Open theism, also known as openness theology,[1] is a theological movement that has developed within Christianity as a rejection of the synthesis of Greek philosophy and Christian theology.[2] It is a version of free will theism[3] and arises out of the free will theistic tradition of the church, which goes back to the early church fathers.[4] Open theism is typically advanced as a biblically motivated and logically consistent theology of human and divine freedom (in the libertarian sense), with an emphasis on what this means for the content of God's foreknowledge and exercise of God's power.[5]
Open theist theologian Thomas Jay Oord identifies four paths to open and relational theology:[6]
Roger E. Olson said that open theism triggered the "most significant controversy about the doctrine of God in evangelical thought" in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.[7]
In short, open theism posits that since God and humans are free, God's knowledge is dynamic and God's providence flexible. Whereas several versions of traditional theism picture God's knowledge of the future as a singular, fixed trajectory, open theism sees it as a plurality of branching possibilities, with some possibilities becoming settled as time moves forward.[8] [9] Thus, the future, as well as God's knowledge of it, is open (hence, "open" theism). Other versions of classical theism hold that God fully determines the future, entailing that there is no free choice (the future is closed). Yet other versions of classical theism hold that, though there is freedom of choice, God's omniscience necessitates God's foreknowing what free choices are made (God's foreknowledge is closed). Open theists hold that these versions of classical theism do not agree with the biblical concept of God; the biblical understanding of divine and creaturely freedom; and/or result in incoherence. Open theists tend to emphasize that God's most fundamental character trait is love and that this trait is unchangeable. They also (in contrast to traditional theism) tend to hold that the biblical portrait is of a God deeply moved by creation, experiencing a variety of feelings in response to it.[10]
The following chart compares beliefs about key doctrines as stated by open theists and Calvinists after "the period of controversy" between adherents of the two theisms began in 1994.[11] During this period the "theology of open theism… rocked the evangelical world".[12]
| Doctrine | Open Theism | Calvinism | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scripture (the Bible). "In the Christian tradition, the Old and the New Testaments are considered Holy Scripture in that they are, or convey, the self-revelation of God."[13] | "Committed to affirming the infallibility of Scripture"[14] | Scripture is "the infallible Word of God".[15] | |
| God's Power. "God's power is limited only by God's own nature and not by any external force."[16] | "God is all-powerful."[17] | "God is all-powerful."[18] | |
| God's Sovereignty. "God's ultimate Lordship and rule over the universe". | Portraying God as ordaining whatever happens reduces "humans to robots".[19] | "Nothing that exists or occurs falls outside God's ordaining will. Nothing, including no evil person or thing or event or deed."[20] | |
| God's Perfection. "God as lacking nothing and free of all moral imperfection". | Believes in "(because Scripture teaches) the absolute perfection of God."[21] | Believes that, because "Scripture says" it, God "will always do what is right".[22] | |
| God's Foreknowledge. "God's knowing things and events before they happen in history".[23] | "God is omniscient" about "settled" reality, but the future that God "leaves open" can be known only as open "possibility" without specific foreknowledge.[24] | Classically Augustinian-Calvinist view: "God knows the future because he preordains it."[25] | |
| The Fall. "The disobedience and sin of Adam and Eve that caused them to lose the state of innocence in which they had been created. This event plunged them and all mankind into a state of sin and corruption."[26] | God "does not unilaterally and irrevocably decide what to do". God's decisions are influenced by "human attitudes and responses".[27] | "Ultimate reason" for the Fall was "God's ordaining will". | |
| Free Will. "The term seeks to describe the free choice of the will which all persons possess. Theological debates have arisen over the ways and to the extent to which sin has affected the power to choose good over evil, and hence one's 'free will'."[28] | Promotes incompatibilism, the doctrine that "the agent's power to do otherwise" is "a necessary condition for acting freely".[29] | Promotes compatibilism, the doctrine that "freedom" of the will requires only "the power or ability to do what one will (desire or choose) to do" without constraint or impediment, even if what one wills is determined.[30] | |
| Free Will and God's Sovereignty. A "caustic debate" began about 1990 over "God's sovereignty and human free will".[31] | Saying that God governs human choices reduces "angels or humans to robots in order to attain his objectives."[32] | God governs "the choices of human beings", but without "cancelling [their] freedom and responsibility".[33] | |
| Theodicy issue. "The justification of a deity's justice and goodness in light of suffering and evil".[34] | To meet the "conditions of love", God exercises "general rather than specific sovereignty, which explains why God does not prevent all evil".[35] Also, God "does not completely control or in any sense will evil" because the world is "held hostage to a cosmic evil force".[36] | Because "Scripture says" it, God "will always do what is right".[37] |
Contemporary open theists have named precursors among philosophers to document their assertion that "the open view of the future is not a recent concept," but has a long history.[38]
The first known post-biblical Christian writings advocating concepts similar to open theism with regard to the issue of foreknowledge are found in the writings of Calcidius, a 4th-century interpreter of Plato. It was affirmed in the 16th century by Socinus, and in the early 18th century by Samuel Fancourt and by Andrew Ramsay (an important figure in Methodism). In the 19th century several theologians wrote in defense of this idea, including Isaak August Dorner, Gustav Fechner, Otto Pfleiderer, Jules Lequier, Adam Clarke, Billy Hibbard, Joel Hayes, T.W. Brents, and Lorenzo D. McCabe. Contributions to this defense increased as the century drew to a close.
