Dr. Thomas Talbott’s book, The Inescapable Love of God, is a terrific book in several ways. The title is terrific in that it captures the wonderful Biblical concept of irresistible grace by which God, without violating anyone’s free will, will ultimately destroy evil and reconcile the whole cosmos to Himself. Dr. Talbott has a terrific writing style in which it is evident that he has extensive knowledge Biblically, theologically, and philosophically and expresses it in a clear, concise, and gentle way. He has done a terrific job of researching and condensing church history to give readers a brief and yet rather thorough understanding of the theology of the early church and how and where it went wrong in turning from the glorious doctrine of universal salvation in Christ to the salvation of relatively few and the eternal damnation of the vast majority of the human race in literal hell fire. This ungodly and inhumane false doctrine is what I have called, “spiritual terrorism.”
Author Talbott insightfully addresses the profoundly negative impact Augustine has had, theologically, on the Christian Church in the West and the horrific spiritual devastation Emperor Justinian, of the Roman Empire, has had on the Western church due to the condemnation and persecution of Christians who believed in universal reconciliation and the commendation and elevation of Christian leaders who advocated eternal damnation. He rightly contends that the love-based Christianity was thus reduced to fear-based religion which was used as a means of social control to keep the subjects of the Roman Empire in subjection. Dr. Talbott wisely stated the horrendous tragedy this has been that consequently the Christian Church lost its spiritual and moral authority!
In regard to the false doctrine of eternal damnation, Dr. Talbott stated, “If supreme power lies on the side of supreme love, then none of us, whether Christian, Muslim, or even atheist, need fear that the One who loved us into existence in the first place might wantonly abandon us in the end. Nor need we worry that an honest mistake in theology will somehow jeopardize our future.” Certainly, God will not abandon anyone at all, much less forever. Not even one created being will be forever left behind. What a terrific conception of The Supreme Being—supreme power on the side of supreme love! Thus, God cannot fail to destroy the works of the Devil and reconcile the whole universe to God’s self! This book is richly deserving of a five-star rating.