Rating: 
Summary: An easy read on a complicated topic
Review: This book does a beautiful job of sharing the journey of two pastors as they wrestled with reconciling a God of love and God of justice. The bottom line is that God is only a God of love.I've found that those who have trouble embracing, or even intelligently considering the ideas of this book and others like it have not really examined what the Bible is. Other reviews by critics of this book say that this is just personal opinion of the authors. Well that's exactly what the Bible is. It is a human book documenting various experiences and perceptions of God. It is the best written revelation of God that we have but it is not the "Word of God" in the sense that most Christians believe it to be. The Bible is also the best documentation we have of the life of Jesus. But more importantly it is a documentation of how people responded to Jesus. The example of the life of Jesus is what this book is about. If the reader can not entertain a new way of looking at the Bible, they will not be able to understand the major premise of If Grace is True. Gulley and Mulholland articulate what I have felt my whole life, but the breakthrough came when I looked at the Bible as a uniquely human book of experiences with God. Our collective experiences are the only way we have of knowing God. I'd suggest reading Marcus Borg. His book on the Taking Scripture Seriously but not Literally will set a context in order to better understand If Grace is True.
Rating:
Summary: Accept this book for what it is, and consider it a blessing.
Review: This book does what it sets out to do--explain why the authors believe God will not reject the soul of any person, regardless of religion, spirituality, or behavior on earth. And it does so with eloquence and respect. I'm not sure why some reviewers harp on the point that this book wasn't "researched," or that it doesn't contain "proof" of its thesis. Nowhere in the book do the authors say they're trying to prove anything. What's more, they explicity do state that they have come to hold the Universalist perspective based on their own, and others', experiences with God. While some readers find that unacceptable, I would wonder how else a person can hold a legitimate or valid opinion on any subject without have some sort of experience. Experience is where it's at in spirituality. This book wasn't meant to be a technical document, nor did it claim to be about biblical hermeneutics. It is about human free will and the ultimate gift of grace. I found it to be heartfelt, sincere, and incredibly gracious in that the authors didn't say their way is the only way. Throughout the book, they give credence to individuality and others' belief systems. In fact, those values and belief systems are the very reasons the authors believe God's grace is not selective. The book is logical, and yes, full of emotion. Name one truly important topic or subject that should exclude emotion, and I'll tell you it isn't that important after all. If this book angers you or disappoints you, it could be because you aren't up to the challenge, which is fine. God's gonna love you anyway.
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: This book is an excellent book for those who may have walked away from a God who they believe is unjust in condemning the majority of the world to an eternal hell.
Rating: 
Summary: either or
Review: This book is either totally heresy or everything we should have learned about God, had we been really paying attention to Jesus. I think think the latter. A gentle and very kind way of taking seriously what Jesus was really saying about God and applying it to daily life.
Rating: 
Summary: Basically a Denial of Biblical Christianity
Review: This book is sure to either find itself with a "5-star" rating for those who are persuaded toward universalism; or a "1-star" rating from those who are persuaded toward a biblical doctrine of salvation. However, I must confess that the authors do put forth a clear presentation of their case in proving their thesis that God's goodness and love just wouldn't send anyone to hell. To accept their thesis one must disregard, dismiss, and deny what the Bible teaches about the full nature and attributes of God -- that His grace, mercy, justice, wrath, etc. are all co-existent in one being; and accept that God's love is a supreme trump card that is played each time He would desire to execute justice and wrath against sin. To believe and accept the author's thesis one must abandon, or at least severely reconstruct, the biblical doctrines of sin, the nature of man, salvation, God, and Jesus. Unfortunately, this will leave people "saved" by a God who just isn't the God revealed in the Bible. It is likely this book will probably become a good seller in both the liberal and conservative seminaries of the land -- albeit for different reasons. In one it will be celebrated as a well thought presentation for constructing a mental image of a kinder and gentler God who loves everyone -- In the other it will be used to reinforce the injunction that Paul gave the early church in Colossae (Col 2:8) not to let their minds be taken captive by hollow and empty worldly and man-centered philosophies that are not dependent on Christ.
