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.

What is the significance of Matthew 25:41?
The Lord teaches that on the judgment day he will say to the wicked, “Depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels…”
Hell was expressly prepared for “the devil and his angels”; humans were never meant to go there. But if God eternally knew that certain persons would end up going to hell, one must wonder not only why hell was prepared only for wicked angels, but also why he created doomed individuals (or angels) to begin with. Indeed, not to embark on excessive speculation, but it seems reasonable to ask why the Lord bothered to have anyone experience the difficult process of world history at all if he eternally knew what the outcome would be. And, since he is not willing that any should perish (2 Pet. 3:9), why not simply create in heaven those people whom he foresaw would meet the conditions necessary to enter into this state and refrain from creating anyone else?
In short, if the outcome of world history has always been exhaustively settled, the purpose of world history, and especially the purpose of creating people who are foreknown to be damned, is unclear.
Category: Q&A
Tags: Open Theism, Q&A
Topics: Open Theism
Verse: Matthew 25
Related Reading

How do you respond to 1 Kings 8:58?
Solomon prays as he dedicates the temple, “The Lord our God be with us…[and] incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments…” (vs. 57-58). Compatibilists sometimes cite biblical prayers such as this one to support the view that God determines the human heart. If this were the…

What is the Gospel?
Our friend Roger Olson raised this question in response to accusations by Calvinists that those who espouse Arminianism do not “preach the gospel.” The same argument has been made about Open Theists. Olson writes: The complete gospel is communicated in Ephesians 2:8-9: “For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith and that not…

Podcast: Is Open Theism an Accommodation?
Or for that matter is accommodation an accommodation? Greg talks about things that impact God. http://traffic.libsyn.com/askgregboyd/Episode_0407.mp3

Scientific Support for the Open View
If a position is true, every avenue of reflection ought to point in its direction. What follows are two more “pointers” to the view that the future is at least partly open (indefinite, composed of possibilities). I’ll first consider an argument from quantum physics, followed by a pragmatic argument regarding what we ordinarily assume to…

Molinism and Open Theism – Part I
I’ve been asked for the umpteenth time on Twitter lately about the difference between “Molinism” and “Open Theism,” and for some reason, today seemed like a good day to begin addressing this question. I’ll do this in two parts. Today I’ll outline and critique Molinism, and in a subsequent post I’ll raise yet another critique as…

Free Will: Are studies that demonstrate genetic determinism a threat to free will?
Greg shares his continuing thoughts on free will with a thought experiment (and a hand-drawn graph!) granting that we are largely determined by forces outside of our control. If we grant this presupposition, does that mean that free will is an illusion or insignificant? Find out!