We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.

Revelation 17:8 refers to people whose names haven’t been written in “the book of life from the creation of the world.” Doesn’t this conflict with open theism?

As in Revelation 13:8, the clause “from the foundation” (apo kataboleis) need not mean “from before the foundation” but simply “from the foundation” (= since the foundation). It’s not that names either were or were not written in the “book of life” before they were ever born. Rather, throughout history, in response to the choices people made, God either wrote or omitted their names from the “book of life.” The fact that names may be blotted out even after they’ve been included (Exod. 32:33; Rev. 3:5, cf. Rev. 22:18) further suggests this “book of life” is not eternally written in stone.

Related Reading

What about the Gospel of John and Calvinism?

Question: The Gospel of John seems to teach that people believe because God draws them, rather than that God draws people because they believe. If this is true, how can you deny the Calvinistic teaching that salvation is based on God’s choice, not ours? Answer: As you note, many people find support for the view…

How Could God Foreknow Peter’s Choice but not Abraham’s? (podcast)

Greg looks at the nature of God’s foreknowledge and testing.   Episode 562 http://traffic.libsyn.com/askgregboyd/Episode_0562mp3.mp3

Why Bart Ehrman Doesn’t Have to Ruin Your Christmas (Or Your Faith) Part 6

This is the sixth of several videos Greg put together to refute Bart Ehrman’s claims published in the article What Do We Really Know About Jesus? In this segment, Greg addresses the apparent discrepancies in the genealogies of Luke and Matthew and the implausibility of the idea that they were simply fabricated. We’ve been hearing that people are using…

Confronting Divine Determinism

Part of the fallen human condition inclines us to shirk our moral responsibility and accept that everything is predetermined, whether by God, the gods, fate, or blind chance. Various forms of determinism have been prevalent in most primitive religions, in much ancient philosophy, in most forms of Islam and even, most surprisingly, in much traditional…

Podcast: Are We REALLY Free if God is Going to Ultimately Trump Our Choices?

Greg looks at the nature of freewill, specifically: how God’s promises constricts human free will. http://traffic.libsyn.com/askgregboyd/Episode_0070.mp3

The God Who Over-Knows The Future

God perfectly knows from all time what will be, what would be, and what may be. He sovereignly sets parameters for all three categories. His knowledge of what might occur leaves him no less prepared for the future than his knowledge of determined aspects of creation. Because he is infinitely intelligent, he does not need…