A Challenge to Open Theism

A few posts ago I recommended Gregory Boyd's book: Is God To Blame: Beyond Pat Answers to the Problem of Suffering. In my endorsement I laid out a caveat that, despite my endorsement, I might, in fact, end up rejecting some of Boyd's assertions. One of the ideas I do, in fact, reject is Open Theism. Open Theism is the notion that God has set up a universe where He does not have complete foreknowledge when it comes to human actions. While Open Theism does solve some thorny problems in interpreting Scripture, in doing so it creates many more. Personally, I believe there is a middle road between Classical and Open Theism; that God does have complete foreknowledge, so much so that He can influence events in such a way as to ensure His ultimate will is realized while allowing the exercise of human free will within the confines of the natural order He Himself has established. But that discussion is for another post.

In the meantime, for an excellent primer on the Open versus Classical Theism debate see: An Introduction to the Open Theism Controversy