Open Theism

Or, "Flirting with heresy"

Well, here it is. This is my confession to the world. I've gone and done it. I've sided with one of the most controversial and hotly debated views about God that Christians have.

I've become an Open View Theist.

Most people who read that probably went, "Huh? What's Open View Theism?" Others, who knew what it was beforehand, probably frowned. So what is Open Theism?

1) There is no truth about future contingents (A contingent truth is something that is true but didn't have to be). Only the present exists.
2) We have complete free will.
3) God knows everything that is true.
4) Since there is no truth about future contingents, God essentially doesn't know the future, or what choices we will make. He does know all possible counterfactuals*, but not what choice we will make.

*Counterfactual - I'll explain this in simple terms. There are hundreds of possible counterfactuals for any given situation. If you saw a peanut butter jar sitting on a table, you could a) pick it up, b) knock it down, c) eat it without picking it up, etc. Those are all counterfactuals.

"That doesn't sound Biblical. Is this supported by the Bible?"

Sure. There are many examples:

• "The Lord frequently changes his mind in the light of changing circumstances or in the light of prayer (Exod. 32:14; Num. 14:12-20; Deut. 9:13-14, 18-20, 25; 1 Sam. 2:27-36; 2 Kings 20:1-7; 1 Chron. 21:15; Jer. 26:19; Ezek. 20:5-22; Amos 7:1-6; Jon. 1:2; 3:2, 4-10). Other times he explicitly tells us he will change his mind if circumstances change (Jer. 18:7-11; 26:2-3; Ezek. 33:13-15). This willingness to change is portrayed as one of God's attributes of greatness (Joel 2:13-14; Jon. 4:2).
• A number of times he expresses regret and disappointment over how things have turned out - even over previous decisions he has made which went array because of human free will (Gen. 6:5-6; 1 Sam 15:10,35; Ezek. 22:29-31).
• Other times he tells us he's surprised at how things turned out, for he expected a different outcome (Isa. 5:3-7; Jer. 3:6-7; 19-20).
• In several passages the Lord explicitly tells us that he did not know that humans would behave the way they did (Jer. 7:3 1; 19:5; 3 2:3 5).
• The Lord frequently tests his people to find out whether or not they'll remain faithful to him (Gen. 22:12; Exod. 16:4; Deut. 8:2; 13:1-3; Judg. 2:20-3:5; 2 Chron. 3 2:3 1).
• The Lord sometimes asks non-rhetorical questions about the future (Num. 14:11; Hos. 8:5) and speaks to people in terms of what may or may not happen (Exod. 3:18-4:9; 13:17; Jer. 3 8:17-18, 20-21, 23; Ezek. 12:1-3)." (Boyd)

Also, I'd ask you this. Does it make any sense for God to be sad or angry about something he knew was going to occur? Like, for example, killing Onan because he "spilt his seed?" If God knew the future, he knew that Onan would have spilt his seed on the ground.

"But wait, hold up! You're diminishing God's power by saying that!"

I don't see that I am. I fully contend that God is omniscient, knowing all that can be known. I don't believe the future can be known. In the same way that I think God is all powerful but can't create a rock so big that he cannot lift it, I believe that God is omniscient but can't know what choices free beings will make. I think that knowing the future actions of a free being is logically impossible.

"The Bible says that God knows all things!"

You're right. It does.

"But what about prophesy? How can that be possible if God doesn't know the future?"

I'd say that, to some extent, God predicts/plans the future when it suits him to do so. In these situations, it does. You'd surely that God is much, much wiser than we are? Surely he's wise enough to acheive his purposes while still allowing full freedom.

"What about prayer?"

What about it? It makes the concept make a LOT more sense. If God knew what you were going to pray to begin with, there's no point in praying; of course, I'd argue that you wouldn't have a choice to pray or not if God knew the future.

"So how did you come to this descision?"

It took a very, very long time. The Free Will Argument for the Non-Existence of God struck me when I first heard it (probably...hmm, ten months ago now) and caused very serious doubts in me about it. This is it:

1. God knows the future.
2. God's knowledge is perfect and can't be wrong.
3. God knows that P-Dunn will be typing these words at 3:49 PM on Saturday, September 2nd.
4. Since God's knowledge cannot be wrong, P-Dunn MUST type those words at the given time. There is no choice.
5. God is not omniscient, or he doesn't exist.

I was determined that we have free will. To me, the world and all the evil doesn't make one bit of sense if God predetermines all of our actions. Why would any loving God predetermine that a two planes were going to crash into huge buildings and kill several thousand people? Or why would God predetermine that a man was going to rape a 9 year old girl and bury her alive? He wouldn't have any choice, we can't condemn him for what he's done. This is, of course, ridiculous.

But what about the Free Will Argument? How is it possible that we still have free will, yet God knows our every action? It seems contradictory.

Open Theism makes this problem evaporate immediately. Since I've decided to become an Open Theist, I'm no longer trying to figure this problem out, because Premise 1 is immediately false. In addition, most of the atheistic arguments like The Problem of Evil become much less effective.

I'm going to be checking out God of the Possible by open theist Gregory Boyd, a scholar interviewed by Lee Strobel in The Case for Christ. Maybe you should too.

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Boyd, Gregory. "God and the Future." Open Theism Information. <http://www.opentheism.info/pages/information/boyd/god_future.php>

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