Website review
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What is ReKnew?
ReKnew is the online home of pastor, author and theologian Greg Boyd, built around the tagline "Resourcing the Revolution." It publishes original articles, blog posts, book announcements and podcast episodes that explore a "Kingdom Revolution centered around the beautiful God we find in Jesus." The site is ad-free and says it is funded by direct reader support rather than advertising.
What you'll find there
The page evidence shows two main content streams: recent posts and recent podcast episodes. Posts mix new writing with older material, such as "The Silly Search for Free Will," "Love Weeps" and "Why Christ, not Scripture, is Our Ultimate Foundation." Podcast episodes address listener-style questions, including "Will God Resurrect and Judge Every Human Who Has Ever Existed?" and "Can Evil Spirits Repent?" There is also a books section for Greg Boyd's titles and a church-finder feature for locating a like-minded congregation.
The topics it centers on
The site lists four popular topics: Open Theism, Cruciform Theology, Spiritual Warfare and the Problem of Evil. These reflect Boyd's well-known theological positions, particularly the idea that God's character is most clearly revealed in the crucified Christ. If those themes are unfamiliar, the topic pages are the most efficient entry point.
Who it suits
ReKnew is likely most useful if you want long-form theological reflection from a single, consistent voice rather than a general news or reference site. It suits readers who already follow Boyd's work, people wrestling with questions about God's nature and suffering, and small groups or classes looking for discussable articles and podcast episodes. Readers who want neutral summaries of many viewpoints, or who prefer content without a strong theological commitment, will find it narrower than a general religion portal.
A practical next step
Pick one popular topic that matches your current question, read the most recent post under it, then listen to one podcast episode on a related theme. That pairing gives you a written argument and a more conversational treatment of the same idea. If you want to compare Boyd's approach with other perspectives, the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy at Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy covers open theism and related debates from an academic angle, and the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy at Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy offers peer-reviewed overviews of divine foreknowledge and the problem of evil.
How does ReKnew differ from other Christian websites in its funding and ad-free approach?
ReKnew's most distinctive structural choice is that it combines original editorial content with no advertising, and says it is funded directly by reader support rather than by ad networks or sponsored placements. That matters beyond aesthetics: ad-funded Christian sites typically optimize for broad traffic, which pushes them toward quick takes, listicles and topics with wide search appeal. A directly supported site can publish long-form arguments, podcasts and book-related material that may only interest a narrower audience.
What the difference looks like in practice
- Revenue source: ReKnew states that it is funded solely by direct support and invites visitors to contribute. Ad-driven sites earn from impressions, clicks or sponsors, so their incentives sit with volume and advertiser-friendly framing.
- Editorial independence: No ads means no advertiser to offend and no sponsored slot to fill. The trade-off is dependence on whether readers actually give; funding can fluctuate with audience attention.
- Content mix: The page emphasizes high-quality original content, recent posts, podcast episodes and books by Greg Boyd, plus topics such as Open Theism, Cruciform Theology, Spiritual Warfare and the Problem of Evil. That is a coherent theological niche rather than a general-interest Christian portal.
- Reader experience: No ad clutter usually means faster, calmer reading. The cost is that the site must ask for money directly, which some visitors find more intrusive than passive ads.
Who benefits, and who might not
A reader who wants sustained theological argument — say, someone working through cruciform theology or the problem of evil over several weeks — gets more value from a donation-supported archive than from an ad-heavy site that rarely goes deep. A reader who mainly wants quick devotional snippets or comparison shopping across many voices may find a single-ministry site too narrow, regardless of how it is funded.
A practical next step
Before deciding whether to support it, test the fit: read one recent post and listen to one podcast episode, then ask whether you would miss the site if it disappeared. If the answer is yes, direct support is the mechanism that keeps it ad-free. If you want a broader survey of perspectives first, compare with a general Christian resource such as Christianity Today or a reference-oriented site like BibleGateway, and note how their funding models shape what they publish.
What is open theism and how does Greg Boyd present it through ReKnew?
