Has anyone noticed how slow this thread has become? Not slow as in boring but slow as in literal performance. Sometimes when thread gets REALLY long it causes the database to struggle to move to the correct point in the data and therefore slows down the performance of the thread. I think this thread might need to be closed and we could open up a new one and start from scratch.
:thumb: :thumb:
Great!
But, can you make it available for a little while? There are some posts that I still want to reference for my research.
I think Dave is the man!
How about a thread where Open Theism sets the agenda. Where we can exchange ideas and content that is more focused on crucial issues that the Open View addresses.
For example:
Clark Pinnock, Most Moved Mover, Baker Academic, 2001. pg 155
The open view of God enjoys an ‘as if’ asset. That is, it is safe to live as if the model were true. Conventional theism, on the other hand, has an ‘as if not’ problem. It has a streak of existential irrationality running through it. Suppose that God has ordained everything you will ever do and it is all completely certain. You would be wise to live as if this were not true from a practical standpoint. Otherwise you could have a crisis of motivation. Prayer would be undermined because it cannot change anything. People could not be held responsible for what they do. God would have to be considered the author of evil. You may believe the doctrine but it certainly better to live as if it were not true.8
Pinnock’s foot note to the above: “Boettner is burdened by many practical difficulties. He knows that it sounds fatalistic; that it is inconsistent with free agency and moral responsibility; that it makes God the author of sin; that it discourages motives to exertion; that it represents God as a respecter of persons and unjustly partial; that it is unfavorable to morality; that it precludes a sincere presentation of the gospel to the non-elect; that it contradicts universalistic Scripture passages. These are, he says, objections commonly urged against the reformed doctrine of predestination.’ In Bottner, The reformed Doctrine of Predestination (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1941) chs. 15-22”
Pinnock concludes: “Conventional theists pay the open view of God a compliment when they live their lives on the basis of something like the open view rather than their own. Ordinary Christians untutored in theology are drawn to it because it commends the view of God that they have picked up through a simple reading of the text and makes such good sense of what they experience.9
Pinnock’s footnote to the above: “The downside of this view of appeal of the open view to ordinary believers is its possible naiveté: Theologians should not read the Bible as naively as lay people do. This is true – we ought not always be literalistic – but there is a sense of the faithful here to be heeded.”
Any/all the following make for hot topics.
Classical Theism is is burdened by many practical difficulties ...
that it sounds fatalistic;
that it is inconsistent with free agency and moral responsibility;
that it makes God the author of sin;
that it discourages motives to exertion;
that it represents God as a respecter of persons and unjustly partial;
that it is unfavorable to morality;
that it precludes a sincere presentation of the gospel to the non-elect;
that it contradicts universalistic Scripture passages
I'm not good at thread starting. But, I'm good at killing them.
(Got to admit though, I'm a little sad at the thought of loosing an old friend. This thread has played an important part in my journey into honesty in talking about God. I will miss it. OK, I admit it. I'm addicted to it! Shut er down!:doh: What did I say? )