clark h. pinnock (1937-)
some basic information
collected by Robert Brow
(web site - www.brow.on.ca)
(October 1998. Corrections and additions would be welcome.)
chronology
Pinnock's interest in the Wycliffe Bible Translators led him to study Hebrew
and Greek for an Honours BA at the University of Toronto.
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1960 He went to study Near Eastern Languages at Manchester University.
He began with the concept of Spirit in the Book of Discipline in the Dead
Sea Scrolls. He then did his doctorate under F.F. Bruce on "The Doctrine
of the Holy Spirit in St. Paul." During those years he visited Francis
Schaeffer at L'Abri in Switzerland, and was in contact with the Tyndale
Fellowship in Cambridge.
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1965 Began teaching New Testament at New Orleans Baptist Seminary. By 1968
moved into Systematic Theology.
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1969 Began teaching at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
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1974-77 Taught at Regent College, Vancouver.
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1975 Has taught for 23 years at McMaster Divinity School, Hamilton, Ontario,
Canada.
(Most of the above is extracted from "An Interview with Clark Pinnock"
by John Stackhouse, Canadian Evangelical Review, Number 15, Fall
1997)
some publications by clark pinnock
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Set Forth Your Case, 1968.
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Biblical Revelation - The Foundation of Christian Theology. Written
in 1969, and published by Moody Press, 1971.
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Grace Unlimited. (Edited with 12 other writers) Minneapolis, Minnesota:
Bethany Fellowship, 1975. Pinnock and others are convinced that belief
in a limited election is mistaken, and they attempt to reintroduce a form
of Arminianism into evangelical theology.
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"Second Mile Lifestyle," HIS Magazine, October 1977, pp. 16-19.
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Reason Enough : A Case for the Christian Faith. Downers Grove, IL:
Inter Varsity Press, 1980.
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The Grace of God and the Will of Man. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
Academie Books, 1989. 2nd. edition Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 1995.
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Tracking the Maze: Finding our Way Through Modern Theology from an Evangelical
Perspective. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1990. This book outlines
a wide range of modern theologians. Pinnock has moved to a post-modern
position, and views theology as telling the Christian story rather than
a systematic system of doctrine.
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Theological Crossfire: An Evangelical/Liberal Dialogue. (with Delwin
Brown) Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1990.
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A Wideness in God's Mercy: The Finality of Jesus Christ in a
World of Religions. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992.
(ISBN 0-310-53591-3) In this book Clark Pinnock rejects "fewness doctrine,"
and suggests that Augustine saddled the Church with a new and severe paradigm
in theology.
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Optimism of Salvation
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Jesus, Savior of the World
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Religions Now
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Religions Tomorrow
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Hope for the Unevangelized
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Conclusion, Notes, Index of Subjects, Index of Scripture
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Reviews and Discussions of Clark Pinnock's A Wideness in God's Mercy
Okholm, Dennis L. and Phillips (editors), Four Views of Salvation in
a Pluralistic World, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995.
Larry Dixon, The Other Side of the Good News, Victor Books, 1992.
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"The Work of the Holy Spirit in Hermeneutics," Journal of Pentecostal
Theology (1993) 3-23.
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The Openness of God: A Biblical Challenge to the Traditional
Understanding of God (with Richard Rice, John Sanders, William Hasker,
David Basinger). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994; Carlisle,
UK: Paternoster Press, 1994. (USA ISBN 0-8308-1852-9, British ISBN 0-85364-635-X).
Review
of this book.
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Biblical Support for a New Perspective, Richard Rice
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Historical Considerations, John Sanders
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Systematic Theology, Clark H. Pinnock
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A Philosophical Perspective, William Hasker
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Practical Implications, David Basinger
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Unbounded Love: A Good
News Theology for the 21st. Century. (written jointly with Robert C.
