Heresy of Open Theism

Does the omniscience of the traditional god of philosophic, classic theism mean that this god knows all of the choices that humans will make before they actually choose them? Some Christians think so - in fact, they consider that to be so important that anyone who disagrees may be accused of heresy.

Church Central reports about two people who are in trouble with the Evangelical Theological Seminary:

According to Baptist Press , Clark Pinnock of McMaster Divinity College in Ontario, Canada and John Sanders of Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Ala., face charges of heresy stemming from separate books the men wrote on open theism. Open theists claim God does not know what future decisions humans will make because those choices have not yet been made. ... ETS membership requires members accept a two-sentence doctrinal statement, which simply affirms inerrancy and the doctrine of the Trinity.

The question of what God does or does not know has long been a matter of some debate and it would appear to be a topic of legitimate disagreement among theologians and philosophers. It's not like a Catholic theologian trying to deny the Virgin Birth, is it? Well, apparently it is. It doesn't matter to me personally just how narrow and restrictive a religious group wants to define orthodox doctrine, but I do find it interesting when a group finds it necessary to be so restrictive as this. It suggests that they are afraid of something, to be quite honest. It suggests that they are trying to avoid something which they hope that restrictions on debate and disagreement will forestall. But what is it that they are avoiding?

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• Religion 101
• Philosophy of Religion
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