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lock
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   Posted 9/3/2004 6:11 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Throughout many posts, those who defend the OT view claim that it is a "logical" approach to understanding God and the bible. Some of the stands OT's take on certain issues do not seem "logical" to me. For example...

One OT view is that God created Adam and Eve with the possibly that they might sin but He did not expect them to, or know that they would, thus He was disappointed to find out they had sinned. According to 2 Tim 1:9 God put together the plan of redemption before the beginning of time. So that means God already planned how to save humans from their sins before He even created man and man sinned. It does not seem logical to me to assume God did not know Adam and Eve were going to sin, being that the redemption plan was all ready to go beforehand.

I have other OT views that do not seem logical to me but I will put those forth after people get a chance to read and comment on this view.

Lock


His achievement are we, being created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God makes ready beforehand, that we should be walking in them.

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JEE
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   Posted 9/3/2004 6:42 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
quote:
Originally posted by lock

Throughout many posts, those who defend the OT view claim that it is a "logical" approach to understanding God and the bible. Some of the stands OT's take on certain issues do not seem "logical" to me. For example...


Just because something doesn't seem logical to you doesn't mean its necessarily illogical.


quote:
One OT view is that God created Adam and Eve with the possibly that they might sin but He did not expect them to, or know that they would, thus He was disappointed to find out they had sinned. According to 2 Tim 1:9 God put together the plan of redemption before the beginning of time. So that means God already planned how to save humans from their sins before He even created man and man sinned. It does not seem logical to me to assume God did not know Adam and Eve were going to sin, being that the redemption plan was all ready to go beforehand.


2 Tim 1:9 9[For it is He] Who delivered and saved us and called us with a calling in itself holy and leading to holiness [to a life of consecration, a vocation of holiness]; [He did it] not because of anything of merit that we have done, but because of and to further His own purpose and grace (unmerited favor) which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began [eternal ages ago]. AMP

Everything God does for us is gracious, in the sense that He doesn't HAVE to do it. Also, God's holy calling is eternally the same; that is, it is the same calling to Adam, Abraham, Moses, and us, and it has been His purpose that mankind live in holy fellowship with Him since "before the world began."


http://revivaltheology.net

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lock
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   Posted 9/3/2004 7:14 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
quote:
2 Tim 1:9 9[For it is He] Who delivered and saved us and called us with a calling in itself holy and leading to holiness [to a life of consecration, a vocation of holiness]; [He did it] not because of anything of merit that we have done, but because of and to further His own purpose and grace (unmerited favor) which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began [eternal ages ago]. AMP



The plan, through Jesus Christ, to save and justify us was put together pro (before) chronon (times) aionion (eonian), rendered before the world began, before time began, before eonian times, etc. It was in place before creation and before the fall.


His achievement are we, being created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God makes ready beforehand, that we should be walking in them.

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JEE
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   Posted 9/3/2004 7:19 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
quote:
Originally posted by lock

quote:
2 Tim 1:9 9[For it is He] Who delivered and saved us and called us with a calling in itself holy and leading to holiness [to a life of consecration, a vocation of holiness]; [He did it] not because of anything of merit that we have done, but because of and to further His own purpose and grace (unmerited favor) which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began [eternal ages ago]. AMP



The plan, through Jesus Christ, to save and justify us was put together pro (before) chronon (times) aionion (eonian), rendered before the world began, before time began, before eonian times, etc. It was in place before creation and before the fall.



For the sake of argument, let's assume your assertion to be true. Even if true, the Open View is not contradicted, for the Open View is quite emphatic in asserting that God has always known all possibilities infinitely well.


http://revivaltheology.net

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lock
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   Posted 9/3/2004 7:37 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
quote:
Originally posted by JEE

quote:
Originally posted by lock

quote:
2 Tim 1:9 9[For it is He] Who delivered and saved us and called us with a calling in itself holy and leading to holiness [to a life of consecration, a vocation of holiness]; [He did it] not because of anything of merit that we have done, but because of and to further His own purpose and grace (unmerited favor) which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began [eternal ages ago]. AMP



The plan, through Jesus Christ, to save and justify us was put together pro (before) chronon (times) aionion (eonian), rendered before the world began, before time began, before eonian times, etc. It was in place before creation and before the fall.



For the sake of argument, let's assume your assertion to be true. Even if true, the Open View is not contradicted, for the Open View is quite emphatic in asserting that God has always known all possibilities infinitely well.



Yes JEE, but you have made it quite clear in other posts in different subjects that God did not expect Adam and Eve to sin, and that He was in reality dissapponted with them (condescension). So, basically you are saying that God was just covering His butt (condescension) by having the redemption plan all set to fly, just in case Adam sinned?


His achievement are we, being created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God makes ready beforehand, that we should be walking in them.

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JEE
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   Posted 9/3/2004 7:46 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
quote:
Originally posted by lock

quote:
Originally posted by JEE

quote:
Originally posted by lock

quote:
2 Tim 1:9 9[For it is He] Who delivered and saved us and called us with a calling in itself holy and leading to holiness [to a life of consecration, a vocation of holiness]; [He did it] not because of anything of merit that we have done, but because of and to further His own purpose and grace (unmerited favor) which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began [eternal ages ago]. AMP



The plan, through Jesus Christ, to save and justify us was put together pro (before) chronon (times) aionion (eonian), rendered before the world began, before time began, before eonian times, etc. It was in place before creation and before the fall.



For the sake of argument, let's assume your assertion to be true. Even if true, the Open View is not contradicted, for the Open View is quite emphatic in asserting that God has always known all possibilities infinitely well.



Yes JEE, but you have made it quite clear in other posts in different subjects that God did not expect Adam and Eve to sin, and that He was in reality dissapponted with them (condescension). So, basically you are saying that God was just covering His butt (condescension) by having the redemption plan all set to fly, just in case Adam sinned?



Wow, fascinating choice of metaphor, Lock. Bandit

In my view, God knows all possibilities perfectly well, and he is perfectly capable of handling any and all new developments.

The vast number of if/then statements that God directs to mankind in Scripture (beginning with "in the day that you eat thereof, you shall surely die) leads me to believe that God means "if/then" when He says, "if/then." In other words, God is ready for anything, though He certainly has His preference as to how things should go. (E.g., "it is not his will that any should perish," even though the Bible reveals that all who are not saved do in fact perish).

Should I be apologetic for believing that when God says he was grieved with mankind, and sorry that He made man, that means he was in fact grieving, sorrowful, and disappointed? What would God saying this sort of thing be a metaphor for?


http://revivaltheology.net

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Alan Rhoda
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   Posted 9/3/2004 11:34 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
quote:
Originally posted by lock

One OT view is that God created Adam and Eve with the possibly that they might sin but He did not expect them to, or know that they would, thus He was disappointed to find out they had sinned. According to 2 Tim 1:9 God put together the plan of redemption before the beginning of time. So that means God already planned how to save humans from their sins before He even created man and man sinned. It does not seem logical to me to assume God did not know Adam and Eve were going to sin, being that the redemption plan was all ready to go beforehand.
There's nothing illogical about the open view here if one thinks of God's plan of redemption as a contingency plan. Specifically, God resolved from the foundation of the world that IF Adam and Eve succumbed to temptation that He would provide a Savior for them and their descendants.

God bless,
Alan
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Similitude
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   Posted 9/4/2004 3:15 AM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Lock,

quote:
The plan, through Jesus Christ, to save and justify us was put together pro (before) chronon (times) aionion (eonian), rendered before the world began, before time began, before eonian times, etc.
It was in place before creation and before the fall.


How can you be so sure that "before the chronon aionion" implies before the Fall? Might not the "chronon aionion" have begun after the Fall? Might not the age-times be those extended period of times that have come about BECAUSE of and SINCE the Fall?


wjs

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feelinahole
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   Posted 9/4/2004 5:03 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Alan: thanks! Thats how I see it.
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Sahid
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   Posted 9/4/2004 6:14 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
quote:
So, basically you are saying that God was just covering His butt (condescension) by having the redemption plan all set to fly, just in case Adam sinned?
What's wrong with covering your butt? What's wrong with God showing us mercy when we screw up his plan? How is that illogical?


Watch me fly. Freedom like wings and I will use them. Freedom like wings and I will spread them wide. - Stavesacre

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JEE
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   Posted 9/4/2004 7:54 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
quote:
Originally posted by Sahid

quote:
So, basically you are saying that God was just covering His butt (condescension) by having the redemption plan all set to fly, just in case Adam sinned?
What's wrong with covering your butt? What's wrong with God showing us mercy when we screw up his plan? How is that illogical?



Sahid,

If I follow Lock's argument, it seems to me that to his mind God meant for Adam and Eve to sin, so that He could be glorified in showing mercy to them. Pretty Calvinistic-sounding to me, at least. In another thread, our good friend Lock has tried to say that God has a "purpose" for sin. I could be wrong, and I don't want to speak for Lock, but, the board's kinda slow today. Clown

Alan: Thank you for putting it so much better than I had.


http://revivaltheology.net

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God_Is_Truth
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   Posted 9/4/2004 7:57 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
quote:
Originally posted by Alan Rhoda

quote:
Originally posted by lock

One OT view is that God created Adam and Eve with the possibly that they might sin but He did not expect them to, or know that they would, thus He was disappointed to find out they had sinned. According to 2 Tim 1:9 God put together the plan of redemption before the beginning of time. So that means God already planned how to save humans from their sins before He even created man and man sinned. It does not seem logical to me to assume God did not know Adam and Eve were going to sin, being that the redemption plan was all ready to go beforehand.
There's nothing illogical about the open view here if one thinks of God's plan of redemption as a contingency plan. Specifically, God resolved from the foundation of the world that IF Adam and Eve succumbed to temptation that He would provide a Savior for them and their descendants.

God bless,
Alan



well put! my thoughts exactly.
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feelinahole
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   Posted 9/5/2004 6:08 AM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
It really seems to me that it depends on how one VIEWS God's plans from the foundation of the world. Calvinists have typically have views it as a set in stone type plan and anyone who disagrees is challenged as unbiblical and illogical. But it does really depend on how one sees the plans of God. There is really nothing within scripturethat prevents one from seeing his plans as being contingent on certain things happening. In fact, as demonstrated in the Old Testament, God many times tailors his plan to individual requests from those who doubt or are afraid. God is not without compassion.
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lock
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   Posted 9/5/2004 1:52 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
quote:
There's nothing illogical about the open view here if one thinks of God's plan of redemption as a contingency plan. Specifically, God resolved from the foundation of the world that IF Adam and Eve succumbed to temptation that He would provide a Savior for them and their descendants.

God bless,
Alan


I agree that this has been well stated defending the OT view, but I still do not like the idea of calling redemption a back-up plan. If God did not intend sin to enter into creation, why did He not stop Satan?


His achievement are we, being created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God makes ready beforehand, that we should be walking in them.

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Similitude
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   Posted 9/5/2004 5:25 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Lock,

quote:
I agree that this has been well stated defending the OT view, but I still do not like the idea of calling redemption a back-up plan. If God did not intend sin to enter into creation, why did He not stop Satan?


God hates evil of all kinds but doesn't seem to be too busy stopping it.


wjs

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feelinahole
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   Posted 9/5/2004 6:34 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Sigh. Because God treasures love freely chosen and stopping a person from choosing would negate true love. I would really suggest you guys read some of Doctor Boyd's writings. He has gone over this is his books. Its very basis to the open view and without an understanding of it one cannot grasp the open view.
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feelinahole
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   Posted 9/5/2004 6:37 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
What kind of God would God be if he intended sin to enter creation? The sin of the holocaust, of AIDS, of Stalin, of the countless horrors mankind has inflicted (not on itself), because God intended it to happen? One wonders if the belief that God has a plan is worth the cost to God's glory.
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Sahid
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   Posted 9/5/2004 7:27 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
quote:
Sahid,

If I follow Lock's argument, it seems to me that to his mind God meant for Adam and Eve to sin, so that He could be glorified in showing mercy to them. Pretty Calvinistic-sounding to me, at least. In another thread, our good friend Lock has tried to say that God has a "purpose" for sin. I could be wrong, and I don't want to speak for Lock, but, the board's kinda slow today.
Oh, I get what he's saying. But I think the "illogical" accusation is illogical. Covering your butt and making back-up plans are not exactly illogical.


Watch me fly. Freedom like wings and I will use them. Freedom like wings and I will spread them wide. - Stavesacre

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JEE
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   Posted 9/5/2004 8:48 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
quote:
Originally posted by Sahid
Oh, I get what he's saying. But I think the "illogical" accusation is illogical. Covering your butt and making back-up plans are not exactly illogical.



I agree, Sahid.


Lock, it seems to me that you're using the term, "illogical" when you really mean "inconsistent with my own presuppositions." If we take the dictionary definition of "illogical" with regard to theoLOGICAL thinking, we simply mean "not self-contradictory." And the Open View, as far as I have seen, is not inherently self-contradictory with regard to the issue you raise in this thread.

What would you say if the Bible itself revealed that God does in fact use contingency plans?

Blessings in Christ,

John


http://revivaltheology.net

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lock
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   Posted 9/6/2004 4:33 AM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
quote:
Originally posted by jefscott

Lock,

quote:
I agree that this has been well stated defending the OT view, but I still do not like the idea of calling redemption a back-up plan. If God did not intend sin to enter into creation, why did He not stop Satan?


God hates evil of all kinds but doesn't seem to be too busy stopping it.



This is correct. God allows sin to meet its fullest and then He righteously deals with it such as in the flood, the inhabitants of Canaan, the people of Israel, and now the time of the gentiles. In the flesh is man's opportunity to obey God. Because of the weakness and inability of the flesh this will never happen without God's plan for redemption. The only difference in our views is that one calls God's will a back-up plan or plan B or a contingency plan (only needed because plan A failed)and the other sees the redemptive plan as part of the creation process.


His achievement are we, being created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God makes ready beforehand, that we should be walking in them.

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lock
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   Posted 9/6/2004 4:49 AM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
quote:
Sigh. Because God treasures love freely chosen and stopping a person from choosing would negate true love. I would really suggest you guys read some of Doctor Boyd's writings. He has gone over this is his books. Its very basis to the open view and without an understanding of it one cannot grasp the open view.


I understand the OT view here and really do not think it is all that different then the normal christian views, just most christians would not admit to it.

quote:
What kind of God would God be if he intended sin to enter creation? The sin of the holocaust, of AIDS, of Stalin, of the countless horrors mankind has inflicted (not on itself), because God intended it to happen? One wonders if the belief that God has a plan is worth the cost to God's glory.


Why stop with those? What kind of God would kill the firstborn of Egypt? What kind of God would command the death of women and children? What kind of God would allow the destruction, rape, death, etc. of His own chosen peolple? What kind of God would purpose the death of His own Son? Do you really think that God is so powerless that HE has limited control over His creation? Do you really think man and sin is running amuck because God has lost control over it? The history of the bible along with world history proves that man is incapable of meeting God's standard. You do not think that God is making a point here? Man is helpless without God, and sin and the inability of the flesh is proof. How else would we know the love and goodness of God without the evil of man to compare with? Do you really think it was a mistake for man to know good and evil (Gen 3:22)?


His achievement are we, being created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God makes ready beforehand, that we should be walking in them.

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lock
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   Posted 9/6/2004 5:00 AM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
quote:
Lock, it seems to me that you're using the term, "illogical" when you really mean "inconsistent with my own presuppositions." If we take the dictionary definition of "illogical" with regard to theoLOGICAL thinking, we simply mean "not self-contradictory." And the Open View, as far as I have seen, is not inherently self-contradictory with regard to the issue you raise in this thread.


John-

I think inconsistent would be the better way to describe it. Not inconsistent within itself (because the OT view does cover itself) but with what the bible declares. The OT view creates a God who knows future possibilities but yet leaves the future open for man to ultimately decide. This clearly contradicts what is being taught in the following passages: Prov. 16:9, 19:21, 20:24, 21:1, Eccl. 7:13, Is. 10:15, 46:10-11, 64:8, Jer. 10:23, Dan. 4:35, just to name a few. My concern is God's glory. By reducing God's knowledge of the future from His purposes to only possibilities, you have successfully reduced His glory.


His achievement are we, being created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God makes ready beforehand, that we should be walking in them.

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Similitude
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   Posted 9/6/2004 5:10 AM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
Lock,

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is correct. God allows sin to meet its fullest and then He righteously deals with it such as in the flood, the inhabitants of Canaan, the people of Israel, and now the time of the gentiles. In the flesh is man's opportunity to obey God. Because of the weakness and inability of the flesh this will never happen without God's plan for redemption. The only difference in our views is that one calls God's will a back-up plan or plan B or a contingency plan (only needed because plan A failed)and the other sees the redemptive plan as part of the creation process.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The fact that man can never attain to a garden-like state because of the weakness of his flesh does not prove that Adam could not have lived up to God's requirements BEFORE the Fall. Nor does it prove that Satan HAD to do what he did. The text, in plain sense, seems to suggest that they could have done right (right being defined as that which God expected of them). God never told Adam to keep a spiritual law - He gave him specific commands and duties that are unrelated to keeping the requirement of the Law via the Spirit. In other words, Adam was a rational, soulish person with requirements for such a being - not spiritual ones.


wjs

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Sisters of Cain
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   Posted 9/6/2004 6:03 AM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
quote:
Originally posted by lock
By reducing God's knowledge of the future from His purposes to only possibilities, you have successfully reduced His glory.


A god who has to control ALL variables in order to get ANYTHING done is NOT a glorious god.

On earth, we get things accomplished without having total control of all the variables.

Why you think an inept god, one who can't accomplish anything unless he controls EVERYTHING, is glorious is beyond me.

your god, a football coach who can only win if he's using robots

our God, a football coach able to win despite having a team of dunderheads playing for Him

The muslims are as fatalistic as the calvinists. They believe EVERYTHING that happens is allah's will. Does that make allah "glorious"?
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Sahid
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   Posted 9/6/2004 1:13 PM (GMT -6)    Quote This PostAlert An Admin About This Post.
quote:
Originally posted by lock
The OT view creates a God who knows future possibilities but yet leaves the future open for man to ultimately decide.

But the open view does not say that. You would be entirely correct if the open view said that or led to that. But it don't! God is ultimately in control. Certain things are up to us like whether we choose to obey Jesus' command to "Follow me", but the future as a whole is still God's to control. All who accept his protection and love will be protected and loved. His providence is unlimited, unconditional, and unbeatable, but not overpowering. He still lets us keep our personhood, because he loves us. Even in the open view the vast majority of the future is still God;s to control. But here's the disclaimer: I only speak for myself not other open theists.


Watch me fly. Freedom like wings and I will use them. Freedom like wings and I will spread them wide. - Stavesacre

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