The Dangerous Doctrine of Open Theism

1. The Dangerous Doctrine of Open Theism Chris Poteet Chris Poteet 1

2. Why Talk About Open Theism? See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. Colossians 2:8 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 2 Timothy 4:1-4 Chris Poteet 2

3. Overview • The Openness Hermeneutic • The Issue of Man’s Will • The Problem of Evil • Defending the Classical View Chris Poteet 3

4. False Teachers of Open Theism • Gregory Boyd • Professor of theology at Bethel College and pastor of Woodland Hills Church • Clark Pinnock • Professor of Systematic Theology at McMaster Divinity College • John Sanders • Author of “The God Who Risks” • Richard Rice • Professor of theology at La Sierra University • William Hasker • Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Huntington College • David Basinger • Professor of Philosophy & Ethics at Roberts Wesleyan College Chris Poteet 4

5. The Openness Hermeneutic: Definitions Theology Proper While “Theology" refers to the more general study of the biblical worldview, “Theology Proper" refers to the specific study of God’s character and attributes. Hermeneutics A branch of philosophy concerned with human understanding and the interpretation of texts. Omniscience The state or quality of knowing everything. Anthropocentrism The view that humans are the most important beings on Earth. Typical of Western Judeo-Christian culture. Anthropomorphism The attributing of human form, behavior or characteristics to non-human beings, especially God. Chris Poteet 5

6. The Openness Hermeneutic:Tenants of Open Theism • Texts that represent God as changing His mind, learning, and the like are taken literally. • In Open Theism, prayer can change God’s mind. • Just because one event might be determined, does not mean that every event is as such. “[T]his motif of future determinism does not warrant the conclusion that God predestines and foreknows as settled everything about the future” Gregory Boyd, “God of the Possible” (pgs. 53-54) • God’s love is so great for His creation that no one will spend an eternity in torment—only cease to exist (Annihilationism). • Humans have Libertarian free will (to be discussed). • God has perfect and complete past and present knowledge. • God can, and does, change His mind, learns, makes mistakes, and takes risks. • God, in effect, takes on a form resembling man (Anthropocentristic theology). Chris Poteet 6

7. The Openness Hermeneutic The Open Theist contends that Classical Theists take texts that appear that God changes His mind, makes mistakes, learns and the like non-literally but anthropomorphically when (as they contend) there is not support to not take the texts literally. As a result, the Open Theist contend that God must therefore not know all events exhaustively, and Bible passages referring to God’s foreknowledge are broken up into two “motifs” or categories. “My approach to these two motifs differs from this [Classical Theism]. I do not assume that the motif of future openness is less literal than the motif of future determinism. Nothing in the Biblical texts that constitute the motif of future openness suggests that they are less literal than the texts that constitute the motif of future determinism. Gregory Boyd, “God of the Possible” (pg. 14) Chris Poteet 7

8. The Openness Hermeneutic Two “motifs” • Motif of future determinism • That certain Bible passages refer to events that are settled in God’s mind. • Motif of future openness • Bible passages that seem to imply that God does not have exhaustive foreknowledge. “The classical view of divine foreknowledge interprets the first motif as speaking about God as he truly is and the second motif as speaking about God only as he appears to be or as figures of speech. In other words, whenever the Bible suggests that God knows and/or controls the future, this is taken literally. Whenever it suggests that God knows the future in terms of possibilities, however, this is not taken literally.” Gregory Boyd, “God of the Possible” (pg. 14) Chris Poteet 8

9. The Openness Hermeneutic:Future Determinism From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Matthew 16:21 It had been determined from ages past that the Lord himself would have to become a man and die. This is something God was going to do, and thus it was foreknown from whatever time he decided it. In this verse Jesus reveals the divine plan to his disciples. But we have no reason to conclude from this that the whole of the future was settled in Jesus’ mind. Indeed, Jesus’ prayer in the Garden suggests that he held an outside hope that even his death could be averted at the last minute. Gregory Boyd, Commentary on Matthew 16:21 (Christus Victor Ministries) "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:5 This verse shows God’s love and plan for Jeremiah before he was born. This does not imply that Jeremiah could not have “rejected God’s purpose for [himself],” [..] The Bible contains many examples of people whom God appointed for a purpose but who freely thwarted God’s plan for their life. Gregory Boyd, Commentary on Jeremiah 1:5 (Christus Victor Ministries) Chris Poteet 9

