theology is more biblical. I see a lot of my own earlier journey in the book. I recognize the struggles with biblical literalism and the question of one's eternal destiny. I, once, like Bahl, embraced conditional immortality and thus annihilationism -- that is, for the unbeliever, one ceases to exist rather than experiencing eternal torment in hell, which he traces to Augustine's embrace of Plato. Though, that embrace of the immortal soul goes back much further in time than Augustine. In other words, Augustine was working with a commonly held theology. There is also wrestling with theodicy -- what about the problem of pain and suffering. Is all of this determined by God? These are all commonly held positions within evangelicalism, especially the Reformed side of things. So, I appreciate his willingness to explore questions of faith, putting to work his scientific training to pursue the questions. My guess is that if he continues to do this and has an open mind, he will eventually take on positions on matters of theology. The more we learn, if we're open, the more likely we are to evolve in our thinking.
I do want to push on a couple of things here. First of all regarding Hellenism. For some, it's something of a bogeyman that undermines the true Christian faith. it's important to remember that it was the Hellenistic context that enabled the message of Jesus to go forth from Jerusalem. Paul makes of Hellenistic categories, even if he modifies them. The historian in me was concerned about the way in which early Christianity was interpreted. More specifically, it's important to remember that theology will get contextualized, and so the theology that we have inherited will have elements of that context. That doesn't mean we don't challenge it, but it doesn't explain everything. As far as the immortal soul, it is useful to remember that Origen contemplated the likely possibility that all things will be restored, and thus eternal torment wouldn't take place. In fact, all things would be saved, not just those who confess Jesus.
I'd like to push a bit on his rejection of religious pluralism. He seems open to some form of inclusion, but I think it needs further work. In fact, this might help clarify some conflicting points I found present in the book.
On the science end, I'd like to suggest pushing a bit farther away from his original creationism, by suggesting he might read scientists/theologians such as John Polkinghorne. He says he leans toward theistic evolution -- I'd like to push him further along the path. He might also enjoy reading Jurgen Moltmann on this.
One other item that may seem picky but I think it's important. Bahl tends to use masculine language not only for God but for human beings -- thus man and mankind. Inclusive language is may seem politically correct, but for many women especially such language usage excludes from the conversation.
I hope Chad will continue his journey into an open future!
July 26, 2018
Full disclosure, the author is a friend of mine from high school. He wrote this book a few years back and I reread it this summer. This book is not meant to be the be all, end all of biblical studies, nor does Dr. Bahl intend that. He merely presents some big picture questions about Christianity, how the Bible is used and interpreted, and how evangelicals can look to firm up their thinking and their faith in God. He doesn't spoon feed anything to the reader and you will want to have your Bible handy while reading, as he will reference passages in the texts and footnotes that you will want to read for better understanding. This book is very brief and the conclusions are not always fully constructed, but I believe this is due to the fact that Bahl is still searching for the answers himself, and is not attempting to dictate answers to his readers. This would make an excellent group Bible study book or for use for an adult sunday school class, as the topics that are raised are meant for discussion and analysis.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews