Why You Should Be Concerned

A Future Unknown to Us and ... to God?

Life contains daily reminders of our limited human knowledge. How often, and for how many different reasons, do we think to ourselves, "If only I had known ..."? Have you ever sat frustrated behind the wheel of your car in an unexpected traffic jam because you didn't know that a stalled car up ahead was blocking the lane? No doubt you thought, "If only I had known, I would have turned off and taken a different route." Or have you agonized over an unforeseen accident that happened to one of your children? You naturally think, for example, "Had I known she was about to slip, I would have held her hand." Yet we realize that even the wisest and most perceptive drivers and parents endure traffic jams and injuries in part because they simply cannot know what the future holds.

But think for a minute. What if this inability to see into the future is true not only for human beings but for God as well! What if God in fact faces the same limitations as we do in not being able to know what will happen in the next moment, or day, or year, or century? How would this affect your trust in God, your confidence in facing the future, your motivation to pray and leave everything in his hands?

One of my dad's favorite "vacation songs" has a line that says, "Many things about tomorrow, I don't seem to understand, but I know Who holds tomorrow, and I know He holds my hand." What a beautiful, reassuring, faith-building, hope-inspiring truth! How many Christians have been strengthened to know and believe and rely on the fact that God knows absolutely everything about their future, even if they know nothing of it? But now, consider: What if it simply is not true that God "holds tomorrow"? What if, in fact, he does not know what tomorrow will bring? What if it turns out that God may be just as alarmed and taken aback by what happens as we are? What, in fact, if God even looks back with regret at many of his own decisions and thinks, "If only I had known"? Can such a God really be trusted? Can we really have confidence in his direction and will for our lives? Is this God really in control of the unfolding events and progression of human history? Can we be confident that his purposes, both individual and cosmic, will be accomplished? Can we be absolutely sure that God in fact will win in the end? Is such a God worthy of our worship, our praise, our adoration, our uncompromising devotion, and our unqualified obedience? And even more basic, is such a God the God of the Bible?

Many readers may be surprised to learn that this very view (namely, that God does not know much of the future and has to learn what happens as that future unfolds) is being advocated by a growing number of biblical scholars, theologians, and philosophers who identify themselves as evangelicals, some of whom teach at highly respected evangelical colleges and seminaries. These scholars call the position they advocate "open theism" because they like to make central the notion that, for God as well as for us, much of the future is "open" and hence not foreknown or foreordained.

The reasons open theists give for denying God's comprehensive foreknowledge (i.e., comprehensive knowledge of the future) are biblical, philosophical, and practical. Biblically, openness proponents seek to defend their position as being in accordance with the full range and texture of biblical teaching. According to this view, while Scripture does sometimes teach God's knowledge of select future actions or events, a strong pattern of biblical teaching would suggest that generally God does not know what will happen in the future. Passages that speak of God changing his mind or regretting his past actions are not treated fairly in the classical tradition, it is claimed. If these passages are taken in a straightforward manner and allowed to say what they mean, they demonstrate that the future is open, for indeed God learns what this future holds as it occurs.

Philosophically, open theists argue that true human freedom is possible only if the future is open. If God knows all that will occur in the future, then we are not free to do differently than what God knows, and hence we are not truly free. Furthermore, since God can know only what is real, he cannot by definition know the future — because it has not as yet happened and so is not real.

Practically, open theists argue, if God knows in advance all our thoughts, feelings, and actions, then our real relationship with him is called into question. How can our ideas, prayers, or decisions make a difference to God if he knows all of those things from eternity?

What Difference Does It Make?

While much more will be said in due course on the openness proposal, enough has been said to raise an important question: What is at stake in this proposal, and why does it matter whether or not we adopt an openness view? Although the critique of open theism presented in subsequent chapters will be much more specific, let me suggest here that our overall conception of God and our broad understanding of living the Christian life are both deeply affected by the openness view.

First, consider God. If open theism is correct, we must acknowledge that the openness God, when compared to orthodoxy's view of God, is quite deficient in his understanding. It follows that his wisdom and providential control are greatly affected. God not only learns what happens moment by moment (as do we), but he also realizes moment by moment which of his beliefs about the future have been wrong. Yes, the God of open theism is mistaken about much. Furthermore, since he is so mistaken in many cases, we must conclude that God would often be filled with regret over his own past decisions. Just how often this is the case, we do not fully know. But it stands to reason that, since God cannot know any future free decision, choice, or action, many times he is faced with some turn in events that takes him by surprise and reveals to him that his thoughts about the future and his past decisions were, disappointingly, erroneous and misguided. What, then, do we make of the wisdom of God? Since wisdom is the application of knowledge to devise good and right ends, this deficiency in God's knowledge cannot but negatively impact his wisdom. As we considered earlier, how often do we think, "If only I had known ..." The shocking reality is that the God of open theism faces just this same frustration in...