CWG (Chapter 25)

Chapter 25: Mauling Bears and a Lethal Palladium

In this lone chapter, Greg presents the 4th principle of the cruciform thesis: "When God confers divine power on select people [or even objects], he does not meticulously control how they use it." In essence, the point here is that since God is all about love, and therefore not coercive, He doesn't control the usage of a gift once given.

For Boyd, this principle helps explain stories like when Moses abused (and got in trouble for abusing) the power of his staff, Elisha & Elijah's (wrongful) abuse of power/violence, Samson (if not most of the book of Judges!), and the strange stories of Israel's doomsday device (The Ark of the Covenant).

In all of these cases, Boyd believes that the violence present in these stories was not authorized by God directly, but the authors of the violence were. God granted them power/authority, but the power/authority was mis-used and abused. This runs counter to Christ, who had authority from God, but refused to use it for his own purposes and, most importantly, refused to use it violently. Rather than call down angels to defend Him, He allowed Himself to be crucified.

Reaction
This is an interesting final principle. It makes a lot of sense, but it is not something I've thought a lot about before. I really appreciated some fresh ways of looking at these troubling stories.