Brow) Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996. Carlisle, UK: Paternoster
Press, 1994. (USA ISBN 0-8308-1853-7, UK ISBN 0-85364-634-1)
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Introduction
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PART ONE : Doctrine of God
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I RELIGION: Models of Love
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II THEISM: Creative Love
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III RESURRECTION: Victorious Love
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IV TRINITY: Personal Love
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PART TWO: Doctrine of Sin
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V DIAGNOSIS: Defective Love
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VI JUDGMENT: Caring Love
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VII ADVENT: Active Love
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VIII HELL: Rejecting Love
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PART THREE: Doctrine of Salvation
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IX SACRIFICE: Unconditional Love
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X LIBERATION: Freeing Love
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XI BAPTISM: Invitation Love
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XII CHURCH: Window Love
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PART FOUR: Doctrine of Faith
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XIII PRAYER: Conversational Love
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XIV HEALING: Transforming Love
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XV BIBLE: Feeding Love
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XVI FELLOWSHIP: Enjoying Love
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Conclusion
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Notes
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Flame of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit. Downers Grove,
IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996 (ISBN 0-8308-1879). Review
of this book.
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SPIRIT & TRINITY The face of the Spirit in the communion of the Holy
Trinity (For a previous treatment of the Trinity see Unbounded Love link
to table of contents below )
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SPIRIT IN CREATION The Spirit as Lord and giver of Life, who touches creation
and moves it toward completion
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SPIRIT & CHRISTOLOGY The Spirit anointed Jesus of Nazareth to heal
human brokenness from the inside and bring about atonement
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SPIRIT & CHURCH The Spirit indwells the church and is present sacramentally
and charismatically to endow it for mission (for a previous chapter on
The Church see Unbounded Love XI & XII link, and for a treatment of
the gifts of the Sprit see Robert Brow's The Church chap 6 to 15 link)
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SPIRIT& UNION The goal of salvation is to live in loving union with
God and to participate in the triune nature through the Spirit
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SPIRIT & UNIVERSALITY God desires all to be saved and is found graciously
present with every person in every place by the Spirit (link to A Wideness
in God's Mercy contents)
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SPIRIT & TRUTH The Spirit leads the church into truth along the path
of mission, enabling it to be timely and fruitful in ministry
a note on the theology of clark pinnock
In all his books Pinnock has been careful to point out his debt to many
other twentieth century writers. The Social Trinity was argued for example
by Leonard Hodgson, Cornelius Plantinga, Wolfhart Pannenberg, and many
others. Theiosis is celebrated by Madeleine L'Engle. Philip Yancey wrote
Disappointment
with God (Zondervan, 1988). Hell as a free choice was set out by C.S.
Lewis in The Great Divorce (1945). The Church as charismatic body
of gifted members was argued by Arnold Bittlinger in
Gifts and Ministries
(Eerdmans, 1967), and by Robert Brow, The Church: An Organic Picture
of Is Life and Missions (Eerdmans, 1968).
The ten components of Creative Love Theism unite into one theological
stream the Greek Orthodox vision of theiosis, the Wesleyan emphasis on
God's intention to perfect us in love, the theological renewal in the Roman
Catholic Church begun by Pope John XXIII, and the Pentecostal and Charismatic
movement. But as Pinnock points out, in terms of human experience our first
contact with God is by the creativity of the Holy Spirit, and other components
of this model are understood later.
In this century of the Holy Spirit more and more Evangelicals are expressing
one or more of the ten components of Creative Love Theism in their songs
and liturgies and popular writing. It is time for us to recognize the work
of Clark Pinnock in giving us the theological tools needed to recognize,
and attempt an explanatory model, of what God is doing.
Beginning with Grace Unlimited (1975) and The Grace of God
and the Will of Man (1989), followed by A Wideness in God's Mercy
(1992) and The Openness of God (1994), Clark Pinnock has systematically
worked at a twentieth century model of Creative Love Theism (defined in
Unbounded
Love: A Good News Theology for the 21st Century, InterVarsity/Paternoster
Press, 1994, p.8). The model has at least ten components:
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God as a Social Trinity
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Theiosis and God's Love for all people
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The consequent Openness of God
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The Cross as a subsection of the Love of God
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Hell as a free choice of eternal death
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A Family Model of the Atonement
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The Cross as the outcome of God's sacrificial love.
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The Creativity of the Holy Spirit
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The Church as a Charismatic Body
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Ethics as an expression of the love, joy, dance, play and celebration of
the heart of God
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