Thomas Richard Rice - The Future of Open Theism: From Antecedents to Opportunities

Open theism first attracted the attention of Christian theologians some twenty-five years ago when IVP published a symposium volume by five conservative scholars under the title, The Openness of God: A Biblical Challenge to the Traditional Understanding of God. Within a short time, the ideas presented in the book generated vigorous discussion.

According to the openness of God, Gods essential nature is love, and out of love God chose to bring into existence a world containing creatures endowed with the capacity to love him in return. As a personal being, God seeks a personal relationship with the creatures, so God is intensely interested in, and genuinely affected by, their actions and decisions. God is open to the world, and the world is open to God. Both Creator and creatures contribute to the ongoing course of events, and God experiences these events as they happen. In giving those who bear his image the freedom to return his love, God ran the risk that they might pursue their own goals rather than Gods. But despite the pain their rebellion brought him, Gods commitment to their welfare remains unconditional, and he continues to pursue his goals for creation. The dramatic interchange, the give-and-take, between God and humans that we find in the Bible strongly suggests that God experiences events as they happen. From Gods perspective, therefore, past and future are not the same. In other words, time is real for God.

A lot has happened in the years since the publication of The Openness of God. My purpose in this discussion is to recount some of the notable steps in the development of open theism so far and then to explore some of the ways in which it may continue.

In well look at the arrival of open theism, beginning with the work of several thinkers who anticipated its concerns, largely from their individual study of the Bible. Then well review the contents of the 1994 publication, as well as additional expressions of open theism by some of its early proponents.

Whether it comes up in formal discussion or casual conversation, the topic of God easily gives rise to a host of philosophical and theological issues. So it is no surprise that proposals that deal with God from a novel perspective should generate questions and criticisms. After all, the concept of God is central to Christian theologyso important that it affects the entire range of Christian beliefs. To quote Paul Tillich, The doctrine of God... is the beginning and end of all theological thought.

Those of us who contributed to The Openness of God, along with others who supported its ideas, knew that we were describing a concept of God that differed from more widely accepted views. But we were taken aback at the intensity of the criticism and the price certain open theists were forced to pay. In we will review some of the back and forth between open theists and their critics that occurred within roughly the first decade after the 1994 publication.

Once the first waves of criticism subsided, and it appeared that the open view of God would survive the rather harsh responses that greeted its earlier expressions, a number of more extended and substantive engagements began. As the tone softened, the depth of discussion increased, and soon rather complex arguments arose concerning various features of open theism, along with their scientific and philosophical implications.