Brian C. Macallan
This moving faith odyssey chronicles one man’s journey from Christian fundamentalism to the form of progressive Christianity known as process theology. Macallan, a church leader and professor of theology, shares his shock at being diagnosed with cancer, and how that shock challenged him to confront his beliefs about God and the world.
Prior to his diagnosis, Macallan had ignored the implications of evolution for the traditional doctrines of sin and theodicy (the problem of evil in relation to God), and historical Jesus scholarship. “I had always felt,” he writes, “that if I could just hold on to the core Christian doctrines and how they are traditionally understood, I would be alright.” But to do so required a range of mental gymnastics that collapsed under the weight of his diagnosis. And, as aspects of his traditional beliefs collapsed, so did his faith.
Forgiving God describes Macallan’s journey toward a different understanding of reality, one informed by process philosophy, which then led him to a different understanding of God. In these pages, Macallan guides readers along the path he took from understanding God as an all-powerful and all-knowing being to a divine reality that participates with us in the unfolding of creation. This God does not stand outside the flow of reality, but within it, experiencing all that every moment of reality experiences. The book further shows how this perspective on the divine not only impacts one’s self-awareness, but one’s awareness of all creation. It becomes a call to ethical choice and charts a way of living that, as the subtitle suggests, is a risky adventure with the divine.
"In this beautifully written book, Brian Macallan offers a personal story of radical transitions. Given the nature of the world and his own cancer crisis, Macallan risks exploring an unusual view of God. In fact, the God he ends up embracing is a risk-taker too. More importantly, this God is a loving One who accompanies us on the adventure of life. I heartily recommend this book!" Thomas Jay Oord, Author of God Can't and other books
There are many introductions to process thought. What is distinctive in this book is the intensity with which both practical suffering and intellectual chaos are presented as connected with the idea of divine omnipotence. The author finds himself dealing with these problems when he is diagnosed with cancer. His attempt to incorporate that reality into his life puts him in the position either of giving up on Christianity or finding a new theology. He finds process theology. It provides an understanding of God that lets God off the hook and still presents God as of great importance for our living and thinking. The result is a successful and even powerful way of presenting the process understanding of God. ~John B. Cobb, Jr.
- Series: Faith in Process
- Paperback
- Price: $20
- ISBN-13: 978-1-940447-62-9
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