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 isdistinct, but
notthatdistinct. 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]
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 noneaccepted,
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 theywantedorwilled, they acted according
to God’s will.
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).
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 termholy-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 underholy-lovehe 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.
