All That Is in God: Evangelical Theology and the Challenge of Classical Christian Theism

by James E. Dolezal

At first glance, the moniker “theistic mutualism” (or “theistic personalism”) seems harmless enough. Perhaps it is even attractive insofar as orthodox Christians believe in a God who subsists as three persons in relation and who lovingly calls us into the joy of personal fellowship with Him.7 No doubt patristic, medieval, Reformation, and Puritan theologians held forth the glorious prospect of the sinner’s reconciliation to God and the benediction of unbroken fellowship with Him in glory. Theistic mutualists recognize that classical Christian theists believe such things. They are not convinced, however, that the traditional emphasis upon a wholly unchanging, simple, and purely actual God is sufficient to deliver such blessings to us. They think that if God cannot change or be affected by the world in any way, then our relationship to Him seems overly one-sided and thus rather impersonal and nondynamic.