Omniscience and the Openness of God

Articles:

• God's Foreknowledge, Predestination, and Human Freedom - by Dennis Bratcher. This article is a marvelous overview of many of the issues involved in a discussion of absolute foreknowledge. For anyone looking for an introduction to the subject, this may very well be the best place to start. From the Christian Resource Institute web site.

• A Discussion on the Sovereignty of God and Foreknowledge - a series of posts to a forum discussing this vital subject.

• A Response to John Piper - by Dr. Gregory A. Boyd. The author responds to criticism to his earlier works and his view of future realities. An excellent source of answers to objections to the open view.

• A Study in the Greek: Katabole - by Howard R. Elseth. A study on the original language behind the phrases translated "from (or before) the foundation of the world."

• A Study of God's Foreknowledge - by Tim Sauder. A biblical perspective on Foreknowledge.

• The Bible and the Open View of the Future - by Dr. Gregory A. Boyd. The author is assistant professor of theology at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has written a number of books revolving around the "open" view of God and the future. This article is an excerpt from an upcoming book.

• Biblical Predestination vs. Determinism - by Dean Harvey. What does the Bible really teach about predestination?

• Committee for Review of Dr. Gregory Boyd's View of God - by Dr. Gregory A. Boyd. One of the most fair descriptions of the "open" view that one will find, foregoing all emotionalism and sensationalism and simply presenting the theological framework as held by the author, not as charged by his opponents.

• Cosmic Chess - by Winkie Pratney. Using a creative metaphor, the article explores God's relationship to His creation and the concept of exhaustive foreknowledge of future free choices of free moral agents.

• Go to web for The Death of Jesus: Historically Contingent or Divinely Ordained? - by Jirair Tashjian. A detailed essay examining from a biblical perspective the tension between the death of Jesus as predestined by God, or as the result of human decisions; concludes by examining the implications of this tension for theories of the atonement.

• Divine Omniscience and the Openness of God and Human Freedom - by Donald H. Wacome, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, Northwestern College, Orange City, Iowa. A good introduction to the philosophical complexities revolving around this subject. Originally printed in the Review of the Evangelical Philosophical Association.

• Does God Change His Mind? - by Charles Fisher. A brief survey of the scriptures indicating God does indeed change His mind and an answer to some common objections. Good basic study for those exploring the scripturalness of the doctrine of divine nescience.

• Ephesians 1:3-14 - An Exposition - by Gordon C. Olson. Using sound hermeneutics, Olson explains the meaning of a passage often presented as support of absolute divine foreknowledge.

• The Eternity of God - by Bo Bolding. Exploring the nature of time and eternity as relating to God and ourselves.

• Go to web for Ezekiel and the Oracles against Tyre - by Dennis Bratcher. An analysis of Ezekiel's two oracles against Tyre (26, 29), with a discussion of the nature of OT prophecy and the nature of Scripture. Many people use "prophecy" to support a belief in absolute foreknowledge. This article shows the problems with that belief.

• Foreknowledge - by Bruce Moylan. The author provides a brief survey of Old Testament passages to see if the concept of absolute foreknowledge of future contingencies is plausible.

• Divine Nescience of Future Contingencies a Necessity - by L. D. McCabe,. Though published later, this work forms an introduction to the concepts and reasonings presented in McCabe's other work on Foreknowledge.

• The Foreknowledge of God - or, The Omniscience and the Openness of God of God Consistent with His Own Holiness and Man's Free Agency - by Joel S. Hayes. Next to the work of L. D. McCabe, this may be the best general work on the divine nescience view of Omniscience and the Openness of God that I have come across. The author deals thoroughly with both scriptural evidence for and objections to the doctrine. You will need Adobe Acrobat. Size 906kb.

• God and the Future: A Brief Outline of the Open View - by . Dr. Gregory A. Boyd. Just what the title says, Dr. Boyd gives an outline of the Open view and brief responses to some general challenges.

• The Foreknowledge of God and Cognate Themes in Theology and Philosophy - by L. D. McCabe, D.D., LL. D. Dr. McCabe's exhaustive study on the issue of divine foreknowledge. This is a must read to study this concept in light of 19th Century evangelical thought.

• Is Innate Foreknowledge Possible to a Temporal God? - by Kel Good. The author examines the theory of William Lane Craig and shows where it falls short.

• Omniscience and Freedom: A Case for the Opposition - by Dr. Ron Barnette, Department of Philosophy, Valdosta State University. Presenting the logical contradiction of absolute foreknowledge of future free choices. A purely philosophical paper presented as an example of the consequences of the classical view of Omniscience and the Openness of God.

• On Divine Nescience - by Bird Weaver. A 19th Century letter to the editor of a religious paper exploring this issue.

• The Open View of God: Practical Implications - by David Basinger. Professor of Philosophy at Roberts Wesleyan College, Rochester, New York, Basinger looks at some practical implications of freewill theism and the open view of God and compares them with the implications of other views. Reprinted from Mars Hill, no copyright credited, though the material appears identical to Basinger's chapter in The Openness of God : A Biblical Challenge to the Traditional Understanding of God.

• The Open View of the Future - by Dr. Gregory A. Boyd. A skeleton of the author's position on the "open" view of God and the future. Very good introduction to this view.

• What is time and when did time start? - Very interesting work. A MUST read.

• Predestination As Temporal Only - by J. Kenneth Grider. Grider takes a scriptural survey of the use of the word "predestined" and its cognates and comes to the conclusion that it only relates to temporal matters of believers, not eternal destiny of anyone!

• Preface and Introduction: The God of the Possible" - by Dr. Gregory A. Boyd. Another excerpt from an upcoming book, Dr. Boyd relates his experience in coming to the "open" view and a general introduction to the view as well as his new book.

• Proginosko - A Word Study - by Charles Fisher. A basic word study on the five occurrences of the Greek word translated "foreknowledge" in the New Testament. A nice introduction to the biblical issues involved in the scriptural testimony concerning God's Omniscience and the Openness of God.

• Theological Lawbreaker? A Response to Stephen Williams - By John Sanders. The author of The God Who Risks responds to a review of the same.

• Time And What To Do With It - by Robert W. Greaves. A brief observation on the nature of time.

• What Do We Know About the Influence of Philosophy on the Church's Concepts of the Omniscience and the Openness of God and Being of God In the Light of the Bible? - by Gordon C. Olson. A brief survey on how post-apostolic church fathers' theology was influenced by Greek philosophic thought.