Summary of Chapter 3
The 3rd 'lie' that Young identifies is the idea that 'God is in control'. Young is reacting, here, against divine determinism (the idea that God is the direct cause of all that happens... even evil). He is not rejecting the idea that God is sovereign. Rather, he wants to understand sovereignty as the choice God made to create a relational world in which other beings make genuine decisions that God is willing to take ownership of and/or submit to. God would rather create with us than control us. God is more like an artist than an engineer.
Reaction
I think Young hits the nail on the head in this chapter. He is right to reject the notion that God is the author of the atrocities we see in the world. Divine determinism is an ugly and false doctrine. He does a good job pointing out that God is willing to take ownership for creating a world capable of evil and he does a good job describing how God is able to work in the midst of the evil we generate. Surely some Christians will be uncomfortable with the idea that God is not in control, but I'm not among them since a lack of deterministic control was God's sovereign choice. No objections here.
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