Open Theism

Another Religion?

One of the Pastors from the church I attend back in Ohio when I visit my parents for breaks pointed me to a discussion Pastor Gene Cook had with a man from a movement called Open Theism by the name of Bob Enyart. I don't know how much longer the Mp3's will be availible, but as of this afternoon, both Part I and Part II were still availible for listening/downloading.

From what I gather, this position comes out of the argument produced by A.N. Prior against arminianism. I always use it because it is such a devistating argument. The argument goes something like this. Knowledge, by definition, is justified belief. Because arminians believe the future is contingent, given the arminian system, no one could ever justify a belief about what will happen in the future. Therefore, not even God could have knowledge of future events.

In other words, if you say the future is still contingent, you are forced into saying that God's omnicience does not entail foreknowledge. I have never had an arminian agree with this argument, but it sure has been interesting to see them try to get around it. It is one of the most devistating arguments against arminianism I have ever seen.

However, Open Theists, rather than give up free will, have, instead, given up God's exhaustive foreknowledge of future events. This is sad. Why would someone love human autonomy so much that they would be willing to fashion God after themselves rather than vise versa? I have not studied this movement much [although I hope to do so in the future], but I will say that, from hearing Gene Cook's debate, and listening to his interview with Dr. Robert Morey found here, I presently believe that this system is not even Christian. I will do more study before I finally decide in fairness to those who believe in this, but, from what I heard from Gene's debate, we don't even worship the same God.