Clark Pinnock
Encyclopedia
Clark H. Pinnock was a Christian theologian
, apologist and author. He was Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology
at McMaster Divinity College
.
, Canada
on February 3, 1937. He grew up in a liberal Baptist
congregation. Pinnock once recounted that as a child he had little interest in the church. Even though he was brought up in Liberal Christianity
, he later became part of the broad Evangelical
tradition, and explored Reformed, Arminian and Pentecostal streams of thought.
Pinnock described his shifts in thought as a pilgrimage:
"So I do not apologize for admitting to being on a pilgrimage in theology, as if it were in itself some kind of weakness of intelligence or character. Feeling our way toward the truth is the nature of theological work even with the help of Scripture, tradition and community …. A pilgrimage, therefore, far from being unusual or slightly dishonorable, is what we would expect theologians who are properly aware of their limitations to experience."
Pinnock studied in the Ancient Near Eastern Studies program at the University of Toronto
and in 1960 he was graduated. Because he was very outstanding, he then was awarded both a Woodrow Wilson
Fellowship to Harvard and a British Commonwealth Scholarship to England
. Pinnock decided to go to England to study under F.F. Bruce at Manchester University. The dissertation for his Ph.D was “The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit in St. Paul”. Several years later, in 1965, he joined the faculty of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
. From 1969 to 1974 Pinnock taught at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
, Deerfield, Illinois, and from 1974 to 1977 at Regent College
in Vancouver. He taught at McMaster Divinity College from 1977 until his retirement in 2002.
, he contributed to many other areas of theology as well. For example, Pinnock’s most thorough work of systematic theology may be his book Flame of Love, which was a 1997 Christianity Today book award winner. In it he explored various aspects of theology from the perspective of the Holy Spirit. In this book he dealt with issues relating to the Trinity, Christ, the church, union with God, and revelation. His theology centered around the Trinity, and it was both sacramental and charismatic. He drew on influences from within Protestantism
, Pentecostalism
, Roman Catholicism, and Eastern Orthodoxy.
In his book A Wideness in God’s Mercy, Pinnock explored the idea of the destiny of the unevangelized. He contended that pluralism is a major issue in modern theology, and that strict exclusivism is as well. He opted for a position known as inclusivism. He said that it is misguided to affirm that general revelation can only condemn since God is the Lord of both general and special revelation. He affirmed that salvation is through Christ alone, but he was open to the idea that people may respond to the light that they have. He sought to back this up from a Scriptural perspective citing examples like Melchizedek
. He also left open the possibility of post-mortem conversion.
Most Moved Mover was his most thorough explanation of his open theist perspective. His book Tracking the Maze dealt with the situation of modern theology and sought to arrive at a way forward, and The Scripture Principle, coauthored with Barry Callen, explored an evangelical view of Scripture. Barry Callen also wrote Pinnock’s biography entitled Journey Toward Renewal.
Clark Pinnock wrote articles on several other issues including an annihilationist view of hell. In this he stated the problems with the traditional view and went forward to show how an annihilationist view can be perfectly founded in Scripture. He faulted the traditional view with grossly distorting the character of God and to be based on unbiblical presuppositions. He claimed that, since souls are not inherently eternal (the view of souls being eternal in and of themselves coming from Plato
and not Paul), it is not hard to understand imagery like consuming fire to consume and eternal destruction to mean destroyed eternally. He noted that this is still a very serious matter for one to miss out on all that one was intended for. Throughout all of Pinnock’s works he strived to be biblical and show how his views made the best sense from Scripture.
Christian theology
- Divisions of Christian theology :There are many methods of categorizing different approaches to Christian theology. For a historical analysis, see the main article on the History of Christian theology.- Sub-disciplines :...
, apologist and author. He was Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology
Systematic theology
In the context of Christianity, systematic theology is a discipline of Christian theology that attempts to formulate an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the Christian faith and beliefs...
at McMaster Divinity College
McMaster Divinity College
McMaster Divinity College, also known as MacDiv, is a Christian seminary in Hamilton, Ontario. It is affiliated with the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec, although in practice it is interdenominational, and could be said to more closely align with the broader Evangelical tradition...
.
Education and career
Pinnock was born in TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
on February 3, 1937. He grew up in a liberal Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
congregation. Pinnock once recounted that as a child he had little interest in the church. Even though he was brought up in Liberal Christianity
Liberal Christianity
Liberal Christianity, sometimes called liberal theology, is an umbrella term covering diverse, philosophically and biblically informed religious movements and ideas within Christianity from the late 18th century and onward...
, he later became part of the broad Evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
tradition, and explored Reformed, Arminian and Pentecostal streams of thought.
Pinnock described his shifts in thought as a pilgrimage:
"So I do not apologize for admitting to being on a pilgrimage in theology, as if it were in itself some kind of weakness of intelligence or character. Feeling our way toward the truth is the nature of theological work even with the help of Scripture, tradition and community …. A pilgrimage, therefore, far from being unusual or slightly dishonorable, is what we would expect theologians who are properly aware of their limitations to experience."
Pinnock studied in the Ancient Near Eastern Studies program at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
and in 1960 he was graduated. Because he was very outstanding, he then was awarded both a Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
Fellowship to Harvard and a British Commonwealth Scholarship to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Pinnock decided to go to England to study under F.F. Bruce at Manchester University. The dissertation for his Ph.D was “The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit in St. Paul”. Several years later, in 1965, he joined the faculty of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
The New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary is a private, non-profit institution of higher learning affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, located in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. It was the first institution created as a direct act of the Southern Baptist Convention. Missions...
. From 1969 to 1974 Pinnock taught at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School is an evangelical Christian seminary located in Deerfield, Illinois. TEDS is one of the largest seminaries in the world, enrolling more than 1,200 graduate students in professional and academic programs, including more than 150 in its PhD programs...
