Open Theism vs. Closed Theism :: Essays Papers

Open Theism vs. Closed Theism This topic is one that has had my curiosity piqued for the last few years and is one I have made a point of discussing with many people over the course of that time. I have heard many different viewpoints, some who have been adamant for God's omniscience and knowledge of the future and others who have presented compelling arguments for free will. Most, however are of a third category who have come to grips with the fact that our mere brains cannot understand the workings of God and are content to wait for an answer until they are able to ask them themselves if/when they get to Heaven. I myself hold this latter idea to be a good fallback, but am restless in my pursuit for an answer. For neither the deterministic nor the liberalist perspective seem to have me convinced for it seems to me like both of these beliefs leave you in a dire catch-22: if you insist on complete freedom, you limit God's knowledge; but if you insist on God's knowledge, then you limit humanity's freedom; neither o f which leave my mind at rest in who I know God to be and what His scripture has revealed to us in His creation of humanity. So I am left with an unsettled feeling that there must exist a third alternative--one that encompasses both God's complete omniscience and humanity's unleashed freedom. The closest established belief I would at this point categorize myself with believing would be that of St. Thomas Aquinas and Anselm, which you site on pg. 119 of your text. The pitfall I see in the libertarians' viewpoint is their assumption that foreknowledge implies cause. For instance, by their understanding of foreknowledge, if Chris were to somehow know beforehand what the outcome of a football game would be, but were nothing more than a spectator in the stands, Chris, by this knowledge, somehow CAUSED the outcome of the game to end the way it did. This does not hold up in common sense. Just because Chris somehow were able to KNOW what would happen does not mean that he, by the same token, CAUSED it to happen. And such is the case with God. Just because God KNOWS what will happen in the future of the world does not mean that he literally entered the 'game' and caused it to happen.