Customer Reviews

God at War: The Bible & Spiritual Conflict

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I finally finished this excellent book! I have been working through it for the better part of a month and a half! It is quite a book.

Greg Boyd makes a very compelling case for a "warfare worldview". The first half of the book argues from the Old Testament seeking to demonstrate a warfare worldview is the primary worldview represented in the Old Testament.

The second half of the book examines the New Testament and its foundations in a warfare worldview.

It is a powerful new way of thinking in my opinion. Obviously to hold to this worldview is to be a minority in current evangelical and protestant circles. But after reading this book I must say that I am comfortable and intellectually encouraged to move this way.

One of the most convincing features is the warfare worldview's handling of the problem of evil.

The traditional view is that God is in control of everything. Sovereignty is understood as omnicontrol. Therefore the question "why does an all-powerful, all good God allow bad things to happen" is legitimate. Boyd argues that the Bible does not conceive of God's sovereignty in the sense of omnicontrol. Because of this, God's will can and reddily is thwarted by spirits and humans who have freewill. Thus, when these beings chose to disobey God, they enter into warfare against their Creature.

If you're at all interested in a very stimulating and thoroughly biblical book (meaning, Boyd is constantly engaged in biblical exegesis throughout) dealing with theodicy and spiritual warfare, pick up this book. But don't plan to try to read it in a week like I did! This is a book that you will need to live with for awhile.

This is a hard book to review. The major thesis is excellent and bears repeating: God in Christ is at war with the powers and principalities of this world. The decisive battle was fought and won by God in the ministry, death, and resurrection of Christ. The church now continues the battle until the return of Christ, when the victory will be fully won. Here, Boyd's "warfare" view accords with atonement positions of Gustaf Aulen, William Stringfellow, and to a lesser extent, Walter Wink.

The major strength of Boyd's position is that, as he says repeatedly, evil is not a philosophical problem to be solved, but a reality to be fought. On a practical level, we do not look for God's "higher purposes" in the evil events that occur in the world. Instead, we are to resist them in acts of both spiritual and social activism.

This viewpoint, unlike many of the more popular Christian world-views out today, EXPECTS evil to befall the Christian (1 Pet. 4:12). The Christian is in the middle of a war with Satan and his angels. Bad things can and do happen to good people in warfare. God does not promise complete protection in this life but only that He will be victorious in the end and that nothing can separate us from His love (Rom. 8:35-39).

The book fails on two levels. First, Boyd uses many "minority" views to buttress his arguments. The Gap Theory of Genesis 1:1 is used not only to explain the apparent age of the earth, but to wedge Canaanite and other pagan creation myths into the Genesis account. Boyd also argues for the annihilation theory of hell and damnation. Finally, Boyd is a militant Arminian who argues that God not only cannot change the will of His creatures but that He also cannot know the future with definite knowledge. These minority, and sometimes radical views, can make the more orthodox of his readers uncomfortable and may cast doubt onto his larger thesis on evil.

Second, Boyd's book is basically a theodicy (reconciliation between a Good God and creation filled with evil). It fails on that level because Boyd sometimes appears to cast the argument between God's omniscience (which Boyd says is limited to the present and the past) and "unexpected" evil events. Normally a theodicy must reconcile God's omnipotence, not His omniscience, against a creation filled with evil. "If God is all powerful why does he allow evil to exist?" It appears Boyd must ultimately redefine God's omnipotence in the same way as he has redefined God's omniscience. But Boyd does not confront that argument in this book.

"For example, how is this view of things compatible with a belief in God's omnipotence? Why would God create a world in which his will is not necessarily carried out? Why would God create beings who have the power to hurt so many others? How are we to conceptualize God being influenced by our prayers? Can God guarantee ultimate victory over his rebellious foes and our spiritual cosmic nemeses? If so, why does he not simply destroy those rebel forces now? Why does he tarry while the innocent suffer?" (Page 166). All these questions Boyd recognizes and even asks, but then defers the answers to a future and yet unpublished work. This is frustrating for the discerning reader and weakens the force of the book.