, Deerfield, Illinois, and from 1974 to 1977 at Regent College
Regent College
Regent College is an international graduate school of Christian Studies, located next to the campus of the University of British Columbia in the University Endowment Lands west of Vancouver, British Columbia, and is an affiliated college of that university....
in Vancouver. He taught at McMaster Divinity College from 1977 until his retirement in 2002.
Theology
Though Pinnock was probably most widely known as a proponent of open theismOpen theism
Open theism is a recent theological movement that has developed within evangelical and post-evangelical Protestant Christianity as a response to certain ideas that are related to the synthesis of Greek philosophy and Christian theology...
, he contributed to many other areas of theology as well. For example, Pinnock’s most thorough work of systematic theology may be his book Flame of Love, which was a 1997 Christianity Today book award winner. In it he explored various aspects of theology from the perspective of the Holy Spirit. In this book he dealt with issues relating to the Trinity, Christ, the church, union with God, and revelation. His theology centered around the Trinity, and it was both sacramental and charismatic. He drew on influences from within Protestantism
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
, Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...
, Roman Catholicism, and Eastern Orthodoxy.
In his book A Wideness in God’s Mercy, Pinnock explored the idea of the destiny of the unevangelized. He contended that pluralism is a major issue in modern theology, and that strict exclusivism is as well. He opted for a position known as inclusivism. He said that it is misguided to affirm that general revelation can only condemn since God is the Lord of both general and special revelation. He affirmed that salvation is through Christ alone, but he was open to the idea that people may respond to the light that they have. He sought to back this up from a Scriptural perspective citing examples like Melchizedek
Melchizedek
Melchizedek or Malki Tzedek translated as "my king righteous") is a king and priest mentioned during the Abram narrative in the 14th chapter of the Book of Genesis....
. He also left open the possibility of post-mortem conversion.
Most Moved Mover was his most thorough explanation of his open theist perspective. His book Tracking the Maze dealt with the situation of modern theology and sought to arrive at a way forward, and The Scripture Principle, coauthored with Barry Callen, explored an evangelical view of Scripture. Barry Callen also wrote Pinnock’s biography entitled Journey Toward Renewal.
Clark Pinnock wrote articles on several other issues including an annihilationist view of hell. In this he stated the problems with the traditional view and went forward to show how an annihilationist view can be perfectly founded in Scripture. He faulted the traditional view with grossly distorting the character of God and to be based on unbiblical presuppositions. He claimed that, since souls are not inherently eternal (the view of souls being eternal in and of themselves coming from Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
and not Paul), it is not hard to understand imagery like consuming fire to consume and eternal destruction to mean destroyed eternally. He noted that this is still a very serious matter for one to miss out on all that one was intended for. Throughout all of Pinnock’s works he strived to be biblical and show how his views made the best sense from Scripture.
Publications
- The Scripture Principle, Harper & Row, San Francisco, 1984; revised with Barry L. Callen, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, 2006.
- Most Moved Mover: A Theology of God's Openness, Paternoster, Carlisle UK/Baker Books, Grand Rapids, 2001.
- and John B. Cobb, Searching for an Adequate God: A Dialogue Between Process and Free Will Theists, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2000.
- Flame of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, 1996.
- and Robert C. Brow, Unbounded Love: A good news theology for the twenty-first century, Paternoster, Carlisle UK/InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, 1994.
- The Openness of God, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, 1994.
- A Wideness in God's Mercy: The Finality of Jesus Christ in a World of Religions, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1992.
- and Delwin Brown, Theological Crossfire: An Evangelical-Liberal Dialogue, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1990.
- Tracking the Maze: An Evangelical Perspective on Modern Theology, Harper & Row, San Francisco, 1990.
- (ed), The Grace of God, The Will of Man: A Case For Arminianism, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1989.
- Three Keys to Spiritual Renewal, Bethany House, Minneapolis, 1985.
- Reason Enough: A Case for the Christian Faith, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, 1980.
- (ed), Grace Unlimited, Bethany Fellwoship, Minneapolis, 1975.
- Truth on Fire: The Message of Galatians, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, 1972.
- Live Now, Brother, Moody Press, Chicago, 1972.
- and David F. Wells (eds), Toward a Theology for the Future, Creation House, Carol Stream, Illinois, 1971.
- Biblical Revelation: The Foundation of Christian Theology, Moody Press, Chicago, 1971.
- Set Forth Your Case, Craig Press, Nutley, New Jersey, 1968.
- A Defense of Biblical Infallibility, Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing, Philadelphia, 1967.
Festschrift
- Stanley E. Porter and Anthony R. Cross, eds. Semper Reformandum: Studies in Honour of Clark H. Pinnock Carlisle, Cumbria: Paternoster Press, 2003. ISBN 1842272063
External links
- The Metaphysics of Love, 2003 Bentall Lectures in Theology
- "Clark Pinnock Dies at 73" by Doug Koop. Christianity TodayChristianity TodayChristianity Today is an Evangelical Christian periodical based in Carol Stream, Illinois. It is the flagship publication of its parent company Christianity Today International, claiming circulation figures of 140,000 and readership of 290,000...
website, posted 2010-08-17 - The Destruction of the Finally Impenitent by Clark H. Pinnock of McMaster Divinity CollegeMcMaster Divinity CollegeMcMaster Divinity College, also known as MacDiv, is a Christian seminary in Hamilton, Ontario. It is affiliated with the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec, although in practice it is interdenominational, and could be said to more closely align with the broader Evangelical tradition...
. - Unbounded Love
- God as Most Moved Mover
- The Destruction of the Finally Impenitent
- Bio page at McMaster University