Clark Pinnock passed away on Sunday, August 15th. He had been battling Alzheimers, and I hope he and his family are at peace. This isn't really an obituary, others have already written better obituaries than I could ever hope to compose (here, here, and here). Rather, this is a short description of my relationship with his work. When I was 21 I had an existential/philosophical/theological crisis. I don't want to go into all the details of that here, but I'll touch on a few details. Disappointed with the theological teachings of my youth, trying to fathom the existence of pain and evil, and wrestling with issues of personal choice and consequences and how all of those things relate to the faith in which I was raised, I went into a tailspin. I resolved to approach the issues directly and dove headfirst into philosophy, theological writings, and Christian scripture. My goal was to create a personal theology for myself that would reconcile the problems I was having. If I was unable to reconcile those things I was prepared to renounce my faith.
After much study I developed a form of open-theism. I didn't know then what it was called, or even that other people held the same view. All I knew was that I believed that God experienced time along with us, that God could be surprised, and that God could and did respond to human actions as an ever moving being. I believed and still believe that this is consistent with Christian scripture, and I was prepared to answer questions like: But what about prophesies? What about God's plan? But doesn't God know all? So I started telling people about my new view of God, and my restored faith. But I was mostly met with people telling me I was just plain wrong and maybe even a heretic. It didn't matter what I showed them in scripture, or the philosophy I cited, people knew God had a personal plan for them and my new theology went against their understanding of that plan. So I had a newly restored faith, but I felt alone and outcast among my Christian peers. Then I mentioned it to someone I knew who was a professional theologian. His response, "That sounds a lot like open-theism." He told me that it was actually a hot button issue at the time and even that there were some in the Evangelical Theological Society who were making noise about open-theism and that it was probably going to come to a head in the future (the next year the ETS recommended expulsion for proponents of open-theism). I went home and looked up all the books I could find on the subject and there I was introduced to Clark Pinnock, a man who had moved in his life from a strict Calvinism to a proponent of open theism. I also discovered Gregory Boyd and John Sanders and thanks to the wonders of the internet (dial up and very very slow) that I wasn't alone and that if I was mad it was a shared madness.
So thank you Clark Pinnock. Thank you for being my friend, even though you never knew me. Thank you for your comfort in a time of stress in my life. Thank you for not being afraid to change and for always seeking the truth even amid criticism from other Christians. And thank you for being a brother in Christ. I don't know how the promised life eternal works, but if somehow we're able to meet one day I'd love to sit and chat.
After much study I developed a form of open-theism. I didn't know then what it was called, or even that other people held the same view. All I knew was that I believed that God experienced time along with us, that God could be surprised, and that God could and did respond to human actions as an ever moving being. I believed and still believe that this is consistent with Christian scripture, and I was prepared to answer questions like: But what about prophesies? What about God's plan? But doesn't God know all? So I started telling people about my new view of God, and my restored faith. But I was mostly met with people telling me I was just plain wrong and maybe even a heretic. It didn't matter what I showed them in scripture, or the philosophy I cited, people knew God had a personal plan for them and my new theology went against their understanding of that plan. So I had a newly restored faith, but I felt alone and outcast among my Christian peers. Then I mentioned it to someone I knew who was a professional theologian. His response, "That sounds a lot like open-theism." He told me that it was actually a hot button issue at the time and even that there were some in the Evangelical Theological Society who were making noise about open-theism and that it was probably going to come to a head in the future (the next year the ETS recommended expulsion for proponents of open-theism). I went home and looked up all the books I could find on the subject and there I was introduced to Clark Pinnock, a man who had moved in his life from a strict Calvinism to a proponent of open theism. I also discovered Gregory Boyd and John Sanders and thanks to the wonders of the internet (dial up and very very slow) that I wasn't alone and that if I was mad it was a shared madness.
So thank you Clark Pinnock. Thank you for being my friend, even though you never knew me. Thank you for your comfort in a time of stress in my life. Thank you for not being afraid to change and for always seeking the truth even amid criticism from other Christians. And thank you for being a brother in Christ. I don't know how the promised life eternal works, but if somehow we're able to meet one day I'd love to sit and chat.
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