Open Theism

Open Theism, or Free-will Theism, is a theological movement that has arisen within Evangelicalism, which has grown as a public controversy since 1994, when five essays were published by evangelical scholars under the title of "The Openness of God". Open Theism is an alternative to the classical idea of God, constructed upon a single crucial point of difference: Open Theism denies that God is able to know the future. Therefore, Open Theism is a consistent repudiation of any doctrine of predestination.

This is not only a rejection of predestination as it is understood by Calvinism, but also in any alternative version. The writers in favor of Free-will Theism differentiate their views from those of Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, Arminianism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Neo-orthodoxy[?], and Islam, all of which - differently from one another, but similarly over against Open Theism - assert that God has a certain knowledge of the future. Open Theism posits that the mind of God is not settled concerning the future, about what will happen or even about what he will do to accomplish his purposes. The future is entirely open - at least so far as the actions of created beings is concerned - unknown and unknowable to God, according to the openness idea.

See also: Process theology

Books (pro):

• The Openness of God, by Pinnock, Clark H. (Editor), et al ISBN 0830818529
• God of the Possible, by Boyd, Gregory A. ISBN 080106290X

Books (con):

• God's Lesser Glory, Ware, Bruce A. ISBN 1581342292