Several years ago, I was studying eschatology (what’s going to happen at the “end”) in the Bible and ran accross a prominent theologian named Clark Pinnock. Since then, he’s become one of my favorite writers. Pinnock advocates what is often called the “Open Theism” view. I do not pretend to speak for Pinnock or even to try and assert a definition of “Open Theism” that would necessarily coincide with his views, but I do want to explain it the best way I know – and then ask you what you think.
First of all, traditional reformed evangelicalism (aka Calvinism) believes in a high level of predeterminism. That is the idea that God views time (past, present and future) as if it were a single point. Additionally, God is able to view time (a single point) from every direction simultaneously. God knows with absolute certainly the entire past, present and future, but it has all been predetermined. This particular view is gaining support within other fundamentalist churches, such as So. Baptist, and is likely to begin gaining influence even in traditionally Arminian churches, such as Christian Churches and Churches of Christ. So when the Bible speaks of “predestination” it is, according to traditional reformed theology, quite possibly speaking of God’s predetermined outcome for the world as a whole. Not all in the reformed tradition are full five point Calvinists, but it is not unusual to hear those in the reformed tradition speak about this predeterminism as if they were also talking about the Sovereignty of God. In other words, in the mind of a Calvinist, if God does not or can not know the future, then he cannot be defined as sovereign.
On the other hand, the traditional Arminian view is that God’s sovereignty includes the power to create a world with other free agents in which it would be impossible to know the future with concise certainly as free agents are, well, free – and thus, somewhat unpredictable. The idea is that God created the world and predestined, not specifically who would be in Christ, but that all those who put their faith in Christ would be redeemed. Predestination here is limited not to God’s specific choice, but to his general election according to faith in the gospel.
Open Theism is, in my opinion, the natural conclusion of Arminianism. That is that God has a general plan, but the result or conclusion of this plan is somewhat “open.” In other words, God did A, hoping for B, but created action A knowing he might get response C through Z or a myriad or infinite number of responses. With that in mind, God does not nor can he know specifically how the human world will respond to the message of Jesus. This being the case, the end of the world, at present, remains “open.” God then, is fluid in his interaction with the word, but consistent in his character. He is free to choose how he will act or react to humanity, and his actions are not necessarily predetermined in the “reformed” tradition, but his options are predetermined according to his nature and his character.
So, God does A, hoping for reaction B. If God gets reaction B – he may choose to respond once again with C or D, assuming that response C and D are both within his character to do so. So you see, God is not predictable, but neither is he capricious. God is fluid and active in his relationship with men, but is not arbitrary. God is divinely ignorant of how we might respond to him, but he is not incapable of handling with divine grace and authority every situation, no matter how chaotic it might seem to us.
So I ask, what is your position?
Is God sovereign in the reformed tradition? Does God know all past, present and future events in specific detail, having predermined all the specific events of the universe? Is that how you define God’s sovereignty?
Is God sovereign in the Arminian tradition? Is God’s knowledge of the future limited to his ability to predict the behavior of our human free will agency?
Or taken to the extreme – is it possible that God’s knowledge of the future is non-existent – having made us agents of free will, and capable of choosing a path completely unknown to God – even though he is supremely able to handle any choice we make?
What are your thoughts?
While it is not my belief, as I believe in God’s providence, but I see a third possibility in this area.
God gave us free will. We are capable of altering the path that we take through life and what happens after this life is over. But when all is said and done, one path exists through time. One version of history exists for any point in time when one looks back.
With that in mind, knowing how things will end does not imply that He has designed that history. It simply implies that He can see each point in advance.
Interesting Lee. While I’m not by any means a rigid determinist, I cannot at the same time sidestep obvious examples of God’s detailed foreknowledge of individual reactions to the gospel, i.e, Paul.
You expressed Pinnocks thinking when you wrote, “With that in mind, God does not nor can he know specifically how the human world will respond to the message of Jesus. This being the case, the end of the world, at present, remains “open.”
As to the last sentence, I’m not sure what exactly is meant. What is left undetermined? Timing, sequence of events, etc.?
Good Stuff.
Zach Cox
P.S. Thanks for all your help on the phone. If you get a chance, let me know how your experience was with Assist Financial Services.
That is very interesting. I had never heard of open theism. It sort of corresponds something I have thought of occasionally and that is our tendency to automatically ascribe to God everything in an Omni form. It is like if we are going to imagine God, we have to imagine Him as the extreme of everything he might be. I happen to be a determinist, but made an argument the other day that God could not have free will, because being the ultimate of everything He is, he has no options. He cannot do anything that is unwise, for instance. Since the always knows the ultimate BEST choice, how could He ever choose anything other than the ultimately best? Being eternal, all wise, all good, all powerful, all knowing can ironically be very restricting. Humans, OTOH, have a wide range of possibilities because of our imperfections. In other words, predicting what God might do would theoretically be much easier than predicting was a random human might do.
At any rate, that open theism is very interesting and thought provoking.