Beyond the Bounds: Open Theism and the Undermining of Biblical Christianity

by John Piper and Paul Kjoss Helseth

Book Overview

"Everyone who believes in God at all believes that He knows what you and I are going to do tomorrow."
-C. S. Lewis

This understanding of God's foreknowledge has united the church for twenty centuries. But advocates of "open theism" are presenting a different vision of God and a different view of the future.

The rise of open theism within evangelicalism has raised a host of questions. Was classical theism decisively tainted by Greek...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1581344627
• ISBN13: 9781581344622
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Crossway
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.5" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Great Look At The Open Theism Debate

This is a great book for those of you who have questions about Open Theism. Piper, Taylor and Helseth have done a wonderful job taking a look at this issue from an evangelical standpoint. It can be a bit academic at points, but is worthwhile reading for anyone who has questions about why Open Theism is such a big deal. Pick this book up. Read it! It's well worth your time.

Enlightening!

Piper is one of the best teachers around and he certainly did not fail in this book. Botht this book and Bruce Ware's book helped me better understand open theism, a very false teaching that is creating havoc in some of my loved one's lives because they claim the "name of God" yet they remain baby Christians in their lives, unable to grow because of the teachings at their open theistic church, teachings that cater to their emotional highs but not to their Christian maturity and understanding of Scripture. All I can do is watch and pray as they make choices based on a misunderstanding of Scripture. Open thiesm will one day be known by its fruits, fruits of harm in people's lives, in their families and communities. I hope and pray that men like John Piper continue to have the boldness to speak with authority on this subject.

Shocking

When I was a freshman in high school I moved to Houston. I was still, very much, in the infant stages of my faith and was very eager to attend whatever Bible studies were available to me. I went to one on a Monday night and the topic of discussion was predestination. I had absolutely no view and little interst in the subject at the time. I was totally ignorant of the ins-and-outs of any point in the debate. As the discussion went on an intern suggested that maybe God had deliberately limited his knowledge of the future to make our choices truly free. It didn't sound right to me-but who was I to question? This work exposes the very poisoness presence of such thinking in the church. Namely that oour liberty and autonomy are tantamount to God's being good. That we must form for ourselves from clay a god who suits our desires. This notion is not merely a harmless suggestion to be shrugged off in hopes that it will be abandoned at some later point when mislead christians see the error behind it on there own. No, this is an heresy that must attacked more vehemently than Arianism, Gnosticism, Euticheanism, etc. Why is this heresy so much greater than the rest? It isn't. But the times in which we live are the soil from which this lunacy has sprung. This is not merely some handful of clerics and scholars gone astray. Open theism's very heart is the idea that liberty is the utmost goal in any arena, even God's. Dr. Piper and company have each contributed resounding calls not to laymen, pastors or seminary professors alone. The call goes out to all. It starts with the educators then to their students (the clergy) then to deacons and elders and most importantly to the men and women who fill churches all over the world. The church should never be lazy with orthodoxy. But the fact that even the identity of our God is in danger of being taken from us we must be ever vigilent to pursue and broadcast the light of God's sovreignty to all who are near us. I know I haven't made too much comment on the book itself, so let me jst say: read this book and share it in the first Bible study you attend. Do not let heresy cloak itslef in the shadows of your church.

Not Perfect, but maybe the best critique currently available

As of the time of this review, this book is hot off the press and has been a book eagerly anticipated by many. And while the book is not perfect, as I will discuss below, there are a number of things about this critique that make it the best critique of open theism available at present.Piper and company have assembled an impressive group of mainly Reformed scholars to tackle numerous issues regarding open theism. Almost every chapter is well documented, with numerous and lengthy footnotes accompanying much of the base material. There is a great deal here to ponder and study, and I suspect that many readers who are relatively familiar with the open theism controversy will be struck by the depth in which this book engages fundamental questions of hermeneutics and theological method.I think there is little doubt that for the average reader, Parts 4 and 5 will be the best parts of the book. In these parts, various authors tackle critical theological and pastoral problems that open theism creates, and these are the kinds of issues that the average reader will most identify with and profit from I suspect. In particular, Wellum's critique of open theism's necessary compromise of the inerrancy of Scripture is outstanding, along with Ware's devastating analysis of how the gospel of Christ is gutted by open theism. The tackling of these critical theological ramifications is the part of this book that I felt was critically missing from Ware's 'God's Lesser Glory' book (which has been generally acknowledged to be the most devastating critique of open theism thus far, and was the book that really delivered the first mortal blow to open theism and got Boyd and company to play defense ever since), so in that respect, this book is an outstanding companion to that book.The first parts of this book are great and necessary, but are likely to be sections that will take many readers by surprise. It is in these sections that attempts are made to discredit the inconsistent hermeneutic (to put it nicely) of open theism, as well as to discredit the much trumpeted assertion by open theists that historical theism is based on Greek philosophical ideas that are not found in the Bible. In addition, the section on the analogical nature of Scripture and the treatment of anthropomorphisms is likewise outstanding.The one notable drawback of this book is that Biblical exegesis is not the thrust of this book. There are times when solid exegesis is conducted, but this book is not an exegetical critique of open theism. It's mainly a negative philosophical, methodological, and worldview critique that rightly exposes the mess that open theism is as a matter of scholarship. But someone looking for a sustained emphasis on Biblical exegesis of controversial passages, as well as a Biblical analysis of those many areas of Scripture that contradict open theism may be somewhat dissatisfied by the efforts here. There are other resources that deal with these issues, but it is the on

Endorsements and Table of Contents

The downsized deity of open theism is a poor substitute for the real God of historic Christianity-as taught by Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox theologians through the centuries. This book offers an important analysis and critique of this sub-Christian view of God. Well researched and fairly presented.-Dr. Timothy GeorgeDean of Beeson Divinity School, Samford University and an executive editor of Christianity TodayHere is a weighty tract for the times, in which a dozen Reformed scholars survey the "open theism" of Pinnock, Sanders, Boyd, and colleagues, and find it a confused, confusing, and unedifying hypothesis that ought to be declared off limits. Some pages are heavy sledding, but the arguing is clear and strong, and the book is essential reading for all who are caught up in this discussion.-Dr. J. I. PackerProfessor of TheologyRegent CollegeTable of ContentsContributorsForewordJohn PiperIntroductionJustin TaylorPart 1 Historical Influences 1 The Rabbis and the Claims of Openness AdvocatesRussell Fuller2 Genetic Defects or Accidental Similarities? Orthodoxy and Open Theism and Their Connections to Western Philosophical TraditionsChad BrandPart 2 Philosophical Presuppositions and Cultural Context3 True Freedom: The Liberty that Scripture Portrays as Worth Having.Mark R. Talbot4 Why Open Theism Is Flourishing NowWilliam C. DavisPart 3 Anthropomorphisms, Revelation, and Interpretation5 Veiled Glory: God's Self-Revelation in Human Likeness-A Biblical Theology of God's Anthropomorphic Self-DisclosureA. B. Caneday6 Hellenistic or Hebrew? Open Theism and Reformed Theological MethodMichael S. HortonPart 4 What Is at Stake in the Openness Debate?7 The Inerrancy of ScriptureStephen J. Wellum8 The Trustworthiness of God and the Foundation of HopePaul Kjoss Helseth9 The Gospel of ChristBruce A. WarePart 5 Drawing Boundaries and Conclusions10 When, Why, and for What Should We Draw New Boundaries?Wayne Grudem11 Grounds for Dismay: The Error and Injury of Open TheismJohn PiperBibliography on Open TheismJustin TaylorScripture IndexPerson IndexSubject Index