Choice
What Does It Mean that God Hardens Hearts?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Choice, Determinism, Free Will, Is God to Blame?, Open Theism, Predestination
Topics: Interpreting Violent Pictures and Troubling Behaviors
Some argue that passages which speak of God hardening human hearts (Jos 11:19-20; Ex 7:3; 10:1; Rom 9:18) demonstrate that God controls everything, including people resistant to this declared intentions. He hardens whomever he wills,…
Why You Have Free Will
Category: General
Tags: Choice, Free Will, Open Theism
Topics: Free Will and the Future
God’s decision to create a cosmos that was capable of love and that was, therefore, populated with free agents (see previous post) was also a decision to create and govern a world he could not…
To What Extent is the Future Open to Real Possibilities?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Choice, Free Will, Future, Judgment, Open Theism
Topics: Free Will and the Future
We frequently get questions about the extent to which the future is composed of actual possibilities rather than settled or determined. Here’s what Greg has to say in response to these questions: 1. We can…
Lighten Up: Open Theism T-Shirt
Category: General, Lighten Up
Tags: Choice, Free Will, freedom, Lighten Up, Open Theism
T-shirt on Zazzle designed by Jin_roh.
God Does Not Always Get What He Wants
Category: General
Tags: Choice, Free Will, God's Will, Love, Problem of Evil, Salvation
Topics: Providence, Predestination and Free Will
One of the ways the Bible makes it clear that humans have free will and that God doesn’t predetermine human decisions is found in the responses God has toward human choices. Scripture consistently depicts God…
Molinism and Open Theism – Part I
Category: Q&A
Tags: Calvinism, Choice, Determinism, Free Will, God, Molinism, Open Theism
Topics: Open Theism What it is and is not, Providence, Predestination and Free Will
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…
When Good Choices Are Not Enough
Category: General
Tags: Choice, Dave Ramsey, Oppression, Poverty, Privilege, Rachel Held Evans
J J via Compfight Our friend Rachel Held Evans posted on the CNN Belief Blog in response to a blog on Dave Ramsey’s website entitled The 20 Things Rich People Do Every Day. Rachel points out, rightly,…
Hearing and Responding to God: Part 7 (Final)
Category: General
Tags: Action, Choice, Hearing God, Prayer
Topics: Hearing God, Prayer
Here’s Greg’s final installment of this series (for real). Today he discusses our default settings when taking action. Do you generally do what is reasonable and seems right unless God says no, or do you…
Hearing and Responding to God: Part 2
Category: Q&A
Tags: Choice, Hearing God, Open Theism, Prayer, Video Q&A, Warfare Worldview
Topics: Hearing God, Prayer
In this video, Greg continues his thoughts about the difficulties we can encounter when we try to hear God speaking to us. You can view the first part here.
Hearing and Responding to God: Part 1
Category: Sermons and Video Clips
Tags: Choice, Free Will, Hearing God, Open Theism, Prayer, Video Q&A, Warfare Worldview
Topics: Hearing God, Prayer
A reader contacted Greg asking about making “right decisions” assuming an open future and in light of the fact that God seems to rarely speak clearly. In this first response, Greg acknowledges that even with…