Unbounded Love: A Good News Theology for the 21st Century

by Clark H. Pinnock and Robert CD Brow

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0830818537
• ISBN13: 9780830818532
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: InterVarsity Press
• Length: 189 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

How DARE he disagree with the Reformed thought police! lol

I'm giving this book 5 stars...if only to counteract a couple of VERY bad reviews. ;-)I have to say...Clark Pinnock is not perfect. He has a hard time grappling with the "justice" side of God. He doesn't include as much in-depth exegesis as I would like to back up his points. But I surely don't recognize his works in the descriptions of it among his detractors. There's FAR more of a great traditional background he draws on (Eastern Orthodoxy, Irenaeus, etc.) than what is admitted below. Caricatures such as "universalistic ideals, Pelagianistic theology, and ooey-gooey emotional appeal" are simply unfair barbs by people who are angry that Pinnock can no longer support their rigid dogma. Also, I laugh whenever I hear Pelagius brought up as the "Calvinist boogeyman" against their opponents. They presume that they are by definition loyally Augustinian, and they're not...the Catholic church has disputed the "Calvinized" Augustine for centuries...I invite you to do your own looking into why this is. The only way to properly deal with this book is to read it for yourself...presumably without an axe to grind and a belief that the Reformation was above all error. Chapter 9 on sacrifice/atonement is the best part of the book. Here are a few of the better insights/quotes therein:*"In creative love theism, sin is a misuse of human freedom and a repudiation of the divine love- a view that looks more to Irenaeus than Augustine." (p.65)* "God is not a solitary monarch, but...a fellowship of persons." (p.45)*"We wish to move our thinking about atonement from legalistic concepts to human and personal terms by seeing Christ's sufferings as God's sufferings for all those under the power of death." (p.96)*'The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.' (Jn. 1:14) In a desire to save humanity, God came along us to suffer and die for us. God's will is that sinners should live and not die." (p.100)*"God in his wisdom chose the path of incarnation. God decided to become what he was not, to become human, the incarnate representative of all humanity. By doing so God would be in a position as man to surrender his will, resist temptation, suffer and die, rise and reign. As God and man, he could do that perfectly and vicariously for all of us." (Ibid)*"We must realize that Jesus did not die in order to change God's attitude towards us, but to change our attitude towards God." (p.103.)*"God is healing relationships through (the cross). He is drawing wayward children home and re-creating right actions. As in the parable (of the prodigal), the father is already reconciled to the son and anxious only to welcome him home. The problem is the prodigal is not yet reconciled to him." (p.103)*"God forgives those whose sins caused him to suffer. He forgives us only as an involved participant forgives us, as One who was rejected on the Cross." (p.104)*"In accepting the path of incarnation, God accepted human experiences that he had not undergone before. God immersed himself in the morass o

The right theology for conservatives!

In "Unbounded Love" Pinnock & Brow articulate a more complete theology of a loving God than previously attempted by conservative Christians. It is a welcome breath of fresh air to the stale platitudes of the religious right who view God largely as a judge, rather than as a loving father. The authors challenge us to rethink the Bible, sin, hell, salvation, the trinity, prayer, healing, and even the church itself in terms of love. There are plenty of footnotes for those who wish to read further. For those unacquainted with the recent pilgrimage of non-calvinistic thinkers like Pinnock to construct a theology known as "Free-Will Theism," here is one of the best places to begin. Although still considered conservative in its approach, this is moderate theology at its best.