e e e e Openness theology is at odds with a traditional understanding of God. First,
Feinberg points out that openness theology proposes that God is distinct but not
remote or unrelated.[1] According to the terminology Feinberg uses it is
reasonable to say that by remote or unrelated he is not speaking of physical
distance, rather he is speaking of an extreme qualitative difference between God
and man. God is
distinct
, but not
that
distinct. Yet Scripture paints a picture of
God’s being as infinitely different than man’s. Isaiah wrote that God’s ways are as
far removed from our ways as the heavens are from the Earth (Isa. 55:8-9). Paul
declares that God’s ways are unsearchable and inscrutable (Rom. 11:33). The
holiness of God is perhaps the most telling trait of God’s absolute otherness. It is
the only descriptive of Him emphasized thrice around His throne in Scripture (Isa.
6:3; Rev. 4:8). The word holy meaning, “the quality of God who is transcendently
distinctive, unique, majestic, perfect, and pure.”[2]
e e e e e e e e e e Second, the assertion that God chooses not to act in favor of man’s free
will leads to the conclusion that God is not fully committed to the Gospel. This
line of thinking is a logical failure. If God does not act because He has given man
the power to have libertarian free will (distinct from the Edwardian understanding
of free will, and many other reformers) it is possible that none or all would have
been saved. If none
accepted
, because they freely refused, then God allowed
Christ to die for nothing. That was a possibility, according to libertarian free will.
Furthermore, Scripture offers examples that refute this and even hint that God has
acted against the will of His people before. In Matthew 7:23 Jesus plainly says
that in the future judgment people will be cast away. Not all will be saved, and not
all will be lost. This is a statement of fact before the act of those people at that
judgment. Additionally, in Genesis 19:15-16, the angels forcefully removed Lot and
his family from the city. Lot and his wife showed where their heart was, and it
later cost him his wife. Yet the angels did not consider what they
wanted
or
willed
,
they acted according to God’s will.
e e e e e e e e e e Third, openness theology as presented by Feinberg contradicts itself. On
the one hand it states that God does not override the free will of creatures, and on
the other insists that this understanding of God is not static.[3] On the one hand if
creatures resist God, He is bound to honor their will. If it means resisting help
such as Lot, or resisting salvation, God does nothing in order to preserve human
freedom. This is the definition of being static. If free will is the insurmountable
obstacle, even by His own choice, God is static in so far as His dealings with that
individual. Whereas if God is sovereign over salvation at the cross some were
saved, and some were judged in eternity past (Rom. 9:20-23; Eph. 1:4; Rev. 13:8).
e e e e e e e e e e In the book,
God in the Whirlwind: How the Holy-love of God Reorients
Our World,
Wells asserts that God’s character can be summed up in the term
holy-
love
.[4] Each attribute (justice, mercy, etc.) can fit under holiness, or love, and thus
sum up His entire character. At the same time Wells acknowledges that the
attributes of God are inseparably intertwined and unified. He says for example,
“The truth is that his love comes as part of his holiness and his holiness likewise
permeates all that he is, including his love. Every act of mercy, then, is at the
same time an act of righteousness; every act of wrath has, at the same time, gone
hand in hand with patience…”[5] Because Wells does acknowledge these attributes
it seems he agrees with Feinberg. While he argues well that God’s character is
summed up under
holy-love
he does not swallow up one with the other.[6] When
Wells looks back into the Old Testament, he acknowledges that disobedience
sacrifices the covenant blessings Israel has access to from God.[7]
Feinberg, John S.
No One Like Him: The Doctrine of God.
Wheaton, IL: Crossway,
2001.
Mangum, Douglas, ed.
The Lexham Theological Wordbook
. s.v. “Holiness.”
Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014. Ebook.
Wells, David F.
God in the Whirlwind: How the Holy-love of God Reorients Our
World.
Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2014.
[1] John S. Feinberg,
No One Like Him: The Doctrine of God
(Wheaton, IL:
Crossway, 2001), 69.
[2] Douglas Mangum, ed.,
The Lexham Theological Wordbook
, s.v. “Holiness,”
(Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014), eBook.
[3] Feinberg,
No One Like Him,
69.
[4] David F. Wells,
God in the Whirlwind: How the Holy-love of God Reorients Our
World
(Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2014), 87.
[5] Ibid., 87.
[6] Ibid., 85.
[7] Ibid., 89.
