Open Theism and Prophecy

The God Biographers presents a sweeping narrative of the Western image of God since antiquity, following the theme of how the 'old' biography of God has been challenged by a 'new' biography in the twenty-first century. The new biography has made its case in free will theism, process thought, evolutionary doctrines, relational theology, and 'open theism'_a story of people, ideas, and events that is brought up to the present in this engaging narrative. Readers will meet the God biographers in the old and new camps. On the one side are Job, Augustine, Boethius, Anselm, Aquinas, and Calvin. On the other side is a group that includes the early Unitarian and Wesleyan thinkers, the process thinkers Alfred North Whitehead, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Charles Hartshorne, and finally a new breed of evangelical philosophers. This story looks closely at the cultural and scientific context of each age and how these shaped the images of God. In the twenty-first century, that image is being shaped by new human experiences and the findings of science. Today, the debate between the old biographers and the new is playing out in the forums of modern theology, courtrooms, and social movements. Larry Witham tells that panoramic story in an engaging narrative for specialists and general readers alike.

The Inconsistency Of John Sanders' Open Theism With Aspects Of Evangelical Bibliogy

This chapter addresses the intersection of open theism and the pastoral problem of evil. It argues that, in spite of what Greg Boyd claims, open theism's implications actually make the pastoral problem of evil more difficult. Boyd explained that he indeed rejected the concept of substitutionary atonement. He opposed understanding the divine economy in a way that implied every bit of Christ's sacrifice had to be accounted for in some particular sin or other. The loving character shown in the picture of the atonement is inconsistent with a God who would act harmfully to the author in other circumstances. The chapter focuses on God's moral trustworthiness and not the trustworthiness of His sovereign ability. Boyd locates open theism's advantage, in responding to the pastoral problem of evil, in the relationship between love and freedom as characterized by the open view.

Ongoing theological discussions persist within evangelical Christian theological circles regarding the question of whether the future is predetermined by God or not. Classical theists assert that God has unequivocally predetermined the future. In this particular arrangement, although the future may be unknown to humans, it already exists and is known by God. According to Classical theists, all moments in time, including the future, exist simultaneously before God. On the other hand, there are Open theists who explicitly reject this deterministic perspective. Open theists believe that the future is yet undetermined and is still in the process of becoming. This article sought to achieve two interconnected theological manoeuvres. Firstly, it aimed to broaden the discussions regarding the nature of the future inside African religious discourse. Secondly, the article aimed to justify the belief that the future is unknown to both God and mankind based on African religious reflection. This task was conducted using analytic theology as a research method. The conclusion drawn is that in African religious thought, the future is perceived as non-existent at present. The article contributes to the field of multicultural theology.

Logical fatalism is the thesis that, necessarily, if the logical principle of bivalence is true, no one acts freely; bivalence is the principle that every proposition is either true or false, and no proposition is both true and false. Theological fatalism is the thesis that, necessarily, if an essentially omniscient God exists, no one acts freely; God is essentially omniscient if and only if God knows the truth value of every proposition, and it is impossible for God to be mistaken about the truth value of a proposition. In what follows, I will present arguments for both kinds of fatalism and consider four types of response: (i) denying the validity of the arguments; (ii) drawing a distinction between hard facts and soft facts (i.e., Ockhamism); (iii) claiming that propositions are not true at times or that God does not have knowledge at times (i.e., Boethianism); and (iv) insisting that the future is open (the open future view) or that God does not know the future (open theism).

Hard determinism, in theological dress, holds that there is no human free will since God is the sufficient active cause of everything that happens in creation. It is surprising that, in the ever-growing literature on the problem of evil, very little attention has been paid to theodicies that adopt a hard determinist outlook. It is commonly assumed that without free will the theodical project is a non-starter. I challenge this long-held assumption by, firstly, developing a cumulative-style theodicy from within a hard determinist framework, and secondly, comparing the merits of such a theodicy with two libertarian rivals, specifically, Molinism and open theism. The hard determinist model of divine providence is, I argue, in no worse shape than the principal models developed by libertarians.

Theological incompatibility argumentssuggest God's comprehensive foreknowledge is incompatible with human free will.Logical incompatibility argumentssuggest a complete set of truths about the future is logically incompatible with human free will. Of the two, most think theological incompatibility is the more severe problem; but hardly anyone thinks either kind of argument presents a real threat to free will. I will argue, however, that sound theological and logical incompatibility arguments exist and that, in fact, logical incompatibly is the more severe problem. A deep analysis of the arguments will reveal that, to avoid a fatalist conclusion, we must reject bivalence and adopt a specific kind of temporal ontology (presentism), which also forces the theist to embrace open theism.

In this paper I argue that the denial of middle knowledge and emphasis on human freedom characteristic of open theism makes the traditional concept of hell even more morally problematic than it would otherwise be. But these same features of open theism present serious difficulties for the view that all will necessarily be saved. I conclude by arguing that the most promising approach for open theists is to adopt a version of contingent, as opposed to necessary, universalism.

In this essay, I assess Timothy Blank’s “The Open Theistic Multiverse.” In his article, Blank attempts to show that Open Theism explains how God can plan the creation of a multiverse containing creatures with libertarian freedom. I underscore some benefits of Blank’s article while arguing that, despite its strengths, his paper fails to provide a sufficient explanation of God’s precreational planning.

Richard Rice. The Future of Open Theism: From Antecedents to Opportunities

An Overview of Open Theism: When, Why and How Did OT Start? What Does It Present?