Christianity - Open theism and God
Tim Challies has an informative post on the recent idea of 'Open theism' that is becoming popular.

This is a definition I have adapted from Monergism.com. "open theism is a sub-Christian theological construct which claims that God's highest goal is to enter into a reciprocal relationship with man. In this scheme, the Bible is interpreted without any anthropomorphisms - that is, all references to God's feelings, surprise and lack of knowledge are literal and the result of His choice to create a world where He can be affected by man's choices. God's exhaustive knowledge does not include future free will choices by mankind because they have not yet occurred."

Tim gives a great overview of Open theism and finishes with his thoughts about the idea.

Needless to say, I find this doctrine wholly incompatible with our knowledge of God as presented in His Word. While open theism contradicts the understanding of God in every Judeo-Christian tradition, it is most completely at-odds with the Reformed understanding, which teaches the highest view of God's foreknowledge and sovereignty. This doctrine undermines our confidence in God and erodes our trust in His promises that He always has our best interests in mind. It is a dangerous, pernicious doctrine.

I would have to agree with Tim that open theism has come bad consequences for Christian thought. It also does not gel with many of the statements of God in the bible about his power and our ability to have faith in his ability to know what is best for us.

One more thing that seems to be overlooked is that if God cannot accurately predict or control what human free will is going to choose, then God's own confidence in any human decision to further his own plans would be incomplete. As an example... God could not be confident that Judas would indeed go through with the betrayal of Jesus, or that Pilate would crucify Jesus, or that a one world government will happen in the future and be controlled by the anti-christ. As another example, the criteria for telling a false prophet given to us by God is that if they make a prophecy that does not come true, then they are a false prophet and must be put to death. In open theism, there can be no certainty that a prophecy that includes any human decision will happen. As such, being a prophet would kinda suck, because if God can get it wrong, then you can be considered a false prophet for giving God's message to the people.

Clearly, many absurdities are created by open theism that are wholly inconsistent with the bibles message. Hopefully, more people will investigate the ideas and consequences of open theism so that it will not continue to gain populatiry due to its superficial benefits.
- posted by Alan Grey @ Wednesday, June 29, 2005