The dynamic omniscience view has been affirmed by a number of non Christians as well: Cicero (1st century BC) Alexander of Aphrodisias (2nd century) and Porphyry (3rd century). God's statement to Abraham “Now I know that you fear me” (Gen 22:12) was much discussed by Medieval Jewish theologians. Two significant Jewish thinkers who affirmed dynamic omniscience as the proper interpretation of the passage were Ibn Ezra (12th century) and Gersonides (14th century).
Sergei Bulgakov, an early-20th-century Russian Orthodox priest and theologian advocated the use of the term panentheism, which articulated a necessary link between God and creation as consequence of God's free love and not as a natural necessity. His sophiology has sometimes been seen as a precursor to 'open theism'.
David R. Larson claimed in 2007 that "in less detailed forms the basics of 'Open Theism' have been taught at Loma Linda University for about fifty years, beginning at least as early as long-time professor Jack W. Provonsha."[39] Provonsha started teaching at Loma Linda about 1960.[40]
Millard Erickson belittles such precursors to open theism as "virtually unknown or unnoticed."[41]
The term "open theism" was introduced in 1980 with theologian Richard Rice's book The Openness of God: The Relationship of Divine Foreknowledge and Human Free Will. The broader articulation of open theism was given in 1994, when five essays were published by evangelical scholars (including Rice) under the title The Openness of God. Recent theologians of note expressing this view include: Clark Pinnock (deceased as of 2010), Greg Boyd, Thomas Jay Oord, John E. Sanders, Dallas Willard, Jürgen Moltmann, Richard Rice, C. Peter Wagner, John Polkinghorne, Hendrikus Berkhof, Adrio Konig, Harry Boer, Bethany Sollereder, Matt Parkins, Thomas Finger (Mennonite), W. Norris Clarke (Roman Catholic), Brian Hebblethwaite, Robert Ellis, Kenneth Archer (Pentecostal), Barry Callen (Church of God), Henry Knight III, Gordon Olson, and Winkie Pratney. A significant, growing number of philosophers of religion affirm it: Peter Van Inwagen, Richard Swinburne (Eastern Orthodox), William Hasker, David Basinger, Nicholas Wolterstorff, Dean Zimmerman, Timothy O'Connor, James D. Rissler, Keith DeRose, Richard E. Creel, Robin Collins (philosopher/theologian/physicist), J. R. Lucas, Vincent Brümmer, (Roman Catholic), Richard Purtill, Alan Rhoda, Jeffrey Koperski, Dale Tuggy, and Keith Ward. Biblical scholars Terence E. Fretheim, Karen Winslow, and John Goldingay affirm it. Others include writers Madeleine L'Engle and Paul C. Borgman, mathematician D.J. Bartholomew and biochemist/theologian Arthur Peacocke.[42]
Open theists maintain that traditional classical theists hold the classical attributes of God together in an incoherent way. The main classical attributes are as follows:[43]
Alleged contradictions in the traditional attributes are pointed out by open theists and atheists alike. Atheist author and educator George H. Smith writes in his book that if God existed, God cannot be omnipotent because: "If God knew the future with infallible certainty, he cannot change it – in which case he cannot be omnipotent. If God can change the future, however, he cannot have infallible knowledge of it".[46]
Open theism also answers the question of how God can be blameless and omnipotent even though evil exists in the world. H. Roy Elseth gives an example of a parent that knows with certainty that his child would go out and murder someone if he was given a gun. Elseth argues that if the parent did give the gun to the child then the parent would be responsible for that crime.[47] However, if God was unsure about the outcome then God would not be culpable for that act; only the one who committed the act would be guilty. An orthodox Christian might try, on the contrary, seek to ground a theodicy in the resurrection, both of Christ and the general resurrection to come,[48] though this is not the traditional answer to evil.
