All That Is in God: Evangelical Theology and the Challenge of Classical Christian Theism

Over the past two years, debate between Confessionalists and Biblicists has gone back and forth regarding the position argued by Biblicists over the eternal submission of the Son to the Father. As has become clear, the Biblicists reject the normative value of creeds and confessions when it comes to the doctrine of God.James Dolezal widens the scope of the debate from a question if authority and submission to a larger issue: what kind of God do we worship? The Biblicists answer, ignoring/rejecting the historic confessions of the Church, is dangerously inadequate.In short, without the confessional safeguards, specifically the belief in God's simplicity, the center cannot hold. While it is not the purpose of the Biblicists to undermine the Church's historical teaching on the nature of God, they have made some massive mistakes.The book is concise and well-organized. While dealing with a complex subject, it should be accessible to most pastors and concerned laymen. Probably as a result of its compact nature (150 pages) it does not flesh out all the nuances of opinion between the evangelical supporters of divine mutability.In the seriously erring category, based on this work, I believe the author is convinced that Bruce Ware and Rob Lister are most problematic. Following them is John Frame. Beyond those three, the work implies that there are quite a few modern theologians who have absorbed the mindset, but who have not chased the rabbit out of the fence.Worth your time, even if John Frame doesn't like it.

I very much appreciated this book. Dolezal was ambitious for taking on the big names in theology that he did in this book. Needless to say, it was a refreshing appeal for the return of Christians to a classical doctrine of God. Well worth the read for the edification of the believer and to challenge unscriptural notions of the character and nature of God.

Wonderful read. Not always easy, but consider the subject. Dolezal has served me in clarifying, correcting and furthering my understanding of the respective doctrines of (not only the DDS, but) Divine Immutability, Eternality and Infinity. It is so helpful to have someone so knowledgeable explain the doctrine (from scripture, confessions, creeds, writers throughout history as well as contemporaries) and explain those who have and do confuse, disagree with or deny the DDS for various reasons. One thing is unmistakable: those who deny or (even agree with but then) confuse DDS always commit God to an identical proportionate relationship to his creation (univocism). Given the necessity for clarity and education about DDS it is also necessary that Dolezal interact with the publications of historical and contemporary opponents so we ourselves are not confused about them and their positions. Of course it’s redundant but this is the doctrine of divine divinity. Nothing makes up God, but God. God may be a puzzle to our minds in various ways, but who he is in his essence is not comprised of ‘puzzle’ pieces, nor are pieces added in any way at any time. Not such a difficult doctrine to understand, but no less a mind blowing reality.

