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One Church – One
Book Study Guide
First-Plymouth
Congregational Church
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Study Guide for the book
"If Grace is True…Why God Will Save Every Person"
By Philip Gulley and James Mulholland
Study Guide Developed by The Rev. Nancy Erickson
Associate Minister at First-Plymouth Church, United Church of Christ
Lincoln, Nebraska 2004
Chapter 1: The Dilemma
This is an introduction to the rest of the book. The story of Sally sets the lens through which the book’s arguments are filtered.
1. The author talks about a "new formula" regarding grace. The old formula is stated on pages 4-5. The new formula is: God will save every person. What are your initial reactions to this?
2. On page 6 the author gives a definition of salvation. Do you agree?
What is your definition of salvation? Where do you think this came from?
Chapter 2: Trusting Our Experience with God
In this chapter the author relates some of his life experiences: responding to an alter call as a teenager. Being drawn to Jesus and to the God of love and mercy, and becoming a pastor to help people know God as a God of love. He relates some of the experiences he had which changed his beliefs about salvation and gives some theological explanations for his "conversion" to this way of thinking.
1. On pages 13-14 the author talks about "divorcing the words and actions of Jesus from the God he worshiped and adored." He’s referring to holding a loving, compassionate view of Jesus, while simultaneously believing in a judgmental God. Has this been true for you? He goes on to say "many churches fail to emphasize that the love we experience in Jesus is the persistent grace of God." Has this been your experience?
2. On pages 22-25 the author describes Peter’s experience from Acts 10 of having to make a paradigm shift in beliefs he’d learned as a good Jew. He became more inclusive in his view about who God loves. Have you had experiences which challenged long-held beliefs?
3. Have you had a crisis of faith? What was the outcome?
4. On pages 36-47 the author discusses experience and scripture as ways of knowing and interpreting. He says that the Biblical message isn’t static and that "God continues to speak." (Pg. 37). Do you agree?
5. "We are not to worship the Bible; we are to worship the One the Bible reveals." (Pg. 42). What does this statement mean to you?
6. Have you been taught "to fear God rather than be awed by grace"?
Chapter 3: The Character of God
In this chapter the author takes a close look at how the way we view God influences our beliefs about salvation. He looks at the way scripture has influenced these beliefs and also how one’s views about the inerrancy of scripture informs these beliefs. He explores the idea of God as father: where it came from and how he interprets it. He posits that the chief attribute of God is love and that this was personified in Jesus. He then describes how the characteristics of holiness and justice play into God’s love.
Discussion Questions:
1. How literally do you take the Bible? How do you reconcile the various (and sometimes contradictory) images of God in the Bible?
2. Does the idea of God as father fit for you? Why or why not?
3. On pages 65-66 the author says "I think I clung to the God of wrath so tenaciously because I can be a wrathful person. I find grace and forgiveness difficult." How do you relate to this statement.
4. In the section GOD IS JUST the author describes how his view of justice went from "balancing the scales" to seeing it as "the result of God’s gracious kingdom on earth." As such it is our job to "be ambassadors of reconciliation modeling God’s passion for seeing animosity ended and injury forgiven. Discuss the difference in these two views.
Chapter 4: The Will of God
This chapter takes an indepth look at discerning God’s will for humankind. The author tells the way he intentionally put himself in situations with lots of different kinds of people. As he saw people in hospitals, prisons and homeless shelters grow in their faith he realized God’s intense desire to bring wholeness to all. He discusses predestination and why he rejected it and how his beliefs about human freedom have changed. Then he discusses humans resistance to God’s grace.
1. What do you think of the statement "God might be free to reject our rejection."?
2. On page 106 the author writes "He (Jesus) described us as prisoners, oppressed and blind. He didn’t suggest our salvation depends on our own ingenuity." Do you agree?
3. Are you resistant to God’s grace?
Chapter 5: The Salvation of God
The author explains in this chapter why he believes that salvation is not exclusively for Christians. He discusses atonement theory and why he disagrees with it. He explains why he believes Christianity has missed the point in focusing on the cross rather than on the resurrection. He discusses his belief that it is sinful to believe that some people are excluded from salvation.
Discussion Questions:
1. Does the explanation of the resurrection beginning on page 136 challenge any of your beliefs?
2. What do you think of the statement "(The cross) reminds us of the cost of being gracious in an ungracious world"? (page 138).
3. Are you comfortable with the authors conclusion that God was not uniquely present in the life of Jesus? (Page 146).
4. Do you agree with the author that the primary message of Jesus is "that salvation is a matter of abandoning self-absorption and being transformed by the love of God." (Page 154).
Chapter 6: The Persistence of God
In this final chapter the author completes his argument for why he believes everyone will be saved. He talks about why he believes in grace beyond the grave, in other words, God’s love will soften even the hardest of hearts, even if it’s after death. He describes God as a God of eternal love, infinite patience and persistent grace.
Discussion Questions:
1. Is grace beyond the grave a new concept for you?
2. On page 169, the author asks "Why are we so bothered by extravagant grace?" Is this true for you?
3. What do you think of the definition of impatience as the absence of grace? (Page 177).
4. Do you like the image of a heavenly banquet as opposed to a heavenly courtroom?
| First-Plymouth Home email: Tammy Alvis |
02/25/06 |