Open theism is a theological position that God is omniscient in the sense of knowing all that can be known, but that the future is partly unsettled and therefore not exhaustively knowable—even by God. On this view, God does not script history in advance; God knows all possibilities and responds to free creatures in real time, which means prayer, decisions and history can genuinely affect what happens. Greg Boyd is one of its best-known contemporary advocates, and ReKnew is his main platform for explaining and defending it.
How ReKnew presents it
ReKnew frames open theism as part of a larger "Kingdom Revolution" centered on the character of God revealed in Jesus. The site lists Open Theism as a popular topic alongside related themes such as Cruciform Theology, Spiritual Warfare and the Problem of Evil—so open theism is presented not as an isolated academic debate but as connected to how God's love, power and goodness are understood. Boyd's related emphasis, visible in a featured post titled "Why Christ, not Scripture, is Our Ultimate Foundation," illustrates the interpretive approach: Jesus is treated as the clearest revelation of what God is like, and doctrinal claims are tested against that picture.
Content on ReKnew appears in two main formats: written posts (including older essays such as "Determinism Is Ugly") and podcast episodes addressing listener questions, for example episodes on whether God will resurrect and judge every human who has ever existed, or whether evil spirits can repent. That mix suits two audiences: readers who want structured arguments, and listeners who want to hear objections handled conversationally.
What the view does and does not claim
| Common misconception | Open theism, as typically argued |
|---|---|
| "God doesn't know the future" | God knows everything knowable; an unsettled future isn't a body of facts to be known |
| "This limits God's power" | God remains sovereign, but rules through persuasion and love rather than exhaustive control |
| "It's a new invention" | Advocates present it as a recovery of themes in Scripture and church history |
A practical next step
If you are weighing the view, start with the topic page on ReKnew and read or listen to one argument for it alongside one critique from a classical-theist source, such as a Reformed or Thomist site. Ask a concrete question as you read: does the biblical language of God changing his mind, regretting, or testing someone make better sense if the future is partly open, or can a classical view account for it? Your answer to that specific case will tell you more than a general impression of either side.
How can I find a church that aligns with ReKnew's cruciform theology?
ReKnew's own page points toward a practical tool for exactly this: a "Find a like-minded church near you" link, alongside its core topics of cruciform theology, open theism, spiritual warfare and the problem of evil. That tells you the site already assumes alignment is a searchable thing, not something you have to guess at from a Sunday service. Start there, then test any candidate church against the specific claims ReKnew treats as central.
What "cruciform" actually commits you to
Cruciform theology, as ReKnew frames it, treats the cross as the definitive revelation of God's character: God looks like Jesus, including in self-sacrificial love rather than coercive power. The page's own recent-post titles make the practical stakes visible — "Why Christ, not Scripture, is Our Ultimate Foundation" and "God Looks Like Jesus" are claims about how you read the Bible and how you picture God.
That gives you concrete things to listen for in a church:
- How is God described? Is God's power consistently defined by the cross, or does the preaching quietly assume God uses violence, retribution or control to get his way?
- How is the Bible handled? Is Jesus the lens for reading difficult passages, or is every verse flattened to the same authority and used to override Jesus?
- How is the problem of evil addressed? Is suffering explained as God's hidden will, or is God's goodness maintained against it?
- What is said about the atonement? Is the cross presented as God absorbing hostility rather than God requiring violence to be appeased?
- How does the church treat outsiders and enemies? Cruciform theology should show up in how the congregation talks about people who disagree with them.
A quick comparison of church types you'll meet
| Church type | Likely fit with cruciform theology | Main trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Open theism / "warfare worldview" churches | Often strong alignment on God's openness and on evil as genuine conflict | Smaller and harder to find; teaching can lean heavily on one author |
| Mainstream evangelical | Mixed; strong on Jesus, but often retributive atonement and closed future | Familiar structure and community, but recurring friction on God's character |
| Mainline Protestant | Sometimes good on non-violence and social ethics | May not share ReKnew's supernatural or open-theism commitments |
| Progressive / deconstructing communities | Often sympathetic to questioning inherited images of God | Can drift from ReKnew's high view of Scripture and Jesus |
How to test a church before committing
Attend a few services and, if possible, a small group. Then ask a pastor or leader one honest question: "When you read the Old Testament, how does Jesus shape what you see of God?" The answer will tell you more than a statement of faith. If the response is that God's character is consistent throughout and revealed in Christ, you're likely in the right room. If it's that God sometimes acts in ways that contradict Jesus, you've found the gap.