Still I recommend the book strongly. The power of the major thesis overcomes the book's weaknesses. Also, when the (hopefully) forthcoming "Satan and the Problem of Evil" is published, many of these weaknesses will be resolved or at least sufficiently addressed.

I'm going to ignore the issue of whether I agree with Boyd's thesis or not. What I want to focus on is what this book does to the reader. It is impossible to passively take in what Boyd is writing. He forces you to think for yourself, regardless of whether you agree with him or not. I often had to put down the book, check out what scripture says, and ponder how it all ties together. Read this book if you want to be forced to develop a greater understanding of God's character based on what scripture says, rather than on what you've been told scripture says.

Being raised in a Charismatic/Pentecostal environment and then thrust into the academic world of reformed theology, I found this book to be very intriguing, and yet at the same time, unsettling. For those who ask the question, "If God is a loving God and He is in complete control, than why is there evil in the world?", this read will give you a different perspective, perhaps a more biblical one? Those who affirm Charismatic/Pentecostal beliefs, will greatly appreciate this books indepth approach to spiritual warfare. However, the author does indeed raise more questions than answers. For one, "Just how much control does God have?". Dr Boyd's teachings look good in theory, but the practical dimension is a little bit foggy. Over all this work will captivate the minds of atheists, challenge Calvinists, and delight Arminianists. No matter what school of thought you are from, this book is a must read.

The doctrine of "Hyper-Sovereignty" (i.e. "God controls everything" and/or "God has a purpose for everything... even evil") is so damaging! This teaching has probably alienated immeasurably more people from God and His goodness than it has drawn to Him.

In this book, Greg Boyd builds an excellent, Biblically-based case for rejecting the Augustinian idea that God unilaterally controls and/or has a purpose for everything that happens on this earth. This is cleverly accomplished by taking evil out of the abstract and defining it by specific tragic events, such as the Holocaust. Specifically, Boyd refers to a young Jewish girl named Zosia, whose eyes were pulled out of their sockets by Nazi SS guards.

Boyd also argues that if God unilaterally controls everything, then the concepts of prayer and spiritual warfare make absolutely no sense. ... In other words, God doesn't have to will tragic events in order to fulfil His will; He fulfils His will in spite of tragedy!

Boyd's work is a modern day "95 theses" that successfully protects God's character, and clears His record of the slanderous things that have been said about Him throughout the ages. I would have given it 5 stars, but parts of the book are cumbersome.

"God of the Possible" and "Is God to Blame" are other works by Boyd that deal with this same issue.... and they do not appear to be quite as cumbersome.

Another excellent book is "Living in the Balance of Grace and Faith" by Andrew Wommack.

Boyd opened up a whole new world to me. God At War was given to me from a friend who attended a School of Ministry that was based on a revival movement, so I approached it carefully (if not skeptically). However, once I got in to the book, it had a profound impact on me. I have been trained in the NorthEast, mainly being taught by Reformed professors. God At War brought me face to face with the "openness of God" movement and almost single-handedly convinced me to rethink my theology. God at War is easy to follow, yet full of footnotes for further study. Boyd wrestles with creation theory, monotheism, God's sovereignty and other issues with strong Biblical content. His views on the New Testament are equally as compelling. I thought I was just going to be reading another book on spiritual warfare, instead, I read a new way of doing theology.

There is no theologian that has influenced me more that Greg Boyd has. This book is great.

In this book Greg argues against the classical/Augustinian worldview that some refer to as a "blueprint." This worldview says that God causes all of the evil that happens in the universe for some "greater good." So, Greg begins in the Old Testament and examines the warfare motif that is taught. He points out that in the Old Testament, God is fighting a real war against cosmic creatures that are later personified as demons (Satan and his angels). Next Greg examines the life and ministry of Christ and shows (in depth) that Christ's entire ministry was about "tying up the strong man" (defeating Satan and his works; 1 John 3:8). He then taps into the Christus Victor motif that the church has neglected for so long, showing that Christ is a loving warrior who fights for humans out of infinite love for humans. And lastly, Greg examines post-gospel writings in the NT showing how the Christian life is a war: advancing the Kingdom of God against the already defeated, pathetic kingdom of Satan. The bottom line is that Greg shows us (scripturally) that the Bible teaches a warfare worldview rather than a blueprint worldview.