Philosopher Alan Rhoda has described several different approaches several open theists have taken with regard to the future and God's knowledge of it.
Norman Geisler, a critic of open theism, addresses the claims that the Classical attributes were derived from the Greeks with three observations:[51]
An open theist might respond that all such criticisms are misplaced. As to observation (1), it is not characteristic of open theists to say that the quest for something unchanging is bad. Indeed, open theists believe God's character is unchanging.[52] As to observation (2), open theists do not characteristically say traditional forms of classical theism have exactly the same concept of God as the Greeks. Rather, they argue that they imported only some unbiblical assumptions from the Greeks.[53] They also point to theologians of the Christian tradition who, throughout history, did not succumb so strongly to Hellenistic influences.[54] As to observation (3), open theists do not argue that philosophical influences are bad in themselves. Rather, they argue that some philosophical influences on Christian theology are unbiblical and theologically groundless. Consider John Sanders' statement in The Openness of God (1980):
Opponents of open theism, both Arminians, and Calvinists, such as John Piper,[55] claim that the verses commonly used by open theists are anthropopathisms. They suggest that when God seems to change from action A to action B in response to prayer, action B was the inevitable event all along, and God divinely ordained human prayer as the means by which God actualized that course of events.
They also point to verses that suggest God is immutable, such as:
Those advocating the traditional view see these as the verses that form God's character, and they interpret other verses that say God repents as anthropomorphistic. Authors who claim this can be traced back through Calvin, Luther, Aquinas, Ambrose, and Augustine. Open theists note that there seems to be an arbitrary distinction here between those verses which are merely anthropopathic and others which form God's character. They also note that the immediate sense of the passages addressing God's inalterability ought to be understood in the Hebrew sense of his faithfulness and justice. In other words, God's love and character is unchanging; this, however, demands that His approach to people (especially in the context of personal relationship) be flexible.[58]
In the early 18th century, an extended public correspondence flourished around the topic of open theism. The debate was incited by Samuel Fancourt's 1727 publication, The Greatness of Divine Love Vindicated. Over the next decade, four other English writers published polemical works in response. This led Fancourt to defend his views in six other publications. In his 1747 autobiography, in response to some who thought that this controversy had affected his career, Fancourt wrote, "Should it be suggested, that my religious principles were a prejudice unto me—I answer: so are those of every Dissenting Protestant in the [United] Kingdom with some, if he dares to think and to speak what he thinks." Fancourt also names other writers who had supported his views.
In 2005, a "raging debate" among evangelicals about "open or free-will theism" was in place.[59] This period of controversy began in 1994 with the publication of The Openness of God.[60] The debate between open and classical theists is illustrated by their books as in the following chart.