10. The Openness Hermeneutic:Future Openness Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. Genesis 6:5-6 “[I]f we accept that Scripture is speaking plainly here and God’s regret was real […] then it seems more reasonable to believe that until that point in time, God didn’t know with certainty that humanity would grieve him the way it did.” Gregory Boyd, Commentary on Genesis 6:5-6 (Christus Victor Ministries) Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am.“ He said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me." Genesis 22:10-12 “Indeed, if the future is exhaustively settled there would be no point in his test of Abraham, because God would never have to find out anything.” Gregory Boyd, Commentary on Genesis 22:12 (Christus Victor Ministries) Chris Poteet 10

11. The Openness Hermeneutic:Future Openness So the LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people. Exodus 32:14 “If the classical view of divine foreknowledge is correct, God would already have been certain that he wasn’t going to ‘consume’ the Israelites and his statement to Moses regarding his plan to do just this would be disingenuous. If God’s declared intention and Scripture’s teaching are true, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that God’s mind was not eternally settled regarding the fate of Israel at this time.” Gregory Boyd, Commentary on Exodus 32:14 (Christus Victor Ministries) And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will." Matthew 26:39 “Jesus’ request makes little sense if we assume that Jesus believed that the future was exhaustively settled in God’s mind and/or that God’s plans were unalterable. His prayer reveals that even with regard to the central defining event of world history there was in the mind of Jesus an outside chance that his Father might yet change his mind.” Gregory Boyd, Commentary on Matthew 26:39 (Christus Victor Ministries) Chris Poteet 11

12. What About Omniscience? The Open Theist affirms omniscience in terms that God knows all that could happen (possibilities), but God doesn’t know the exact outcome of all actions. “Open theists affirm God’s omniscience as emphatically as anybody does The issue is not whether God’s knowledge is perfect. It is. The issue is about the nature of the reality that God perfectly knows. More specifically, what is the content of the reality of the future?” Gregory Boyd, “God of the Possible” (pg. 16) The Open Theist as well would say God still knows everything perfectly, but that there are certain things that have not been settled. “It’s because there is, in this view, nothing definite there for God to know!” Gregory Boyd, “God of the Possible” (pg. 16) Chris Poteet 12

13. The Issue of Man’s Will: Definitions Compatibilism (Soft Determinism) Free will is compatibile with determinism (foreordination). Compatibilistic Free Will Free will is affected by human nature and cannot choose contrary to our nature and desires. Libertarian Free Will Free will is that which we have the ability, at any point, to choose between choices without constraint of causal circumstances. Molinism (Middle View of Divine Foreknowledge) The view of God’s foreknowledge and relation to man’s will in Arminianism. That God “looks down the corridor of time” to “learn” the unfolding events of humans with Libertarian free will. Principle of Alternate Possibilities The philosophical presupposition present in Libertarian free will that man is only free when he makes a choice, he could have always chosen to the contrary. Incompatibilism Free will is not compatible with determinism (foreordination). Chris Poteet 13

14. The Issue of Man’s Will: Open Theism and Arminianism • Arminianism holds to Libertarian free will, but holds that God does exhaustively know the future (through Molinism). • Open Theism sees this as philosophically incoherent (and it is), so they seek to resolve the paradox by denying God’s exhaustive foreknowledge. • Open Theism places human freedom with such a high emphasis to “solve” the problem of evil and resolve philosophical inconsistencies. “[Humans] experience our future as being to some extent open to our determination. We experience ourselves as turning several possibilities into one actualities by creatively bringing about a state of affairs that was not there before and was not necessitated by anything that was there before. I argue that libertarian, self-determining freedom is more philosophically and theologically sound than compatibilism. While libertarian freedom is not compatible with predestination, it is compatible with Scripture.” Gregory Boyd, “Is Free Will Compatible With Predestination?” (Christus Victor Ministries) • Libertarian free will is in the Open Theistic (and Arminian) scheme, because they believe that any thing less than that would make God “un-loving” and it would negate human responsibility. Chris Poteet 14