An intermural debate of recent vintage among mostly Calvinistic/Reformed theologians centers on the Godhead. On the one side sits classical theism, which James Dolezal, assistant professor of theology in the School of Divinity at Cairn University, champions. On the other side sits theistic mutualism, backed to various degrees by Bruce Ware, Wayne Grudem, John Frame, Al Plantinga, John Feinberg, Scott Oliphant, J. I. Packer, D. A. Carson and Cornelius Plantinga, among others. Dolezal makes a case that classical theism has been the historic view of the church and has been taught by everyone from Augustine to the Puritans to John Gill. At risk, the author believes, is the very nature and essence of God. The stakes could not be higher.Classical theism teaches that God “does not derive any aspect of His being from outside Himself and is not in any way caused to be” (p. 1). Theistic mutualism would agree but promotes the idea that “God is involved in a genuine give-and-take relationship with His creatures” (p. 2). As a result, on the basis of the incarnation, “God changes–taking on new attributes and changing in some respect in relation to creation or to human events without, however, being altered essentially” (p. x). Taken to extreme this can lead to Open Theism, but Dolezal targets a softer version held by numerous modern evangelicals of note (pp. 3-4). These evangelicals maintain that God can be ontologically and ethically immutable and at the same time be relationally mutable (p. x). Dolezal believes the mutualists have lost the understanding of God’s being (p. 34) and abandoned God’s simplicity and infinite pure actuality of being (p. xiii). The motivation behind mutualistic theism, as the author sees it, is “the belief that any meaningful relationship between God and man must involve God in a transaction wherein He receives some determination of being from His creatures” (p. 34). Some examples: D. A. Carson views God as a personal being who interacts with people (p. 24); Bruce Ware contends that God’s involvement with creation “includes innumerable changes both on the part of God and on the part of His creatures” (p. 24); K. Scott Oliphint states, “God freely determined to take on attributes, characteristics, and properties that he did not have, and would not have, without creation” (p.94). In order for God to relate to His creatures, He must, in some sense, experience time (pp. 81, 89-97).Dolezal is not buying any of this and accuses the mutual theist of undermining the very nature of God and wrecking His immutability, impassibility and primarily His simplicity. In the process the very Trinity is in danger of being unraveled (pp. 119-134).At the root of Dolezal’s concern is the largely ignored doctrine of simplicity. While seldom mentioned by most modern theologians Dolezal positions it as the lynchpin to our understanding about God, which is why he devotes chapter three to simplicity and references it throughout the book. A simple God means that He is without parts. Therefore, “His act of existence is not what He has, but what He is” (p. 41) and “if all that is in God is God, then each of His attributes is identical with His essence”—that is, there is no distinction between His essence and attributes (p. 42). The author believes that every current heresy begins by being wrong about simplicity (p. 40). His concerns run deep:"Without simplicity, God is open to the acquisition of being in addition to His essence and thus is not immutable. Without simplicity, it is not clear why God could not experience temporal change and thus fail to be timelessly eternal. Without simplicity, it is impossible that God be in every way infinite as there must be parts in Him, and parts by definition must be finite. Moreover, that which is built of parts cannot be infinite since the finite cannot aggregately yield the infinite" (p. 136).Dolezal believes the mutual theists, for any number of reasons, have lost simplicity and thus are in error about God. Simplicity has been disregarded by some who distinguish between attributes that belong to His essence, and those He acquires through relation with His creatures (pp. 61-67). Others deny divine simplicity by claiming it is not a biblical doctrine at all (pp. 67-71). Still others distort it (pp. 71-78). Much of our problem, as Dolezal admits, is that simplicity is not based on biblical proof texts but on reason, deduction and Aristotle’s metaphysical framework (pp. 44, 55). As many past philosophers and theologians abandoned the Aristotelian metaphysics, simplicity was minimized with it. “Indeed,” Dolezal complains, “many Christian theologians and ministers retreated from the field of metaphysics altogether and retrenched themselves in their Bibles, assuming that the Bible’s teaching could be successfully preserved without committing oneself to a particular understanding of being” (p. 63). It seems like a strange argument to admit that an attribute of God, in fact the most important aspect of His actuality, is not drawn from Scripture but from deductions based on Aristotelian metaphysics. It is hard to fault John Feinberg who “suggests that the lack of explicit biblical data for divine simplicity ‘should be disconcerting at the least, and a good argument against it at most’” (p. 69). Feinberg concludes that simplicity is not one of the divine attributes at all (p. 69). Dolezal retorts that Scripture teaches that God is incomprehensible in His being, an argument He uses often (pp. 38, 97, 102), and therefore it is not surprising that simplicity is hard to grasp. Another favorite argument used by the author is that of biblical language. When it comes to descriptions of God that seem to call into question simplicity, Dolezal turns to anthromorphism, analogies, and metaphors as his explanation (pp. 18-21, 84-87).Without question, biblical language, when it comes to God, seeks to accommodate human understanding, but cataloging all description of the person and actions of God as anthropomorphisms and analogies can prove problematic. For example, the issue of God’s eternality is given much attention in All That Is In God. Classical theism teaches that God’s act of creating is eternal, even though what He created is temporal. “Strictly speaking, creation appears with time, not in time” (p. 101). As the mutual theists wrestle with God in relationship with time they have taken at least three approaches that do not align with Dolezal’s position. Some mutual theists deny the timelessness of God; others see the timeless God becoming a temporal God who enters the time He has created; still others view God as both timeless and temporal. That is, the timeless God takes on new attributes for the purpose of relating to His temporal creatures (pp. 89-97, 103). Some natural theists believe that God can sovereignly choose to change not His essence, but His accidents (those which are not essential to His being) in order to relate to creation. One such example given by Scott Oliphint in a different book is that, prior to creation, God was not merciful because nothing existed that needed mercy. With the entry of sin, God now takes on the attribute of mercy (as well as justice). Thus, God can change in this way according to His sovereign choice, and yet not change ontologically (The Battles Belongs to the Lord, p.114). But to Dolezal such change denies immutability and thus God would cease to be God (pp. xiv, 28, 81, 89, 95-97). To the mutual theist God became merciful upon His act of creation. To the classical theist these features have always been part of His essence (p. 99).As can be seen, this theistic division over God is complicated. Yet Dolezal claims, “No less than true religion is at stake in the contest between theistic mutualism and classical Christian theism” (p. 104). Still the argument seems to be more about theological systems than biblical data—something Dolezal reluctantly admits (pp. 44, 63-69). It seems to me that something so important as to be foundational to true religion (Christianity) warrants clear teaching in Scripture and would not be left to deduction, reason and metaphysics. It is possible, even likely, that I am not smart enough to grasp the issues, but I cannot see how the mutualistic theism view threatens the nature and essence of the Godhead. But All That Is in God will certainly challenge and sharpen the reader’s understanding of God.Reviewed by Gary E. Gilley, Pastor-teacher Southern View Chapel.

