God in Motion

God in Motion offers a balanced appraisal of primary ideas and figures at the heart of open theology. The book describes the strengths and deficiencies in how open theists have interpreted Scripture, interacted with classic figures, and influenced Christian tradition (especially Hellenism) and philosophical issues. Schmid makes connections between major Continental theologians—e.g., Barth, Brunner, Moltmann, and Pannenberg—and open theism ideas. The book provides the author’s own voice in adjudicating key conceptual issues at the heart of open theology.

~Thomas Jay Oord, Professor, Northwind Theological Seminary, and Director of the Center for Open and Relational Theology

The breadth of research Manuel Schmid brings to this project is impressive. Schmid weaves together material drawn from historical-critical biblical studies, systematic theology, philosophy, cognitive linguistic studies, early Christian theologians, ancient Greek philosophers, and German-speaking scholars. Schmid brilliantly pioneers a way forward by demonstrating that open theism can be brought into a mutually beneficial and mutually critical dialogue with Germany’s premier theologians, especially as it concerns the analogical nature of all God-talk. The results, Schmid forcefully argues, are a much more defensible, a more broadly appealing, and a more academically sophisticated version of the Open View.

~Gregory Boyd, Senior Pastor, Woodland Hills Church

Manuel Schmid writes an excellent book which shows how open theism functions as a reform movement in contemporary theology. He identifies the core issues in the debate and raises insightful questions about the key claims made by open theists. The book examines the key claims that open theism is more faithful to biblical teaching while much of traditional theology was shaped through Hellenistic impulses. This book helpfully shows that open theism would benefit from an enlarged set of conversation partners such as Karl Barth and Jürgen Moltmann. I deeply appreciate that this book brings Roman Catholic and Protestant voices, from outside the evangelical world, into dialogue with the open theism debate.

~John Sanders, Professor of Religious Studies, Hendrix College