The Personal God

Book excerpt: In 1994, five North American professors of theology published The Openness of God, a book that challenged traditional Christian understandings of God, and particularly the concept of his immutability. In The Personal God, Gerald Bray responds to this book and the controversy that it aroused, not by a point-by point refutation, but by a critical examination of the traditional view. He begins by exploring the reasons for the dissatisfaction of the theologians with the traditional doctrine. He then outlines what he regards as the essential framework for any doctrine of God, while addressing the serious concerns which motivated the authors of The Openness of God.