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Open Theism: A Basic Introduction
Category: General
Tags: Foreknowledge, Open Theism, Satan and the Problem of Evil, Warfare Worldview
Topics: Open Theism
On Monday and Tuesday, Greg explained Molinism and contrasted it against the open view of the future. (Click here for part 1). Because many see the open view as a limited view of God, it’s…
If God Can’t Control, How Can I Trust Him?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Open Theism, Prayer, Problem of Evil
Topics: Open Theism, Providence, Predestination and Free Will
Question: If God can’t always answer our prayers for healing, for example (and I completely understand why—free will etc), then HOW can he promise to bring good out of the bad things that happen? Surely…
Why God Sometimes “Can’t”
Category: Sermons and Video Clips
Tags: Free Will, freedom, God, Prayer, Problem of Evil, Sickness, Warfare Worldview
Topics: Open Theism, Spiritual Warfare, Cosmic Conflict
Greg continues his thoughts on sickness and spiritual warfare by addressing the question of why God “can’t” intervene in some circumstances of illness.
Open2013 Speakers (Video)
Category: Q&A
Tags: Greg Boyd, John Sanders, Open Theism, ReKnew, Tom Oord, Woodland Hills Church
Topics: Open Theism
Here’s all of the videos of the speakers and their Q&A’s from Open2013. Unfortunately, there was a mix-up and we didn’t get Jessica Kelley’s presentation taped. We’re working to get her to speak again so…
Open Theism Timeline
Category: Essays
Tags: Essay, Open Theism, Tom Lukashow, Woodland Hills Church
Topics: Open Theism
Open Theism Timeline by Tom Lukashow An argument that is frequently raised against the open view is that it is a recent innovation. Paul Eddy had discovered Calcidius, a fifth century advocate, and I and…
The Case for Including Open Theism Within Arminianism
Category: Essays
Tags: Arminianism, Essay, Open Theism, Roger Olson
Topics: Open Theism
Here is an excellent post by my good friend Roger Olson in which he makes the case that Open Theism should be embraced by Arminians as an orthodox, if somewhat non-traditional, form of their faith….
How can prayer change God’s mind?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Christian Life, God, Open Theism, Prayer, Theology
Topics: Apologetics, Open Theism
You’ve argued that since God is all-good, he’s always doing the most he can do in every situation to bring about good. But you have also argued that prayer can change God’s mind. How are these two beliefs compatible?
Drumming, Openness, Providence and Whatever
Category: General
Tags: Apologetics, Faith
Topics: Open Theism
Here’s one of four arguments I offer in this essay against the view that an omniscient God must by definition know the future exhaustively as a domain of eternally settled facts.
How can people who believe the open view trust a God who doesn’t control the future and doesn’t know for sure what will happen?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Open Theism, Q&A
Topics: Open Theism, Providence, Predestination and Free Will
It’s true that according to the open view of the future things can happen in our lives which God didn’t plan or even foreknow with certainty (though he always foreknew they were possible). In this…
Doesn’t the open view demean God’s sovereignty?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Open Theism, Q&A
Topics: Open Theism
The Open view demeans God’s sovereignty only if one assumes that “sovereignty” means “meticulous control.” By why think this is the way God wants to rule the world? The biblical narrative presents a God who…
How can you put your trust in a God who’s not in control of everything?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Open Theism, Q&A, Responding to Calvinism
Topics: Open Theism, Providence, Predestination and Free Will
Question: I read your book Is God to Blame? and found it to be very compelling. It’s rocking my world. But I’m also finding I’m now having trouble trusting God like I used to. I…
How do you respond to Genesis 3:15?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Open Theism, Q&A
Topics: Open Theism, Responding to Objections
Verse: Genesis 3
The Lord promises that he will “put enmity between you [the serpent] and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” This is commonly…
How do you respond to Genesis 15:13–15?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Open Theism, Q&A
Topics: Open Theism, Responding to Objections
Verse: Genesis 15
The Lord tells Abraham that his offspring “shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs, and shall be slaves here, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years; but I will bring…
How do you respond to Genesis 16:12?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Open Theism, Q&A
Topics: Open Theism, Responding to Objections
Verse: Genesis 16
The Lord describes Ishmael as “…a wild ass of a man, with his hand against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him.” According to most Old Testament scholars the Lord is describing Ishmael’s descendants as much…
How do you respond to Genesis 25:23?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Open Theism, Q&A
Topics: Open Theism, Responding to Objections
Verse: Genesis 25
The Lord told Rebekah, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples born of you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the elder shall serve the younger.” (cf. Rom….
How do you respond to Genesis 49:10?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Open Theism, Q&A
Topics: Open Theism, Responding to Objections
Verse: Genesis 49
“The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations be his.” In Exodus 32:10-14 God…
How do you respond to Numbers 23:19?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Open Theism, Q&A
Topics: Open Theism, Responding to Objections
Verse: Numbers 23
The Lord tells Balak through Balaam “God is not a human being, that he should lie, or a mortal, that he should change his mind.” This verse (as well as 1 Sam. 15:29, which quotes…
How do you respond to Deuteronomy 30:16–23?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Open Theism, Q&A
Topics: Open Theism, Responding to Objections
Verse: Deuteronomy 30
The Lord tells Moses of his impending death and then prophesies that “this people will begin to prostitute themselves to the foreign gods in their midst…breaking my covenant that I have made with them” (vs….
How do you respond to 1 Kings 13:2–3?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Open Theism, Q&A
Topics: Open Theism, Responding to Objections
Verse: 1 Kings 13
The Lord proclaims against the pagan alter of Jeroboam, “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: ‘A son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and he shall sacrifice on you…