James Dolezal is a very brilliant writer who takes the opposite views very seriously. He gives a good explanation of the opposing views and even goes as far as to give the best possible case for them; yet he brilliantly refutes them.It's interesting to note that for most of Christian history, theologians have accepted the classical view of God as a timelessly eternal, metaphysically simple ground of being -- not a particular being, but Being Itself. Whether or not you agree with the classical view of God, this is a very important thing to note when formulating your theology.

Excellent discussion of classical theism and the simplicity and immutability of God. Found it enormously helpful, my copy is bristling with stickies. It is quite philosophical by nature in its fulsome examination of the problems in opposing arguments but this is nevertheless crucial in exposing their weakness. A necessary work in such a day of theological change and upheaval as today!Thank you, James.

I'm a lay Christian and this book is understandable to me, but I always love reading about the trinity and have many books on the trinity, even so, I found it understandable and enjoyed reading it and seeing a recovery of classic Trinitarian teaching. Praise God for his divine providence in using the author in recovering the glory of the trinity.

It's such a comprehensive dive into the topic of Trinitarian Theology as James Dolezal explores the subjects of divine simplicity and divine eternity as essential components of Trinitarian theology and classical theism. This differentiates it from theistic mutualism. Such a profound insightful book.

A very well put together shortish book for those who need a reminder of the importance of the doctrine of divine Simplicity. (How often is that even mentioned in sermons? In my almost 5 decades = never)

