The Evangelical Universalist Forum

More than sovereign?

Theology Philosophical
#1

One of my favorite philosophers is Prof. Jerry H. Gill. His writing is approachable and succinct. My fav book by him is “Mediated Transcendence” (amazon.com/Mediated-Transcen … 0865543186) but I’d like to ask for your comments on this short selection from his little book “Toward Theology”:

"Thus it is more praiseworthy of God, not to maintain absolute sovereignty but to say God is willing to sacrifice some divine prerogatives for the sake of humankind and God’s own creative power. God is sovereign and more!
He continues…
“This same point can be seen in the pattern of Incarnation and Atonement. The whole purpose of the redemptive activity of God taking the specific form that it does is to emphasize the willingness of God not to be in absolute control of human destiny. Divinity came to humankind in their own terms - place, time, language etc. - offering love, becoming vulnerable to rejection.
God’s power does not lie in being able to control the outcome of every situation but in the quality of His involvement IN every situation. The nature of trust and love in a relationship require freedom of choice on the part of the beloved.
A gift is not a gift if it cannot be rejected.
God has chosen to be more than sovereign by being less, in the sense of entering into an interpersonal relation with those who believe.”

Gill covers a lot of ground in that paragraph or so, and feel free to comment on any of it. My interest is in the concept of self-limiting sovereignty - not a new idea by any means - and also has some affinity, I think, with open theism as I understand it.

#2

God is Soveriegn in that in any ( or even in spite) of our choices, it will always come back to His Way. This doen’t even have to be open thiesm if we allow that God has calculated all choices beforehand and can thus can anticipate and bring about the necessary means to restore whatever needs repairing back into it’s original state. We can’t out think (or out sin) God.

BTW, I like your Buber quote and avatar. I read “I and Thou” years ago in a comparative religion class and thought it rather provocative. I may just reread that, now that I’m reminded of it.

#3

The collection “Between Man and Man” - essays by Buber, applying his dialogical principle to problems in modern life - also well worth reading.

And although ‘to the sources’ is excellent advice, Maurice Friedman, a longtime friend of Buber’s and the one anointed by Buber to further explain his thought, did so in “Martin Buber : the Life of Dialogue”.

#4

Certainly, “sovereignty” need not denote a sort of rigidity with respect to divine justice or holiness, for if the essence of justice is mercy, it is unclear why sovereignty has to mean that God will reprobate most. Biblically, there might be justification for this view, but I think an overarching interpretation of the Bible is stretched if it has to mean that God, in spite of His want that all come to knowledge of Him, still has to abide by a holiness that damns most. If Jesus commands us to forgive as radically as God, and, at the end of the day, God reprobates most, then God contradicts himself, I think… All that “sovereignty” means, IMO (and hopefully Biblically), is that God has the final say-so, and that could be univ. just as much, perhaps more, than any of the other soteriologies that trump God’s justice.

#5

That was well said, PM! :smiley: