Openness of God Movement, or Is Man God?

Sovereignty of God and the Openness of God Movement

© Rev. Dr. Curtis I. Crenshaw 1999 (updated November 2013)

Introduction

“Satan is alive and well on planet earth.” It seems that each gener-

ation has not only to face the old heresies but also new ones. There

are two “new” ones that have been invented in our time: The

word-faith movement (Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth and Gloria

Copeland, Charles Capps, Fred Price at the Crenshaw (!) Christian

Center, John Hagee, Joel Osteen, etc) and the openness of God

movement (with such a notable scholars as Clark Pinnock and

Richard Rice as some of the leaders).

They are not really new, of course, as “there is nothing new

under the sun” when it comes to morality and the Triune God.

The word-faith movement is a metaphysical cult that denies the

Trinity (thus like Eastern religions), removes the deity of Christ in

His earthly life (thus like kenosis and Arianism), has Jesus paying

Satan for the earth (like a few of the early fathers who were con-

demned for that, etc).

The openness of God movement is Socinianism revisited.

Lelio Socinus (1525-62) and his nephew, Faustus Socinus (1539-

1604), denied virtually every vital doctrine of the Church, includ-

ing the Trinity, the substitutionary death of Christ, and the impu-

tation of Christ’s righteousness, but for our purposes we need on-

ly mention their denial of original sin and of predestination. The

two, of course, are united, for if man is not born totally depraved,

then he can set the date of his conversion. Predestination is not

needed. But if man is born so sinful that he cannot even believe,

God must predestine his salvation or else there will be none

saved. Socianism soon moved to England and was absorbed into

Deism, disappearing as a separate movement until now.

Openness of God Movement 2

Furthermore, openness is postmodernism—popular the last

30 to 40 years—which hates absolute truth with a vengeance. Post-

moderns do not believe in Truth (absolutes) but only in truth

(“relative”). They do not want any God over them. But this brand

of postmodern Christianity has created a relative God, one that is

more palatable to its tastes, not one who is sovereign over all

things—that is reserved for man. These people have created a god

after their own image, as Paul states in Romans 1:18ff, wanting to

serve the creature rather than the Creator. Indeed, Paul’s argu-

ment in these verses is that what the heart loves the will embrac-

es and the mind justifies. The hearts of these relative Christians

love their own pretended autonomy, which the will embraces

wholeheartedly, and they use their minds to justify a position al-

ready taken.

I. History

It is disheartening that all the Christian cults have begun in the

USA. In Australia, they say “only in America” could such things

begin. I guess they forgot about Islam that began in the Mid-East.

What makes us so ripe for heresies? Though the Puritans were a

godly generation, yet their knee-jerk reaction to Anglicanism and

to the established church in England sowed two seeds that have

plagued American Christianity. First, we have autonomous indi-

vidualism wherein one thinks that he has no accountability to any

church. The Puritans so divorced themselves from church history

and pushed sola scriptura to such an extreme (“just the Bible and

me”) that they produced an autonomous spirit. Though this was

not a problem at first, as the implications were progressively

worked out, USA Christianity arrived at its present state: a ship at

sea, without anchor in the history of the Church and accountable

to no one. Thus, when the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Science,

Mormonism (etc) arose, they did so allegedly to “restore” Christi-

anity to its pristine state. Instead, they reinstated old heresies. If


one ignores the history of the Church’s fight against heresies, and

ignores the ancient creeds (Apostles’, Nicene, Athanasius), he will

repeat the heresies. Ignorance of potholes only causes one to fall

into them.

Second, the Puritans opened the gates to egalitarianism. The

democratic spirit made everything equal, reducing all to the low-

est common denominator. There could be no experts or authori-

ties over people, especially in the churches, which meant everyone

was an expert. Armed with arrogance against the history of the

Church and with rebellion against those who were called, or-

dained, and educated, the American Church set sail for no-

where—and has arrived! The watchword was “tolerance.” One

must allow any opinion and any approach. Now we have trained

a whole culture to be tolerant of everything except Christianity. We

have pastors of churches who are just one of the “gang,” lightly

esteemed, and basically administrators of entertainment centers.

They are afraid of clerical garb or church names (such as St. James

Anglican Church, or Covenant Presbyterian Church) because

these might suggest a hierarchy of authority or sectarianism. Such

is the plight we have inherited.

II. Openness of God Movement

Now we have the openness of God movement, but this time—

contrary to the Word of Faith Movement, to Mormonism, to

Christian Science, to JWs, and to most of the rest—it is spearhead-

ed by scholars. And evangelicals, who are open to anything in the

name of tolerance and who have no anchor in the history of the

Church and its creeds and who hold to “just the Bible and me,”

are falling prey to the movement. Consequently, the evangelical

Church is losing its doctrine of God that the Church has defended

for 2,000 years. It is also losing its doctrine of Christ to the kenotic

“evangelicals” and to the search for the historical Jesus. If we lose


either of these—not to mention both—nothing of Christianity is

left. It will be an empty shell, a moralistic religion competing with

the others, with nothing unique to offer, eviscerated of all the of-

fenses of the Gospel that has made it the power of God for salva-

tion. May God help us; we need a true revival urgently.

As for learning from other men down through the history of

the Church, listen to what Charles Spurgeon, that great Baptist

preacher in London, said in the later part of the 19th century:

In order to be able to expound the Scriptures, and as an

aid to your pulpit studies, you will need to be familiar

with the commentators: a glorious army, let me tell you,

whose acquaintance will be your delight and profit. Of

course, you are not such wiseacres as to think or say that

you can expound Scripture without assistance from the

works of divines and learned men who have labored be-

fore you in the field of exposition. If you are of that opin-

ion, pray remain so, for you are not worth the trouble of

conversion, and like a little coterie who think with you,

would resent the attempt as in insult to your infallibil-

ity.1

But what is the openness of God movement?2 I don’t think

there is a formal definition of the movement though it has been

1 Spurgeon, Commenting and Commentaries, very first page. 2 I recommend these books as specific rebuttals to the movement: John M.

Frame, No Other God (P&R, 2001), and Robert A. Morey, Battle of the Gods

(Crown Publications, 1989). Frame’s book is by far the better of the two. Of

course, the standard works on God present the truth of the Church and God’s

infallible word, such as J. I. Packer, Knowing God; Charnock, The Existence and

Attributes of God. John Frame also has just written a 900 page tome entitled The

Doctrine of God, also published by P&R. that is excellent. For the evangelical

(Continued at bottom of next page)


described as a “finite god” movement or the “limited knowledge

god” movement. They sometimes define themselves as believing

in the “God who takes risks.” Since He allegedly does not know

the future, He is at risk. Moreover, “openness” is a metaphor they

use to imply that God is “open” to change, that He has left the fu-

ture open, that it is not certain.3 The idea is that God is not all

powerful (omnipotent) and not all knowing (omniscient), but that

He is limited in both, reacting to His creatures and responding to

them in such a way as to eventually realize His plan through mis-

takes, trial, and error. The leaders of the movement admit that this

is a new view in the history of the Church, yet evangelicals are

embracing it with ever-increasing enthusiasm.

They refer to the view they are rejecting as “traditional

theism” or “classical theism” and readily acknowledge

that this has been the theism of Roman Catholicism,

Eastern Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Calvinism, and yes,

Arminianism. . . . Therefore, Pinnock (Systematic Theolo-

gy, p. 104) can understand why “some critics may speak

. . . as if we were advocating a God other than the God of

historic Christianity.” 4

We might add Anglicanism to the list, or just say Protestantism as

all-inclusive. As Strimple rightly observes, that is some chutzpah

to go against the whole Christian Church for 2,000 years!

But what is the reason for the movement? It seems to me and

to John Frame that the main reason is a knee-jerk reaction to pre-

crisis, see John H. Armstrong, editor, The Coming Evangelical Crisis; Iain H.

Murray, Evangelicalism Divided. 3 John Frame, No Other God, p. 18. 4 Robert B. Strimple in John H. Armstrong, editor, The Coming Evangeli-

cal Crisis, 1996, pp. 139, 151.


destination. Evangelical Arminians, such as the Methodists, have

denied that God has predestined all things, though they admit

that He knows all things. Thus Methodists are within the faith.

But the Calvinists rightly respond that if God knows who will be-

lieve in Christ, it is still certain. The Arminians have only removed

predestination from God and transferred it to man as the presesti-

nator, not removed certainty itself. The openness of God leaders

have observed that the Calvinists are right; if God knows all

things, certainty is still a part of reality. But the postmoderns want

nothing of certainty. They want man to have “free will” in such a

way that man predestines who will be saved—not God—and the

only way to have that is to rid God of His knowledge and power.

Thus, to protect their view of “free will,” which is absolute liber-

tarianism, they have re-written the historical doctrine of God.

Open theists argue that omniscience means knowing all

that is knowable, and since the free decisions of crea-

tures are not knowable, ignorance of them does not

count against God’s omniscience . . . which is a direct

echo of the Socinian argument.5

The Socinians lived in the time of the Protestant Reformers, the

sixteenth century, and were considered heretical by both Roman

Catholics and Protestants. “They’re back . . .,” as the movie put it,

and evangelicals are too ignorant to recognize them for what they

are.

III. Openness of God Assumptions

I might add parenthetically that their concept of “free will,” which

is the ability to do good by the fallen human will and to determine

5 ibid., p. 34.


God’s actions, is not based on any exegesis of Scripture. They do

offer exegesis of Scripture on other matters but not on this one. As

is often the case with various “new” theologies, the prime pre-

supposition is not justified but assumed (a priori). The only argu-

ment one will hear is something like this: “It would be unjust for

God to require of man what he cannot do.” Or, “It would be un-

just for God to command sinful man to believe in Christ if he can-

not do so.” And if God knew in advance who would believe, it

would be certain, which is reprehensible to them. Thus even God

does not know those who are His until they believe. Since God

does not know, they must have the innate ability to believe and to

surprise God with this gift of faith to Him. But even this belief

may not last, and since God cannot know future decisions of His

people, tomorrow one may not be His. His today, gone tomorrow,

and God has no say, no knowledge, no certainty to offer His peo-

ple. Thus the passage that says “The Lord knows who are His”

(2 Timothy 2:19) must be wrong. One wonders what will happen

to these people if they make it to heaven, for given this theology it

is possible for them to will themselves out of heaven, and even

God does not know if they will do that, or which ones will do it.

This would mean that the promises of God are not “yea and

amen” but “maybe and possible.”

But how do they arrive at this ability of man? They assume

that ought (command) means ability. This non-negotiable and de-

terminative presupposition that ought means can (ability) is a phil-

osophical assumption that is imposed on Scripture, but it is specifi-

cally denied by Holy Scripture. For them the command “believe” has

attached to it the ability “I can”; otherwise, God is indicted at the

bar of human justice for being unjust, not fair.


IV. Biblical Statements Against Openness of God Movement

In contrast to this, the Lord Himself specifically stated: “No one

can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I

will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44). The word “come”

means “believe” as is easily seen in the parallel in verse 35 where

Jesus identifies coming to Him with believing in Him.

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes

to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me

shall never thirst” (John 6:35).

Thus the Lord is saying that no one can believe (inability) in Him

unless the Father grants it. The response one usually receives is

that the Father grants such to everyone, but the next verse in John

6 rules that out:

“It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be

taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and

learned from the Father comes to Me” (6:45).

The “all” who are taught are obviously the elect, for all these

“come to” or believe in Christ. Thus, no one can believe unless the

Father draws him, and all the Father “teaches” or “draws” will

indeed believe in Christ. (See also Romans 9:14-22; John 10:26-27;

1 Peter 2:7-8, etc.)

We could quote many other such passages (and will below),

but for now just consider Matthew 11:27:

All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and

no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does any-

one know the Father except the Son, and the one to

whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

Since the Garden, Satan has tempted man to be God (“You

shall be as God, knowing good and evil”), and ever since man has


devised ways to make himself god of the universe with the Triune

God as the errand boy. I’ve studied cults for years, and I have

never seen a cult that believed in the sovereignty of God, unless

we include Islam! They all want God to be the responder while

they are the initiators. But it is rather unique for otherwise evan-

gelicals to embrace Satan’s bait, contravening His omniscience

and omnipotence. We now have competition for godhood. At one

moment He is God, and at the next moment we are gods.