The author is passionate in defending the doctrine of divine simplicity in the classical Christian theism against the newer approach of theistic mutualism, also known as "theistic personalism". These are grand terms which we seldom hear from the pulpit but they are simply terminology or shorthand that represents our beliefs about God's nature. Even if we do not hear these terms from the pulpit, beliefs about God's nature underpin the sermons that we hear. It is also fundamental to our Christian life, which follows our view of God, i.e. a high view or a low view of God matters and reflects in our Christian living.The doctrine of divine simplicity can be found as early as in the works of patristic and medieval Christian theologians such as Athanasius, Augustine, and Aquinas. The principal claim of divine simplicity is that God is not composed of parts, i.e. not a composite or complex being as such a being has a hierarchical structure, meaning that parts have to pre-exist the being. Rather "God is all essence, all being, and nothing else." Therefore, God's essence is not simply a bundle of contiguous properties or attributes, each existing alongside the others as an integrated whole... Rather, the reality in virtue of which all these things are truly said of God is nothing but His own simple divinity. (p.43) That is God is all in all at all times. "The aim of divine simplicity is to deny all relativity in God and to show that God's being is ontologically irreducible in every respect." (p. 62) The author brings us to see how divine simplicity must be the case if God is ever to be perfect and infinite. The infinity of God also means that it can only be one; the infinity of God rules out pluralism. I find this discussion fascinating. It is something that I have never thought of before but when it is explained, it is easy to see. It is a gateway to see God yet a bit closer.Why do people want to challenge our foundation beliefs of a simple God? An eternal God implies that He is immutable. "[Theistic mutualists] think that if God cannot change or be affected by the world in any way, then our relationship to Him seems overly one-sided and thus rather impersonal and nondynamic." (p.4) "Without reciprocity between God and world such vital relations would have no authentic reality." (p.5) the theistic mutualist belief that God's being is such that He is capable of being moved by His cretures. Although theistic mutualism covers a spectrum, they allow for a measure of ontological becoming and process in God, as they "insist that God undergoes changes in relation and in those alleged intellectual and emotive states of His that are thought to correlate to His changing relations with creatures. This ontological openness to being changed by creatures... is the common denominator in all forms of theistic mutualism." (p. 4) Open / process theism, which allows some measure of ontological becoming and dependency in God is "theologically devastating" as "it would signify some alteration in His being or life and thus, to the extent that such change occur, destablising human confidence in His covenant promises." (p.19)The main aim of the book is for the author to tell us why.I suppose that there is an appeal to portray God's relation with the world as one of genuine give-and-take and in which God is really affected by His creatures. But the appeal of this attempt is precisely to humanise God, diminishing God to be "an inhabitant of the universe, existing alongside his creatures, subject to change and even disappointment and suffering." (p. 6) In the process, we turn God into an idol. This is therefore no trivial matter and is worthy of our attention.I have gained a lot from reading this book. When the classical Christian theology is presented side by side with theistic mutualism, it is no brainer which version of God stretches, expands and improves our mind. We are finite creatures and yes, there is difficulty for our finite minds to comprehend the infinite, eternal, perfect, pure and simple God. But our reaction should not be to change the nature of God in order that he is easier for us grasp. A large part of the confusion arises from our imperfect description of God who is beyond us and totally different from us. To reveal Himself, God unfolds His will in a way that we understand; but anthropmorphism should not be misinterpreted as God has human nature in some ways to coexist his divine attributes. "The distinctions are in the manner of revelation, not in God's manner of being." (p. 71)In contemplating God, I agree that "the temptation is to soften some aspect of the mystery in order to make it more comprehensible."(p.108) The Bible tells us that God is inscrutable. For me, God is not God if there is not mystery surrounding His being that stretches our minds far beyond our horizon, and if He is not incomprehensible. We know the truths are divine when they are impossible for a human mind to conjure up. This book serves to extend my horizon of understanding God and I am totally convinced that it would be a huge loss to us if we succumb to the temptation to personalise and humanise God. The author does respond to the charge that an unchanging God is somewhat impassive and impersonal with these words: "God need not experience changes of relation in order to meaningfully relate Himself to His creatures. He need only ordain a change in the revelation of His unchanging being in accordance with His wisdom and the needs and requirements of the creature in time. In this way ... It seems audacious to conclude that this unique manner of God's care for His creatures is somehow impersonal and lacking vibrancy. Why must God be personal and related to others in the same way as finite persons are? Why must He undergo change in order for His love or opposition to sin to be regarded as genuine?" (P. 136-7)