15. The Issue of Man’s Will:The Libertarian Presupposition • Open Theistic logic on man’s will • Man is free (in the libertarian sense). • If the choice is known in advance, then it is not truly free (as in Arminianism). • Therefore, all choices cannot be known. • The problem is that the libertarian perspective on the will is philosophical and not Biblical. • Libertarian view of the will does not account for many verses which explicit state that man’s will is bound to his nature (Joh 3:19; Rom 3:10-12, 6:14-20; 1 Cor 2:14) and that God intervenes on our will (Deut. 2:30; Prov 21:1; Ezk 36:26). Chris Poteet 15

16. The Problem of Evil The “Warfare Worldview” “The warfare worldview is based on the conviction that our world is engaged in a cosmic war between a myriad of agents, both human and angelic, that have aligned themselves with either God or Satan.” Gregory Boyd, “What is the Warfare Worldview?” Christus Victor Ministries Open Theists contend that Classical Theism is logically incoherent because of the following tenants of Classical Theism. • God is all holy yet God ordains all evil. • God wills all to be saved yet ordains the damnation of many. • Creatures have free-will yet God predestines their every move. The Open Theist will say that evil is not a problem for a God that doesn’t ordain actions but the evil is a result of man’s complete autonomy. Chris Poteet 16

17. Defending the Classical View Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter III:Of God's Eternal Decree I. God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established. III. By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life; and others foreordained to everlasting death. Chris Poteet 17

18. Defending the Classical View:Tenants of Classical Theism • God knows the future exhaustively, because He foreordains it. • God does not repent, make mistakes, learn, or any other human attributes applied to God by Open Theists. • Man acts out of his own nature and desires. • Determinism and free will (that is making real, meaningful, moral choices) are compatible. • Classical Theism views many of the proof texts used by Open Theists as being anthropomorphic in nature. • The Problem of Evil is, although seemingly more complex to solve in Classical Theism, is still not a “problem.” Chris Poteet 18

19. Defending the Classical View:Support for Foreordination Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all. Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. Psalms 139:4, 16 He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them. Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite. Psalms 147:4-5 "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” Matthew 10:29-30 When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. Acts 13:48 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Ephesians 2:10 Chris Poteet 19

20. Defending the Classical View:Isaiah 40-48 Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing. Isaiah 40:26 "I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images. "Behold, the former things have come to pass, Now I declare new things; Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you." Isaiah 42:8-9 "Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, 'My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure'; Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it. Isaiah 46:9-11 Chris Poteet 20

21. Defending the Classical View:The Issue of Man’s Will • Classical Theism doesn’t affirm libertarian but compatibilistic freedom. • Freedom is compatible with determinism. • The definition of freedom is not the Principle of Alternate Possibilities but that our choices are free from coercion. • Determinism does not negate human responsibility. • Man’s will is bound to his nature. Chris Poteet 21

22. Defending the Classical View:Support for Compatibilism The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes. Proverbs 21:1 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. John 5:24 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. James 1:13-14 For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:3-7 Chris Poteet 22

23. Chris Poteet 23 "The will is not destroyed but rather repaired by grace." – John Calvin

24. Defending the Classical View:Challenging the Openness Hermeneutic • Despite Open Theistic claims against Classical Theistic for selective literal interpretation, they do the same. Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" Genesis 3:9 • Abraham’s presupposed libertarian free will and his test. • The inerrancy of the Scriptures. Chris Poteet 24

25. The Truth • The God of the Bible is not the “god” of the Open Theists. • He does not repent. "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Numbers 23:19 • He does not change His mind. "Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind." 1 Samuel 15:29 • He is Sovereign, and He will bring to pass as He wills. "Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, 'My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure'; Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it. Isaiah 46:9-11 Chris Poteet 25

26. Recommend Reading “God’s Lesser Glory: The Diminished God of Open Theism” Bruce Ware “No Other God: A Response to Open Theism” John Frame Desiring God Resources {www.desiringgod.org} John Piper Chris Poteet 26

27. Recap • The Openness Hermeneutic • The Issue of Man’s Will • The Problem of Evil • Defending the Classical View Chris Poteet 27

28. Questions? Chris Poteet 28