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Title: God's Lesser Glory: The Diminished God of Open Theism by Bruce A. Ware ISBN: 1-58134-229-2 Publisher: Crossway Books Pub. Date: January, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.05 (20 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A commendable defense against Open Theism
Comment: This is a thought provoking book, although I was not always satisfied with Ware's answer and arguments presented. Ware did a fine job in explaining what Open Theism is and why people are attracted to it. His critique of Open Theism was quite detailed and it shows that he knows his opponents well and is familiar with the materials.
However, there are a few major shortcomings in his arguments:
i) Ware's position would have a hard time dealing with the "Problem of Evil" due to its God-will-always-succeed approach. Ware admitted this in the book. He said he would deal with it in his forthcoming book but I doubt a satisfactory answer would be given. Let's wait and see.
ii) Ware has to have faith in God's benevolence given his position and the problem of evil, while Boyd has to have faith in God's power to be in control even if he does not completely foreknow the future. I do not see any obvious advantage in adopting Ware's position.
iii) Ware did not really address the problem of interpreting some passages in the Bible which portray a God who is vulnerable, say, for example, the book of Hosiah. Boyd's position would be simpler and more consistent than Ware's in explaining this. To me, a vulnerable and suffering God, who is not only loving but is also Love, is a more accurate portrayal than a sovereign king who controls everything.
iv) Ware did not really solve the problem on prayer. Does prayer make any difference after all? How could God truly "respond" to my prayer if the future is already, so to speak, fixed? Again, I could not see any obvious advantage in adopting his position.
I have to say some of Ware's arguments were well put and the overall presentation was clear. I enjoy reading the book. I was nearly convinced by him at some points (e.g. when he talked about Abraham's offer of Issac and God's knowledge about Abraham's thinking and intention). But when I come to think about the overall picture as presented in the Bible, I still tend to agree with Open Theism.
I am glad that Ware pointed out some of the weaknesses in the Open Theist position, which made me reflect upon them seriously. The book serves two purposes:
a) to reconfirm the belief of those agree with Classical Theism (with some good arguments); and
b) to push Open Theists to think about their own position and try hard to rebut through sound exegesis.
Personally, I think Ware's work is the best defense of Classical Theism against Open Theism so far. It is certainly better than Geisler's "Creating God in the Image of Man", which did not present Open Theism's position fairly.
I am now anxiously awaiting Boyd's reply. It will be an interesting debate.
Rating: 4
Summary: Mostly excellent refutation of Boydism
Comment: Bruce Ware has been one of the more prominent evangelicals leading the charge against open theism in evangelical circles. He was one of the key speakers at the most recent meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society which ultimately voted better than 2 to 1 to reject open theism's proposal of a God of limited omniscience. This book is Ware's written attempt to discredit the theology, philosophy, and claims of open theism. For the most part, I think he succeeds.
For everything that is taken up in this book, Ware's analysis is devastating to open theism. Ware effectively cuts through much of the sweet talk that's popular in open theism and methodically exposes the many negative ramifications of the openness view in terms of theology and daily Christian living. Ware's critique is very good in taking somewhat complex theological and philosophical material and making it accessible to lay people without watering down the concepts. He also does a good job of quoting extensively from a number of prominent open theism apologists, particularly Greg Boyd. In my view, after reading this book, it would be highly difficult for someone to try and suggest that Ware was erecting a strawman and arguing against that, rather than fairly discrediting the actual premises of open theism as articulated by its leaders.
I gave the book 4 stars instead of 5 because I thought that Ware's analysis, while outstanding in the areas that are covered, could have been more exhaustive. To me, among the most problematic ramifications of open theism is the reality that open theism, by definition, must acknowledge at the very minimum the possibility of biblical errancy and fallibility. In my view, one cannot consistently be an open theist as well as a believer in biblical inerrancy, since a great deal of the prophetic material written in the Bible requires the exact kind of divine foreknowledge of the future that open theists say God doesn't possess. At the very least, open theism has to acknowledge that their view requires, for example, that the entire book of Revelation MIGHT prove to be wrong, since by their own view, the prophetic proclamations only represent God's best guesses of what might happen, rather than being part of a divine blueprint that's already in place. In addition, the other major theological problem with open theism is that it requires a fundamental redefining of the substitutionary atonement of Christ's death on the cross. If God doesn't know the future, that means that God could not know with absolute certainty that Christ's death would accomplish anything, since it is conceivable that nobody could have responded to it and believed. This raises huge problems both about the character of God (what are we to think of a God who willingly allows His only Son to be brutally sacrificed if He didn't know for sure that anything good would come from it), as well as what Christ's death on the cross is supposed to represent.
Ware has verbally expounded on these critical points in various speeches and lectures, but neither issue is discussed in this book. Because I believe these issues represent monumental theological deficiencies in the openness view, a book worthy of 5 stars would have comprehensively explored these issues. Because Ware does not, I am compelled to give the book 4 stars instead because of its non-comprehensive critique.
But having said that, I strongly stress that what Ware DOES cover in this book is outstanding and represents a very able and formidable refutation of open theism and its implications on the faith overall, as well as individual believers. He effectively shows that open theism is purely a human concoction that requires repeated caveats in order to cover up its rather obvious shortcomings - caveats which are actually in contradiction with the stated principles of open theism. Similar to Geisler's refutation of 'neotheism' in another book, Ware effectively shows not only that open theism is an internally inconsistent mess as a matter of scholarship, but also that open theism cannot deliver on many of the rosy promises it makes to undiscerning Christians who are intrigued by this redefinition of God. Ever since this book came out, Boyd and company have been playing defense, and it is clear why this is.
Rating: 5
Summary: Rigorous exegesis, sound thinking and careful discrimination
Comment: Sometimes the Openness debate generates more heat than light, but Ware's book is a delightful exception.
The volume is shot through with sound exegesis that demonstrates God's exhaustive and definite foreknowledge of the future choices of free agents. Chapter 4 corrects exegetical errors made by Openness Theology, and chapter 5 is Ware's refreshingly careful exegesis of a long list of passages that teach the traditional view.
The book's argument is both penetrating and devastating. Rather than sweep the "partly open future" motif into the "dustbin of anthropomorphism," Ware shows that if an exegete takes the "open future" passages at "face value," as the Openness theologians think we should, then God would be ignorant of the present as well as the past, and He would need reminding of things. A "face value" hermeneutic proves too much for the Open Theists (reductio ad absurdum). The book also gives a helpful definition of the all too often undefined category of "anthropomorphism" on page 86.
Unlike some theologians who have taken up their pens against this contemporary error, Ware rightly and judiciously discriminates between Open Theism and Arminianism. The former is outside the camp of evangelicalism, not the latter. This book never targets Arminianism; instead, it aims directly at the diminished god of Open Theism and proves that he is not the God of the Bible.
Finally, throughout the entire work, the author's tone is urgent but kind, firm but loving, and polemical but pastoral.
I heartily recommend this book to everyone who wants to know what the Bible says about God's knowledge of the future.
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Title: The God Who Risks: A Theology of Providence by John Sanders ISBN: 0830815015 Publisher: Intervarsity Press Pub. Date: November, 1998 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: The Openness of God: A Biblical Challenge to the Traditional Understanding of God by Clark H. Pinnock, Richard Rice, John Sanders, William Hasker ISBN: 0830818529 Publisher: Intervarsity Press Pub. Date: October, 1994 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: No Other God: A Response to Open Theism by John M. Frame ISBN: 0875521851 Publisher: P & R Press Pub. Date: October, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.99 |
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Title: Beyond the Bounds: Open Theism and the Undermining of Biblical Christianity by John Piper, Justin Taylor, Paul Kjoss Helseth ISBN: 1581344627 Publisher: Crossway Books Pub. Date: February, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.99 |
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Title: God of the Possible: A Biblical Introduction to the Open View of God by Gregory A. Boyd ISBN: 080106290X Publisher: Baker Book House Pub. Date: April, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.99 |
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