Use ReKnew to check the church-finder and the topic pages, and read the "Why Christ, not Scripture, is Our Ultimate Foundation" post so you can state your own position clearly before you visit. If nothing local fits, a ReKnew-aligned online community or podcast discussion group can hold you over while you keep looking.
What is the problem of evil according to Greg Boyd's teachings on ReKnew?
Greg Boyd treats the problem of evil as a pastoral and theological puzzle that a particular picture of God makes harder than it needs to be. On ReKnew, the topic sits alongside open theism, cruciform theology and spiritual warfare, which signals the shape of his answer: evil is a real problem for any view of God as exhaustively controlling everything, and Boyd's alternative centers on a God who is loving, self-giving and willing to suffer with creation rather than a God who ordains each tragedy for a hidden purpose.
The core move
Boyd's cruciform approach reads God's character through Jesus crucified rather than through abstract claims about omnipotence. If Jesus is the definitive revelation of what God is like, then God is not the author of gratuitous suffering. That reframes the question from "Why did God decide to do this?" to "What is God doing about it, and why does evil persist at all?"
Where free will and spiritual warfare fit
The ReKnew material links the problem of evil to free will and to cosmic conflict. Boyd's open theism holds that the future is partly open, so God does not foreordain every event. Creaturely freedom and, in his spiritual warfare framework, the activity of hostile powers explain much of the evil in the world without making God its direct cause. The page's recent posts—"The Silly Search for Free Will," "Determinism Is Ugly," and "Why Christ, not Scripture, is Our Ultimate Foundation"—show how tightly these themes are woven together.
What this means for a reader
If you are grieving or wrestling with a specific tragedy, the practical payoff is a God who is not the one who orchestrated it. A reader who finds the classic "everything happens for a reason" answer unbearable may find this framing more livable; a reader who wants a single philosophical solution to the logical problem of evil will find Boyd offers a narrative and relational answer rather than a tidy formula.
A useful next step: read the "Problem of Evil" topic page and the "Love Weeps" post together, since one gives the framework and the other shows how it sounds when applied to grief. For a broader contrast, see how other Christian sites frame the same question, such as Desiring God or BioLogos.
Where can I listen to Greg Boyd's podcast episodes and what topics do they cover?
Greg Boyd's podcast episodes are published on ReKnew, his own ministry site, where they sit alongside his blog posts, topic pages and book listings. Episodes are posted individually with their own titles and dates, so the simplest route is the recent-episodes list on the homepage, or the full podcast archive if you want to browse further back.
What the episodes cover
From the episode titles visible on the site, the range is broad but consistently theological and question-driven:
- Afterlife and judgment — e.g. whether God will resurrect and judge every human who has ever existed
- New creation and animals — e.g. whether predators become vegetarian in a renewed creation
- Prayer and discipleship — e.g. why Jesus wouldn't coach his disciples to pray
- Spiritual beings — e.g. whether evil spirits can repent
- Church practice — e.g. whether the church is neglecting missions
- Practical Bible engagement — e.g. how to better remember Scripture
These sit within the wider themes ReKnew organises its material around: open theism, cruciform theology, spiritual warfare and the problem of evil. If you already know which of those draws you, the topic pages are a faster entry point than scrolling episodes.
Practical next step
If you're deciding whether the podcast suits you, pick one episode from the list above that overlaps with a question you actually have — the judgment/resurrection episode or the prayer one are good tests — and listen for whether the reasoning style works for you. Boyd's episodes are typically conversational responses to listener questions rather than lectures, so they reward patience with the argument rather than expecting a quick summary.
For background on the thinker himself and his wider writing, ReKnew is the primary source. If you want a second perspective on open theism as a position, BioLogos and Christianity Today both carry discussion of it, though neither is built around Boyd's own episodes.
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