A call to a new Reformation in the teaching and life of Jesus' followers
It’s been a while since I’ve written much on Open Theism, but a Facebook friend of mine, Jacob Matthew Hunt, has prepared an excellent reading list over at the blog The Greatness of the Open God. Take a look at the list here. Some quality stuff by some quality authors!
I’ve been having a variety of discussions with friends lately on the topics of orthodox dogma, the creeds, and related concepts. Regular readers of this blog are well aware of my objection to creeds generally, and to the Nicene Creed in particular. I have recently realized that part of the problem with credal and dogma
Along with a study group in my local church, I just recently read the book Four Views on Divine Providence. Edited by Stanly N. Gundry and Dennis W. Jowers, it’s one of Zondervan’s “Counterpoint” series on theology. In his introduction, Jowers then points out that “Scripture … supplies grounds for a range of answers to significant questions about God’s providence. Does God ever foreordain evil … Continue reading Book Recommendation: Four Views on Divine Providence
For a while now I’ve been reading (and will soon review) the book Chosen Nation by Braden P. (Brad) Anderson. There are a variety of topics in the book that I’m going to want to engage, but one in particular caught my attention last night. In Chapter 7, Brad discusses the work of two writers, Stephen H. Webb and Richard John Neuhaus, both of whom … Continue reading “Thus it is, therefore thus it should be.” Ruminating on a theological fallacy
Greg Boyd tweeted out earlier this week that a friend of his has amassed quite a bit of historical evidence proving the open view was supported by Arminian theologians in 1642. He is working to get data published from Thomas’s work whether in the form of a book or a paper. These findings are significant because much of the claims against those who criticize open … Continue reading Open Theists From the Reformation to the Present
For over 15 years I had been deeply involved in one particular faith based institution. I had given a great deal of time and energy to do everything I could to inspire people to follow Jesus more fully and completely with every aspect of their existence. The last few years of my involvement in this church I had been doing some teaching at the many … Continue reading Are Theology Debates about Fear or Faith?
OK, so you know by now that the authors of this blog subscribe to the Open View of God, also called Open Theism. It’s one of the four points of our ROCK summary of faith distinctives. A key point all Open Theists make is that God does not know a settled, determined future–not because God’s knowledge is limited, but because no settled, determined future exists … Continue reading Life is not a game of chess
When discussing open theism with those who have a problem with it, the idea or fear of control always seems to come out. The argument is that if God does not know the future as one set of eternally settled facts how is he in control or ultimately sovereign? Not only is there all kinds of logical problems with this fear but its rooted in … Continue reading Why Open Theism is Frightening for Some Christians
I’ve said before that Greg Boyd has produced some really good arguments on the Open View of God. Greg’s got a great post on his blog from about a month ago (OK, so I’m a little behind) briefly outlining three really good reasons why determinism (a la Calvinism) is logically untenable. Go check it out! Greg is actually responding to a previous New York Times … Continue reading Food for thought – Greg Boyd on why Determinism must be false
In my previous post on this subject, I examined a number of Biblical references commonly used to promote the idea that God is unchanging. We saw in those scriptures, that the issue being addressed centered largely on the premise that God can be depended upon to keep his word…in other words, unlike humans or other gods of legend, he’s not capricious or fickle. On the … Continue reading Does God Change? Part 2 of 2