Openness Theology

 

openness-theologyOpenness Theology is the belief that God does not know the future. Rather than the future being determined or known by God, it is ‘open’ to Him. This theological heresy is sweeping evangelicalism and poses a grave threat to the “faith once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 3) Below is Pastor Jim’s seven-part series on Openness Theology which appeared in our newsletter from September 2004 to April 2005.

God Under Attack! (Part 1): What is Openness Theology and who are the primary authors and teachers who are promoting this teaching?

How Smart Is Your God?(Part 2): Just exactly what does God know, how does He know it, and what does Openness Theology teach about the omniscience of God?

What Did Christ Really Do At The Cross? (Part 3): See how Openness Theology’s denial of God’s perfect omniscience skews their belief concerning the atonement of Christ.

The Omniscience of God and Suffering (Part 4): Where is God when we suffer? Does Openness Theology really make God more personal and real to the sufferer?

The Omniscience of God and Prayer (Part 5): If God knows everything, then why pray? Does Openness Theology’s view of a God with limited knowledge really make prayer more meaningful and intimate?

The Golden Calf of Freewill Theism (Part 6): What is all this talk about “free will?” See how Openness Theology’s a priori commitment to man’s absolute freedom becomes idol before which all essential doctrines are compromised.

Living With The Mystery (Part 7): God is by nature and by definition ‘mysterious.’ Should we therefore seek to explain the unexplainable, or should we resolve to live with the God who is “darkness to the intellect but sunshine to the heart?”

Recommended Resources on Openness Theology

Whatever Happened to the Reformation? Edited by Gary L. W. Johnson and R. Fowler White

Their God is Too Small by Bruce A. Ware