This new movement has forged yet another idol out
of the warped imagination
of man, for it posits a god who neither fore-knows
the future nor
fore-ordains it
by John M. Brentnall
Professor Watt
of Belfast used to say that the Reformation took place
without the help of Arminianism, and that when it eventually entered
the
Church it did so as a troubler. How true! Its infiltration into Reformed
churches, besides its influence among other religious bodies outside
them,
has caused untold damage.
At its root lies a fatal flaw in its view of the character of God.
By
emphasising the love of God at the expense of His holiness, justice
and
sovereignty, it has both deceived millions of souls as to their salvation
and robbed God of much of His glory.
Just recently Arminianism has spawned a movement which embarrases
even
Arminians by its distortion of the character of God. This movement
is known
as the 'Open Theism' or 'Open-ness of God' school. We feel constrained
to
examine its claims in the light of Scripture because its exponents
are
professing evangelicals who claim to be faithful to Scripture.
At the heart of the 'Open-ness of God' theory is a new model of
God in
relation to His providence. While its leading notions stem from
classic
Arminianism, which stresses the free will of man to respond to
God either
for or against Him, it departs radically from classic Arminianism
in
claiming that the future is unknown to God. This is because the
future is
unknowable. Since it has not yet happened it simply cannot be
known, even
by God. The theory is thus based (let us face it squarely) on
the alleged
ignorance of God and freedom of man. How can man be free, it
is argued, if
God knows already precisely what choices he will make? Consequently,
because God is open to the future as man is, He learns from what
happens in
providence, responds to what happens, and plans for the future
based on
what He knows of the past and the present. Being ignorant of
the future,
God is truly open to new ideas and developments. This being so,
we humans
are to co-operate with Him in shaping the future.
It is in this 'light' that the members of the 'Open-ness of God'
school -
Clark Pinnock, Richard Rice, John Sanders, William Hasker and
David
Basinger - interpret such Biblical events as the Fall (Gen
3), the intended
sacrifice by Abraham of Isaac (Gen 22), the Golden Calf episode
(Exod 32)
and the Crucifixion. According to them God was surprised that
Adam and Eve
made such a rash decision as to disobey Him. Furthermore, He
discovered for
the first time that He could trust Abraham to obey Him. Before
the
patriarch proved his obedience by raising his arm to sacrifice
his son, God
'did not know' whether Abraham would obey or not. 'Now He knows.'
Not only
that, God changed His mind and decided not to destroy idolatrous
Israel
after Moses had interceded for them. Finally, both Father and
Son came to
understand in Gethsemane (and not before) that there was no
other way for
Jesus but the cross. Many such things appear in the group's
symposium: 'The
Open-ness of God: A Biblical Challenge to the Traditional Understanding
of
God.'
Is this the God of the Bible? We think not, for the following
reasons:
1. Holy Scripture expressly reveals God as the One who knows
all things -
past, present and future. 'All things are naked and opened
unto the eyes of
Him with whom we have to do.' (Heb 4.13). 'God ... knoweth
all things.' (1
John 3.20). 'Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew
thee.' (Jer 1.5).
'Now I tell you before it come, that when it is come to
pass, ye may
believe that l am He.' (John 13.19). And so the believer
can pray: 'My
times are in Thy hand.' (Psa 31.15). 'Into Thine hand I
commit my spirit.'
(Psa 31.5).
With reference to the afore-mentioned events, Wilhelmus
a Brakel rightly
says: 'From God's perspective ... everything is an absolute
certainty',
even when it is unknown to us. Man's free agency 'does
not contradict the
certain fore-knowledge of God.' By a truly incomprehensible
concurrence, we
do what God surely knows (and has certainly decreed)
we shall do. As
Charles Hodge says: 'The distinction between knowledge
and foreknowledge is
only in us. There is no such difference in God.' 'Known
unto God are all
His works from the beginning of the world.' (Acts 15.18).
2. Every passage of Scripture in which God seems to be
ignorant of the
future, so that He is said to 'come down' or wait to
see what will happen,
is to be viewed as an accommodation to our time-restricted
limitations. God
often speaks in the manner of men, but this is only
to make us aware that
He knows everything about us. He knows us from all
eternity. Such knowledge
is too wonderful for us. Rather than try to bring it
down to the level of
our ignorance, we should worship and adore Him for
it.
3. Unless God knows the future as well as the past
and present, all
prophecy is nothing but guess-work. But did God guess
that Christ would be
born of a virgin, in Bethlehem, when Judah would
cease to produce an
earthly king? (Isa 7.14; Mic 5.2; Gen 49.10). Did
God guess that His Son
would end His earthly ministry pierced in His hands
and feet, that He would
rise from the dead and reign till all His enemies
would lick the dust
before Him? (Psa 22.16; Psa 16.10; Psa 72.9). The
thought is blasphemous.
God knew all along everything about His Son, for
He is omniscient.
4. If God is ignorant of the future, all prayer to
Him concerning it is
useless. Yet He expressly commands us: 'Ye that
make mention of the Lord,
keep not silence, and give Him no rest, till He
establish, and till He make
Jerusalem a praise in the earth.' (Isa 62.6-7).
Why plead with Him at all
if He is not in absolute control of the future,
as He has been in control
of the past and is in control of the present? Why
ask Him for guidance,
protection or provision, if He is as ignorant of
the future as we are?
This new movement has forged yet another idol out
of the warped imagination
of man, for it posits a god who neither fore-knows
the future nor
fore-ordains it. Such a god does not exist. Well
did John Calvin say that
man's heart is an 'idol factory.'
Classic Arminianism at least believes in One
who fore-knows the future,
even though it erroneously claims that He fore-ordains
it only insofar as
He knows what man will do.
By contrast, classic Calvinism worships the
God who both fore-knows and
fore-ordains whatever comes to pass, according
to the wise and holy counsel
of His inviolable will. And so we may sing
with Joseph Hart:
How good is the God we adore,
Our faithful, unchangeable Friend!
His love is as great as His power,
And knows neither measure nor end.
'Tis Jesus, the First and the Last,
Whose Spirit shall guide us safe home;
We'll praise Him for all that is past,
And trust Him for all that's to come.
John M. Brentnall
Peace and Truth 2002:3 The magazine of the Sovereign Grace Union: www.sgu.org.uk