Rating:
Summary: Without Christ, we are not Christians
Review: This book is unfortunate. These two men obviously understood what it meant to be a follower of Christ at some point in their lives. As they describe their previous beliefs, I see the scriptural and biblical model of Christian behavior. Then they describe their new beliefs, and I see a new, misguided false Gospel. To deny the deity and live-saving, sin-atoning sacrifice of Christ is to deny Christ himself. In Matthew 26, Christ prays "My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine." How cant you say that it was not God's will for Jesus to die (as the authors do on page 136) when the scriptures clearly state that it was? I don't write this to be disrespectful. I have met Phillip Gulley, and he seems like a nice guy. But to tell the world that Jesus Christ's death on the cross was meaningless goes beyond what I can bear. He died on that cross to take away the sins of the world. No one will get to the Father except through that sacrifice.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing new here
Review: This book is, fundamentally, a spiritual ink-blot test. It contains little new and little that is is unlikely to change anybody's mind; rather, it will clarify for most people what they already believe. For those who follow traditional Christianity, this book will be an unacceptable (to put it mildly) heresy. And because it is primarily a discussion of personal experience and belief rather than a rigorously supported exegisis supported by Biblical reference and refuting contrary Biblical passages, it will have little or no effect on changing the belief structures of the believer. For those of a liberal, universalist brand of Christianity -- not even cheap salvation, but free salvation -- this book will come as "finally, validation." After all, if two respected ministers believe in free salvation, it must be a legitimate belief, right? So, if you want to feel outraged (if you are a traditional Christian) or warm-and-fuzzy (if you are a liberal universalist), read this book. It will give you what you want. If what you want is a thoughtful, well argued discussion of salvation, though, forget this book. You won't find it here.
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Summary: Unconditional versus Conditional Christianity
Review: This is a wonderfully structured defense of God forgiving, accepting, and saving the worst of us and the best of us without requring us to walk any gauntlet. It is up to us to understand, accept, and respond to our being saved. This is a book of living a faith and encountering life. Life contradicts many of the conditions we place on God. The best expression of uncondtional love, grace we call it, I have found. We cannot have it both ways. We can not have a conditional salvation from a loving unconditonal God. Remember the movie, Saving Private Ryan? We have been saved or will be saved as the book says. Now what do we do? Undeserved, unmerited, unconditonal grace says we are valuable, worthy, and loved. Read how these men develop personal belief from their experience of loving, living, serving.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: This world will be so much more beautiful and closer to its creator when we realize that God is love. Much of our tradition insists that God is angry, vengeful, and bloodthirsty; that only Jesus' sacrificial death saves us from God's nearly insatiable lust for punishment. How can the God of Jesus, the most loving, caring, generous and forgiving person to ever live, have a God who is violent and essentially unforgiving. He couldn't, could he? Read this book. If you hate it, you may need to read it again. After you have read it, ask yourself how Jesus, the incarnation of God, could be love and forgiveness, while his father in heaven intends to condemn most people to eternal fire and damnation. Have an open mind, pray for guidance and follow Ignatius' steps for discernment. You just may find that the thesis of this book, if believed and lived, will bring us all closer to God and one another.
Rating:
Summary: Unconvincing
Review: When I ordered this book, I had hoped it would give me a good, solid Biblical argument for universalism; not only presenting scriptures that seem to support that position, but also giving an explanation of scriptures that explicitly go against the universalist doctrine. This is not that book. Here is how the book deals with seemingly anti-univeralist scriptures: it simply says those scriptures are wrong. So much for wrestling with the text. The authors make no pretense of accepting the Bible as the Word of God, well, that is unless it's those passages that seem to support their position. Instead, "experience" takes precedent over scripture. That's pretty dangerous ground. And if there was any chance in me being won over to the authors' position, it totally went south when later in the book they explicitly denied the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, and the substitutionary atonement. About the only thing that distinguishes the authors from the most radical liberal is their belief in Jesus' literal resurrection. I would love to be a universalist, but there are too many scriptures, even from the mouth of Jesus, that teach just the opposite. I gave this book a chance to convince me, and it failed miserably.
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