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¡Que Payaso!
Registered Member
Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 108
| Posted 2/12/2003 8:15 AM (GMT -6) |   | I just picked up a copy of Decision Making and the Will of God by Gary Friesen. I haven't made it too far into the book yet but given the way it's going, it promises to make it into my top ten list.
The viewpoint taken by the author(s) also compliments OV in that it dispenses with a exhaustively, divine, deterministic plan. The focus is clearly on the practical implications of our theology (as with the OV). Definitely worth checking this one out.
It was reprinted last year (2002) so it is presently available at Amazon.com.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1576737411/qid=1045077330/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-2387783-4773634?v=glance&s=books
Payaso 
By the way, anyone know the difference between a book that is written by John Deer AND Alan Doe versus a book written by John Deer WITH Alan Doe?
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve." - Bilbo Baggins
Edited by - payaso on 02/12/2003 1:16:20 PM | | Back to Top | | |
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Tom
Registered Member
Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 10353
| Posted 2/12/2003 8:21 AM (GMT -6) | | payaso: By the way, anyone know the difference between a book that is written by John Deer AND Alan Doe versus a book written by John Deer WITH Alan Doe?
Tom: John Deer AND Alan Doe means Deer determines Doe as secondary agent. Deer WITH Doe means Deer does not determine Doe and Doe is free to do other than he does.
Close?
Tom
Love never ends | | Back to Top | | |
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¡Que Payaso!
Registered Member
Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 108
| Posted 2/12/2003 9:02 AM (GMT -6) | | Let me think about it.
Payaso
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve." - Bilbo Baggins | | Back to Top | | |
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Alan Rhoda
Registered Member
Date Joined May 2002
Total Posts : 680
| Posted 2/12/2003 10:29 AM (GMT -6) | | quote:
I just picked up a copy of Decision Making and the Will of God by Gary Friesen. I haven't made it too far into the book yet but given the way it's going, it promises to make it into my top ten list.
I think Friesen's is an excellent book on the subject. Greg Koukl also has some very insightful discussions on decision-making and God's will on his website (www.str.org).
Alan | | Back to Top | | |
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Starkman
Registered Member
Date Joined Oct 2001
Total Posts : 1747
| Posted 2/12/2003 12:26 PM (GMT -6) | | Greg Koukl, however, is strongly against the Open View. He's a fan of Ware.
Starkman
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Corey
Five with a Four-wing
Date Joined Feb 2003
Total Posts : 1893
| Posted 2/12/2003 2:04 PM (GMT -6) | | quote:
I just picked up a copy of Decision Making and the Will of God by Gary Friesen. I haven't made it too far into the book yet but given the way it's going, it promises to make it into my top ten list.
I read through this book about 10 years ago when my pastor at the time (Dr. John Eagen) recommended it as he did a series on the topic. I would say this book is one of the most influential books in my life... it changed the way I look at the world. Instead of obsessing about finding "the center of God's will" I now make decisions weighed in light of how to maximally love God and love others. Any decision made from this motivation and really can't go wrong. The parable of the talents has special significance to me in this regard; God didn't tell them specifically how to invest, but just expected them to maximize what they had been given. Of course Romans 8:28 is also a verse which I hang my hat on.
Studying open view theism has shaped my approach to decision making, though, from what I originally took from Friesen. While I still hold that there is no "center" of God's will, I now have greater urgency to seek the "wisest" decision since God knows what that is; God is infinitely more informed about my situation than I am.
So, there is not one “right” choice to be made in any given situation, but there is one “best” decision to be made. It’s probably pretty rare that we make that best decision, but I’m not too stressed about it… God will work all things together for good. That’s where I apply the freedom that I learned from Friesen
Edited by - CJF on 02/12/2003 7:38:16 PM | | Back to Top | | |
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Alan Rhoda
Registered Member
Date Joined May 2002
Total Posts : 680
| Posted 2/12/2003 2:47 PM (GMT -6) | | quote:
Greg Koukl, however, is strongly against the Open View. He's a fan of Ware.
True, but on the issue of decision making he's on target. For that matter, I'm pretty sure that Friesen is a Calvinist and would, presumably, have reservations about the open view. But then again, I don't think this issue just by itself favors either open or non-openness positions.
There are really two distinct issues here: (1) Does God have a exhaustively detailed plan for our lives? (2) Is God obligated to share with us the details of His plan for our lives?
Open theists typically (but need not) deny (1), and may either affirm or deny (2). Friesen and Koukl, if I understand them right, would affirm (1) but deny (2). They argue that, while God can do whatever he wants, the Bible does not teach that we can expect specific divine guidance in our daily decisions. Hence trying to discern God's will for our lives through "fleeces", circumstantial "confirmations", "feeling led", having a "peace" about something, "open doors", etc. is not, contrary to popular evangelical opinion, the proper methodology for decision making. Instead, they argue, the Bible lays down general moral and prudential guidelines that God expects us to use in making our own decisions. Thus, the wisdom model.
The real issue here is not (1) but (2). As far as decision making goes, it doesn't matter whether God has a specific, detailed plan for our lives if He's not going to share that plan with us. The wisdom model is not based on the idea that the future is actually open, but on the conviction that it is epistemologically open to us. If God typically will not reveal the details of His plans to us, then we have to make our decisions based on the resources we do have available--wisdom and general moral principles.
Theoretically, one could be an open theist and think that God does have a specific plan for our lives that He is willing to share and that we ought to try to discover through fleeces, etc. The only difference open theism would make to such a person is the recognition that God's specific plans may change (they aren't set in eternal stone by God's divine decree) and that they might sometimes fail due to the contingencies of creaturely choices.
Alan | | Back to Top | | |
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Starkman
Registered Member
Date Joined Oct 2001
Total Posts : 1747
| Posted 2/13/2003 8:42 AM (GMT -6) | | I really like Koukl. I frequent his site every day. His information worked hand-in-hand for me with this site when I first visited here over a year ago. And yup, his stuff on decision-making is great. It's too scary, though, for many Christians, because there is neither the "God told me" or the mystical element in his thinking. Works for me, though. However, I do tend, still, to seek God--something Koukl would condone--and wait before I act. I myself am not a 'shoot from the hip and ask questions later' type of person. I really need God's help, and I desperately rely on Him to open the doors. I'm just absolutely lost and helpless without doing so. Not much of a creative type, I'm not!
Starkman
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