| Year | Open theism books and comments | Classical theism books and comments | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Book: Rice, Richard . 1980 . The Openness of God: The relationship of divine foreknowledge and human free will . Nashville, Tennessee . Review & Herald. – Rice was the "pioneer of contemporary evangelical open theism." | Critical acclaim, but public mostly unaware of open theism; the controversy had not yet begun. | |
| 1989 | Book: Hasker, William . 1989 . God, Time, and Knowledge . Cornell Studies in the Philosophy of Religion . Cornell University Press . Ithaca, New York. | ||
| 1994 | Book: 1994 . Clark . Pinnock . Richard . Rice . John . Sanders . William . Hasker . David . Bassinger . The Openness of God . InterVarsity. – "ignited a firestorm of controversy". | "Provoked numerous hostile articles in academic and popular publications." The "conservative backlash" was "quick and fierce".[61] | |
| 1996 | Book: Basinger, David . 1996 . The Case for Freewill Theism: A philosophical assessment . InterVarsity. – Considers divine omniscience, theodicy, and petitionary prayer in freewill perspective.[62] | Book: McGregor Wright, R. K. . 1996 . No Place for Sovereignty: What's wrong with freewill theism . InterVarsity. – Sees open theism as wrong biblically, theologically, and philosophically. | |
| 1997 | Book: Boyd, Gregory . 1997 . God at War: The Bible & spiritual conflict . InterVarsity. – Made open theism the centerpiece of a theodicy. | Book: Geisler, Norman . Creating God in the Image of Man? . Bethany . 1997. – Asserts that open theism should be called new theism or neotheism because it is so different from classical theism. | |
| 1998 | Book: Sanders, John . The God who Risks: A theology of providence . InterVarsity . 1998. – "The most thorough standard presentation and defense of the openness view of God."[63] | Book: Erickson, Millard . God the Father Almighty: A contemporary exploration of the Divine attributes . Baker . 1998. – Accuses open theists of selective use of Scripture and caricaturing classical theism.[64] | |
| 2000 | Book: Pinnock, Clark . Most Moved Mover: A theology of God's openness . Baker and Paternoster . 2000. – "The most passionate and articulate defense of openness theology to date."[65] Book: Boyd, Gregory . God of the Possible: A Biblical introduction to the open view of God . Baker . 2000. – "A genuinely evangelical portrayal of the biblical God."[66] | Book: Ware, Bruce . God's Lesser Glory: The diminished God of open theism . Crossway . 2000. – "The most influential critique of open theism." | |
| 2001 | Book: Boyd, Gregory A. . Satan and the Problem of Evil: Constructing a trinitarian warfare theodicy . InterVarsity . 2001. – "A renewed defense of open theism" and a theodicy grounded in it.[67] | Book: Frame, John . No Other God: A response to open theism . P & R . 2001. Book: Norman . Geisler . Wayne . House . Max . Herrera . The Battle for God: Responding to the challenge of neotheism . Kregel . 2001. – "Debate seemed to turn somewhat in favor of classical theism." | |
| 2002–2003 | Book: Boyd, Gregory A. . Is God to Blame? Beyond pat answers to the problem of evil . InterVarsity . 2003. – Attacked classical theists as "blueprint theologians" espousing a "blueprint world view". | Book: Douglas . Huffman . Eric . Johnson . God under Fire: Modern scholarship reinvents God . Zondervan . 2002. Book: Erickson, Millard . What does God Know and When does He know it?: The current controversy over divine foreknowledge . Zondervan . 2003. – Attacked "open theism as theologically ruinous, dishonoring to God, belittling to Christ, and pastorally hurtful". Book: John . Piper . Justin . Taylor . Paul . Helseth . Beyond the Bounds: Open theism and the undermining of Biblical Christianity . Crossway . 2003. | |
| 2004–2012 | Book: Hasker, William . Providence, Evil, and the Openness of God . Routledge Studies in the Philosophy of Religion . Routledge . 2004. – Contains appendix titled "Replies to my critics". | Craig . Branch . Open Theism: Making God like us . The Areopagus Journal . 4 . 1 . The Apologetics Resource Center . 2012. – Book's stated purpose is to "demonstrate the errors of open theism". | |
| 2013–2014 | Book: Ham, Garrett . The Evangelical and the Open Theist: Can open theism find its place within the evangelical community? . Kindle . 2014. – Argues that proponents of open theism have a right to be called "evangelical". | Book: Scott, Luis . Frustrating God: How open theism gets God all wrong . Westbow . 2013. – Declares that "open theists get God all wrong". | |
| present | The Internet brought open theists and their debate with classical theists into public view.[68] – An internet site supporting open theism is Web site: reknew.org . May 2014 . Open theism – a basic introduction. | The Internet brought classical theists and their debate with open theists into public view. Two internet sites supporting classical theism (from the Calvinist perspective) are: Web site: desiringgod.org . The foreknowledge of God. and Web site: frame-poythress.org . Open theism and divine-foreknowledge. June 5, 2012 . |