Let us consider Holy Scripture regarding the sovereignty of

God under various headings:

The Decree of God:

The LORD of hosts has sworn, saying, “Surely, as I have

thought, so it shall come to pass, and as I have pur-

posed, so it shall stand.” This is the purpose that is pur-

posed against the whole earth, and this is the hand that

is stretched out over all the nations. For the LORD of

hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is

stretched out, and who will turn it back? (Isa 14:24, 26-

27).

Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient

times things that are not yet done, saying, “My counsel

shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,” Calling a

bird of prey from the east, the man who executes My

counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I

will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also

do it (Isa 46:10-11).

But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases

(Ps 115:3).

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being pre-

destined according to the purpose of Him who works


all things according to the counsel of His will (Eph

1:11).6

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And

in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned

for me, when as yet there were none of them (Psalm

139:16).

He controls nations and human choices:

The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;

He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect (Psalm

33:10).

The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the riv-

ers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes (Prov 21:1).

For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose,

to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the

beast, until the words of God are fulfilled (Rev 17:17).

Think about it. What significant events are not the result of crea-

turely choices? As Strimple rightly perceives, even the smog over

Houston is caused by the millions of daily choices of humans, and

apparently God has no control over the smog or even knows

whether it will be a problem in the future.7 Yet God’s sovereignty

is not a metaphysical force that causes people to choose contrary

to their wills. Man’s slavery is not metaphysical; it is ethical,

which means he chooses what he likes without coercion. Man is

enslaved to his immoral choices, and he is powerless to change.

Thus, his slavery is ethical, to sin. But man is not a robot. His deci-

6 John Frame states that he has not been able to find any open theist who

deals with this verse, No Other God, p. 87. 7 Strimple, The Coming Evangelical Crisis, p. 143.


sions come from his heart, which is the source that produces the

wicked choices, and the decisions are not coerced but natural,

“free,” self-determined. Man chooses what he pleases. God’s con-

trol is a mystery, allowing man to choose freely yet controlling in

such a way that His decreed will comes to pass even though His

revealed will in Holy Scripture may be different. This is indeed a

mystery. For example, God foreordained the crucifixion of His

Son (decreed will) even though murder was a violation of His Ten

Commandments (revealed will, see Acts 4:27-28 below).

“Free-will” in the ultimate sense is a myth. Only God has that.

Usually what is meant is that man’s will is self-determined with-

out outside forces. But a little reflection will demonstrate that is

true in one sense and not in another. It is not true in that fallen

man is enslaved to the world, the flesh (Romans 8:5-8, an inside

force), and the devil (“taken captive by the [devil] to do his will,”

2 Timothy 2:26). Therefore, the only way one can come to Christ is

by the free grace of God, a gift, not earned by his will; otherwise,

he will always decide against Him. It is true that man chooses

without some force making him choose and that his will is real

and not coerced. We have no real sense that we are being made to

choose when we do bad things, and in the crucifixion of Christ

there is no indication that anyone was forced to partake. Judas did

what he wanted, as did Pilate and the Jewish leaders (Acts 4:26-

28), yet what they did is what God had predestined:

‘The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers

were gathered together Against the LORD and against

His Christ.' For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus,

whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,

with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered

together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose

predestined to occur. (partially my translation)


Wicked men did what they wanted, and God predestined. We

must balance God’s sovereignty and our choices like a see-saw. If

we try to solve that delicate balance, we’ll end with problems. If

God did not have a choice but only saw what would happen (the

see-saw tilted toward man), we would wonder how Christ was

crucified before the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8), which in-

cluded the choices of sinful people. If man did not have a choice

(see-saw tiled toward God), we are robots without choices, and

how can one be held accountable for choices he really did not

make.

Moreover, the alleged problem is not between man’s alleged

“free will” and God’s sovereignty but between God’s sovereignty

and man’s accountability. Man’s will is enslaved and thus not free

in the sense of no influences. In other words, man does what he

wants to do, and what he wants to do is determined by the world,

the flesh, and the devil. It takes the grace of God to empower the

will to choose otherwise. That man is accountable is clear, but

even this tension is not a problem in Holy Scripture.8 Notice from

these passages that though God has determined human events,

yet man is still accountable, and that God does not explain the

tension:

“Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and

foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless

hands, have crucified, and put to death” (Acts 2:23).

You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault?

For who has resisted His will?” But indeed, O man, who

are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say

to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like

8 As Strimple notes, but so have I for over 40 years.


this?” Does not the potter have power over the clay,

from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and

another for dishonor? (Rom 9:19-21).

“And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been deter-

mined, but woe to that man [Judas] by whom He is be-

trayed!” (Luke 22:22).

So-called chance actions are in His control:

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from

the LORD (Prov 16:33).

However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered

him into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place

where he may flee (Ex 21:13).

Now a certain man drew a bow at random, and struck

the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So he

said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and take

me out of the battle, for I am wounded” (1 Kings 22:34;

this was in fulfillment of prophecy).

He controls natural events:

25 For He commands and raises the stormy wind, which

lifts up the waves of the sea. 26 They mount up to the

heavens, they go down again to the depths; their soul

melts because of trouble. 27 They reel to and fro, and

stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end. 28

Then they cry out to the LORD in their trouble, and He

brings them out of their distresses. 29 He calms the storm,

so that its waves are still. 30 Then they are glad because

they are quiet; so He guides them to their desired haven.

31 Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His

goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children

of men! 32 Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the


people, and praise Him in the company of the elders (Ps

107:25-32).

15 He sends out His command to the earth; His word runs

very swiftly. 16 He gives snow like wool; He scatters the

frost like ashes; 17 He casts out His hail like morsels; who

can stand before His cold? 18 He sends out His word and

melts them; He causes His wind to blow, and the waters

flow (Ps 147:15-18).

Consider that God used the great flood to judge the whole world,

some kind of fire and hail to judge Sodom and Gomorrah, the Red

Sea to deliver His people Israel, locusts to judge Israel (Joel 1:4),

and many other things.

He is sovereign over the sinful choices people make, controlling

sin itself in the mystery of His providence (though He is not the

author or sin):

“But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God

meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this

day, to save many people alive” (Gen 50:20; Joseph to his

brothers).

Again the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel,

and He moved David against them to say, “Go, number

Israel and Judah” And God was displeased with this

thing; therefore He struck Israel (2 Sam 24:1). Now Satan

stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Is-

rael (1 Chron 21:1). And God was displeased with this

thing; therefore He struck Israel. So David said to God,

“I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing;

but now, I pray, take away the iniquity of Your servant,

for I have done very foolishly” (1 Chron 21:7-8; thus we

see that God used Satan to cause David to number Israel,

and then He punished David for it).


So the king did not listen to the people; for the turn of

events was from the LORD, that He might fulfill His

word, which the LORD had spoken by Ahijah the Shi-

lonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat (1 Kings 12:15).

And the LORD said, “Who will persuade Ahab to go up,

that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?” So one spoke in this

manner, and another spoke in that manner. Then a spirit

came forward and stood before the LORD, and said, “I

will persuade him.” The LORD said to him, “In what

way?” So he said, “I will go out and be a lying spirit in

the mouth of all his prophets.” And the LORD said,

“You shall persuade him, and also prevail. Go out and

do so.” “Therefore look! The LORD has put a lying spirit

in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the

LORD has declared disaster against you” (1 Kings 22:20-

23).

O LORD, why have You made us stray from Your ways,

and hardened our heart from Your fear? Return for Your

servants’ sake, the tribes of Your inheritance (Isa 63:17).

“For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You

anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gen-

tiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to

do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined

before to be done” (Acts 4:27-28, or as the NASV rightly

translates: “to do whatever Thy hand and Thy purpose

predestined to occur”).

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is

common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow

you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with

the temptation will also make the way of escape, that

you may be able to bear it (1 Cor 10:13).


He is also sovereign over salvation:

When the wicked spring up like grass, and when all the

workers of iniquity flourish, it is that they may be de-

stroyed forever (Psalm 92:7).

The LORD has made all for Himself, yes, even the wick-

ed for the day of doom (Prov 16:4).

At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Fa-

ther, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden

these things from the wise and prudent and have re-

vealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed

good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me

by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Fa-

ther. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son,

and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matt

11:25-27).

“He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do

not hear, because you are not of God” (John 8:47).

“But you do not believe, because you are not of My

sheep, as I said to you” (John 10:26).

But although He had done so many signs before them,

they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the

prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “Lord, who

has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of

the LORD been revealed?” Therefore they could not be-

lieve, because Isaiah said again: “He has blinded their

eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with

their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts

and turn, so that I should heal them.” These things Isai-

ah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him (John

12:37-41).


“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed

you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your

fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in

My name He may give you” (John 15:16).

Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and

glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been

appointed to eternal life believed (Acts 13:48).

He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world,

that we should be holy and without blame before Him in

love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus

Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His

will (Eph 1:4-5).

For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not

only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake

(Phil 1:29).

For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salva-

tion through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess 5:9).

And for this reason God will send them strong delusion,

that they should believe the lie, that they all may be con-

demned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure

in unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks to

God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, be-

cause God from the beginning chose you for salvation

through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the

truth (2 Thess 2:11-13).

Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not

according to our works, but according to His own pur-

pose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus be-

fore time began (2 Tim 1:9).


For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago

were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men,

who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny

the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ (Jude 4).

They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which

they also were appointed (1 Peter 2:8).

(for the children not yet being born, nor having done any

good or evil, that the purpose of God according to elec-

tion might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), it

was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” As

it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with

God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, “I will have

mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have

compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So

then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but

of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to

Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up,

that I may show My power in you, and that My name

may be declared in all the earth.” Therefore He has mer-

cy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens

(Rom 9:11-18).

Consider the general wisdom and knowledge of God:

Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His under-

standing is infinite (Psalm 147:5).

“But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and

He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will

be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of

your head upon your bed, were these” (Daniel 2:28).

At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Fa-

ther, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden


these things from the wise and prudent and have re-

vealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed

good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me

by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Fa-

ther. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son,

and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matt

11:25-27).

Consider God’s knowledge of the thoughts of His creatures:

“When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or

mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemy be-

sieges them in the land of their cities; whatever plague

or whatever sickness there is; whatever prayer, whatever

supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people

Israel, when each one knows the plague of his own

heart, and spreads out his hands toward this temple:

then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive,

and act, and give to everyone according to all his ways,

whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts

of all the sons of men), that they may fear You all the

days that they live in the land which You gave to our fa-

thers” (1 Kings 8:37-40).

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately

wicked; who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart,

I test the mind, even to give every man according to his

ways, according to the fruit of his doings (Jer. 17:9-10).

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his ap-

pearance or at the height of his stature, because I have

refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for

man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD

looks at the heart” (1 Sam 16:7).


“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your fa-

ther, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing

mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands

all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be

found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you

off forever” (1 Chron 28:9).

But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He

knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testi-

fy of man, for He knew what was in man (John 2:24-25).

Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter,

“It is the Lord!” Now when Simon Peter heard that it

was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had

removed it), and plunged into the sea (John 21:7).

And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all

things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom

we must give account (Heb 4:13).

“I will kill her children with death, and all the churches

shall know that I am He who searches the minds and

hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to

your works” (Rev 2:23).

God is greater than our heart, and knows all things (1

John 3:20).

If God does not control choices in some mysterious way

(without forcing the will) and is subject to the will of man, not

knowing the future, how did He predict the coming of Christ?

How could Paul say that “when the fullness of the time had come,

God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law”

(Galatians 4:4)? This verse says that God controlled events so that

His Son’s incarnation was right on schedule, His schedule. Were

all the types and shadows of the Old Testament only guesses that

God made, hoping to work out a time when He could send His


Son, wrenching Himself into anxiety until He could work around

man to bring it about? Who could trust such a deity for the future?

How could His promises be relied on, for the devil or someone

else may thwart His will, and even God cannot tell you the future!

Now the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds should read: “I believe in

God the Father limited”—not Almighty. Or “I believe in God the

Father finite, or impressive, or potent, transcendent, mighty, powerful,

anything but Almighty! Of course, the whole Christian Church is

wrong, according to them, but they are right. That every Christian

scholar who has lived has rejected their view does not deter them.

That both the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestants rejected

Socianism only fuels their fire the more.

The open theists assure us that if plan A does not work, God

is ready with plan B, and then with plan C, and so on. Given

enough time, they confidently assert, God will win. But how do

they know He will win since neither they nor He know the future?

As Strimple states, this sounds like evolutionary theory, given

chance and enough time anything can happen, even this world of

balance and design. And what will change the natures of these

creatures to suddenly make righteous choices that they have nev-

er made in the past? The whole theory is fraught with difficulties.

In relationships, we are sometimes anxious that someone we

love may find out what we are really like. A great blessing of mar-

riage is being loved for who we are, accepting the faults. But sup-

pose our spouse were to find out that we had committed murder,

are committing incest, and were secretly a worshipper of Satan.

That surprise would end the relationship. One of the most pre-

cious concepts of the Gospel is that there are no surprises for God,

for He knows what we are like, reading the heart and thoughts,

and still accepts us for Christ’s sake. But with the open theists,

God would be confronted with surprises regarding what we are


really like as we progressively reveal ourselves to Him over time.

How would that change our relationship with Him?

Ironically, the traditional concept of God is accused of being

pagan, of reading Greek philosophy into the Bible. To the contra-

ry, however, open theists’ concept of God is not Christian at all

but classically pagan. If their view were true, we would have the

return of limited pagan gods, whose desires could only be fulfilled

by warring with other deities, namely us.

Consider God’s knowledge of the future:

And if you say in your heart, “How shall we know the

word which the LORD has not spoken?”—when a

prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing

does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which

the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it

presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him (Deut

18:20-21).

“Present your case,” says the LORD. “Bring forth your

strong reasons,” says the King of Jacob. “Let them bring

forth and show us what will happen; Let them show the

former things, what they were, that we may consider

them, and know the latter end of them; or declare to us

things to come. Show the things that are to come hereaf-

ter, that we may know that you are gods (Isa 41:21-23).

The coming of Messiah is predicted in Isaiah 53; 7:14; 9:6-7

and many other places, and the time of Messiah is also predicted

(Gal. 4:4).

Conclusion

I trust this short study may inoculate you against this new move-

ment, and anchor you to the Bible and to the Church’s teach-

ing―all churches, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and


Protestant―that our Triune God is sovereign, knowing the end

from the beginning, and that we can rest in His infinite knowledge

that nothing takes Him by surprise.


Appendix

John Calvin’s refusal to reply to the curious questions pro-

posed to him by Lelio Socinus:9

You are deceived in so far as you entertain the impres-

sion that Melanchthon does not agree with us on the

doctrine of predestination. I only said briefly that I had a

letter written by his own hand, in which he confessed

that his opinion agreed with mine. But I can believe all

you say, as it is nothing new for him to elude in this

matter, the better to rid himself of troublesome inquiries.

Certainly no one can be more averse to paradox than I

am, and in subtleties I find no delight at all. Yet nothing

shall ever hinder me from openly avowing what I have

learned from the word of God; for nothing but what is use-

ful is taught in the school of this master. It is my only

guide, and to acquiesce in its plain doctrines shall be my

constant rule of wisdom. Would that you also, my dear

Lelio, would learn to regulate your powers with the

same moderation! You have no reason to expect a reply

from me so long as you bring forward those monstrous

questions. If you are gratified by floating among those

aerial speculations, permit me, I beseech you, an humble

disciple of Christ, to meditate on those things which

tend towards the building up of my faith. And indeed I

shall hereafter follow out my wishes in silence, that you

may not be troubled by me. And in truth, I am very

9 1551, Letter 289. Calvin and Melanthon were constantly pestered by

Lelio and his nephew, the two heretics writing many letters to the Reformers.

Most of the letters went unanswered.


greatly grieved that the fine talents with which God has

endowed you, should be occupied not only with what is

vain and fruitless, but that they should also be injured

by pernicious figments. What I warned you of long ago,

I must again seriously repeat, that unless you correct in

time this itching after investigation, it is to be feared you

will bring upon yourself severe suffering. I should be

cruel towards you did I treat with a show of indulgence

what I believe to be a very dangerous error. I should

prefer, accordingly, offending you a little at present by

my severity, rather than allow you to indulge unchecked

in the fascinating allurements of curiosity. The time will

come, I hope, when you will rejoice in having been so

violently admonished. Adieu, brother10 very highly es-

teemed by me; and if this rebuke is harsher than it ought

to be, ascribe it to my love to you. [Emphasis added]

10 Calvin does not mean Christian brother.

Openness of God Movement, or Is Man God?

Documents

Transcript of Openness of God Movement, or Is Man God?