This book is a very motivational book. It causes one to see evil for what it is: opposition to the ALL-GOOD Creator's will. It causes one to reject "serene, pious resignations" (quote from Greg's book) when they experience evil and to do what Jesus did, revolt and oppose it! This book argues against the pervasive classical-philisophical presupposition that says God causes everything (rapists, child molesters, Satan's activity!), and shows how grotesque and ridiculous this idea is when we simply look at Jesus. It frees us from the twisted, hellish god of blueprint theology and opens us up to the teachings of Christ and His followers, which lead us to revolt against pain and suffering and wage war against the evil powers in the spriritual realm for the sake of God's ALL-LOVING Kingdom.

What I find most interesting about the subject is not whether it's true or not, but the cult-like extremes of opinion over it. It's either the most important theological issue of our time, or it's heresy and the book deserves to be burned. Rather than engaging in an honest debate, opponents resort to tactics such as:

Guilt by association. Claiming the movement has it's roots in process theology or other heresies.

Deliberating misrepresenting what open theologists believe. For example, claiming they say that the entire Bible should be interpreted at "face value," which makes it sound like they believe verses speaking of God having a "body" or "face" should be taken literally. What they claim is that a verse should be interpreted to mean what it says, unless the context dictates otherwise.

Scare tactics. I've read authors that claim if open theology catches on, it will destroy the Gospel. If you believe that God is in control of everything, how can you believe that open theology can possibly thwart God's will?

Censorship. The ETS expelled some open theologist from its membership. One of the leaders said open theology should be regarded as a heretical teaching. When question further, he stated that he didn't mean "the kind of heresy" where we should no longer fellowship with them. (What other kind of heresy is there?) What better way to shut down any discussion than expelling the proponents and labeling their teachings as heresy?

Failing to examine the issue thoroughly. Opponents of open theology commonly quote a partial list of verses to "disprove" it. But for every verse that "disproves" is, you can quote another that seems to "prove" it. Openness proponents try to address these verses, and admit that there are problems with both positions. Opponents of it do no such thing.

All of these techniques delivered in a single article can cause many people to dismiss it out-of-hand without investigating it for themseves. Recall that the Bereans were commended because they "examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."

Here is a link to an e-mail discussion between two Bible professions on opposite sides of the fence on the issue. It is a godly example of how we should be approaching the issue:

<a href=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2001/007/1.38.html>Does God Know Your Next Move?
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It is interesting to see the variations in response to a book like this - some informed, some practically rabid in their defense of God and His sovereignty(like He needs us to defend Him, right?) The bottom line is that if the book is read in its entirety, it is NOT a challenge to God, His sovereignty, or his omnipotence. What it DOES challenge is the view that the Church has put forth of HOW He knows all things (reality and possibility) and ends up with a God who is MUCH more sovereign than the all-controlling God, and is much more grounded in love, and His allowance of free will. You can almost see God saying, "Yes, I gave Satan and Humans free will. They can choose to do what they want - but Ill be ready no matter WHAT they choose." That, to me, is a God who is truly sovereign - and this book paints God as such. It also kills the classic "Problem of Evil" - thank you Gregory Boyd, and God for influencing him to write this!

What a book!! Finally someone has attempted to write a theology about God warring against evil instead of warring through evil.
Many other reviewers have written about how this book is good exegesis or bad exegesis. But very few have taken a moment to reflect on how their Christian experience matches up with this book. Most who have lived as spiritual warriors know that Boyd is on to something here. There seems to be a battle raging in our hearts and how we respond to that battle is EVERYTHING. Do we know how to fight? Do we know how to take up our armor and weapons to battle the enemy? The only way we can learn to do these things is if God shows us that He is a warrior and is today warring. This is Boyd's main thesis.
Whether or not you agree with the details it can't be denied that we are in the midst of a great raging battle. Will you battle or will you retreat? Listen to Boyd's war call and take up your sword. Daughter of Zion, Son of God, He is warring for you and we must learn to war from what He loves.