The Inescapable Love of God: Second Edition
Ebook
Overview
Will the love of God save us all? In this book Thomas Talbott seeks to expose the extent to which the Western theological tradition has managed to twist the New Testament message of love, forgiveness, and hope into a message of fear and guilt. According to the New Testament proclamation, he argues, God's love is both unconditional in its nature and unlimited in its scope; hence, no one need fear, for example, that God's love might suddenly turn into loveless hatred at the moment of one's physical death. For God's love remains the same yesterday, today, and forever. But neither should one ignore the New Testament theme of divine judgment, which Talbott thinks the Western theological tradition has misunderstood entirely. He argues in particular that certain patterns of fallacious reasoning, which crop up repeatedly in the works of various theologians and Bible scholars, have prevented many from appreciating St. Paul's explicit teaching that God is merciful to all in the end. This second edition of Talbott's classic work is fully revised, updated, and substantially expanded with new material.
Top Highlights
“‘For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all’ (11:32)” (source)
“In any event, I would challenge Moo or anyone else to find a single example, drawn from Paul’s theological discourses, in which he makes a universal statement and the scope of its reference is unduly fuzzy or less than clear. Paul’s writing may have been cumbersome at times, but he was not nearly as sloppy a writer (or a thinker) as some of his commentators, in their zeal to interpret him for us, would make him out to be.” (source)
“The grammatical evidence here seems utterly decisive; you can reject it only if you are prepared to reject what is right there before your eyes. And though there seems to be no shortage of those who are prepared to do just that, the arguments one actually encounters have every appearance, it seems to me, of a grasping at straws.” (source)
“‘for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ’ (15:22). In each of these texts, we encounter a contrast between two universal statements, and in each case the first ‘all’ determines the scope of the second.” (source)
“And because Paul also endorsed this idea, most emphatically, in the very context we are now considering, he seems clearly to have envisioned a time when all persons would be reconciled to God in the full redemptive sense.” (source)
"I am not exaggerating when I say that the first edition of this
book changed my life. Its core chapters provided my despairing
heart with the utterly unexpected and glorious hope that 'all will
be well'--that God's victory over sin will truly be complete! This
classic and compelling case for Christian universalism is now even
better in this revised and expanded edition. Highly
recommended!"
--Robin A. Parry, author of The Evangelical
Universalist
"Among sustained defenses of Christian universalism, I know of no
book that's as effective at presenting rigorous arguments in a
manner engaging and accessible to non-specialists. The new edition
retains that balance while tackling recent arguments and
introducing new material--including a new chapter, 'Predestination
unto Glory.' The Inescapable Love of God is public
philosophy at its best: serious philosophical and theological
argumentation that speaks to those for whom the question of whether
God saves all is no mere academic issue but a deeply personal
one."
--Eric Reitan, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
"The Inescapable Love of God is an important book. Its
author, Thomas Talbott, is the leading defender of Christian
universalism in the philosophical world. But this is in no way an
academic work; rather, it is a remarkable combination of memoir,
biblical exegesis, and popular philosophy. Talbott argues
compellingly that the love of God will prevail for all whom God
loves--that is, for everyone!"
--Tom Senor, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR
"Tom Talbott defends universal salvation with both serious biblical
exegesis and philosophically sophisticated arguments. His
multifaceted case for universalism has challenged my understanding
of hell more than any other writer I have read. This book is
essential reading for anyone involved in this vital debate."
--Jerry L. Walls, Houston Baptist University, Houston, TX
Product Details
- Title : The Inescapable Love of God: Second Edition
- Author: Talbott, Thomas
- Publisher: Cascade Books
- Publication Date: 2014
- ISBN: 9781630876746
Thomas Talbott is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Willamette University in Salem, OR. He received his PhD from the University of California at Santa Barbara and his MDiv from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA. His evolving academic interests include philosophy of religion, philosophical theology, and, most recently, the ways in which Christian theologians have traditionally interpreted the Bible as a whole; and his published writings include The Doctrine of Everlasting Punishment (1990), an entry on universalism in The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology (2007), and an entry entitled Heaven and Hell in Christian Thought in the online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Reviews
1 rating
Manuel Becker
7/28/2023