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The Bible and the Open View of the Future by Gregory A Boyd ForwardThe following is an abbreviated excerpt from the rough draft of the fourth chapter in my forthcoming book Satan and the Problem of Evil (IVP).1 The central purpose of this book is to render philosophically persuasive the biblical "warfare world view"" and "warfare theodicy" which I argued for in God at War: The Bible and Spiritual Conflict (IVP, 1997): This particular chapter is concerned with fleshing out the implications of the view that God takes something of a risk in creating free beings (which I presume to...

The Foreknowledge of "I AM" Most of us are aware of, and perhaps have meditated upon the answer God gave to Moses in Exodus 3:14 when Moses wanted to know what he should say when he was asked who had sent him. Part of the verse reads, "Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, 'I AM hath sent me unto you.'" We have probably come to the conclusion that regardless of what other wonderful things may be involved in that answer, it suggests that God is eternal -- timeless. There is neither past nor future with God, but...

MOLINA, ARMINIUS, PLAIFERE, GOAD, AND WESLEY ON HUMAN FREE-WILL, DIVINE OMNISCIENCE, AND MIDDLE KNOWLEDGE by Barry E. Bryant Upon first glance the title of this paper contains a strange mix of individuals, one or two of whom are perhaps more obscure than the others. What each has in common with the others is a vested interest in the issue of free-will. What they also have in common is the realization that arising from the doctrine of free-will is the paradox of omniscience. The paradox of omniscience acknowledges that, while free-will relocates the responsibility of evil from Creator to creature, it...

Middle Knowledge: Foreknowledge and Foreordination. Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." John 4:10 (NIV) Object to Person The most common way for humans to acquire knowledge is to study external objects. The objects that surround us in the universe are the sources of this type of knowledge. In fact, this is the normal way we learn and acquire knowledge. Humans are not born with a storehouse of knowledge, so we have to acquire...

THE MEANING OF “FOREKNEW” IN ROMANS 8:29 “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.“ Romans 8:29,30             Broadly speaking there have been two general views as to the meaning and use of the word “foreknew” in Romans 8:29.  One class of commentators (the Arminians) maintain that Paul is saying that God predestined to salvation those whom He foreknew would...

The " Open" View of the Future by Dr. Gregory A. Boyd Preliminary Considerations 1. All Bible Believers Hold that God IS Omniscient. *God sees everything in creation simultaneously (Job 28:24; Ps. 33:13-15). * God knows the number of the stars and angels (Ps. 147:4; Isa. 40:26) and hairs on your head (Mt. 10:29-30). * God knows everything about the deeds, the thoughts, even the innermost intentions of all people (e.g., I Chr. 28:9; Job 24:23; 31:4; 34:21; Psl. 119:168; 139:23-24; Jere. 16:17; 17:9-10; Lk. 16:15; Acts 1:24; Rom. 8:27; 1 Cor. 4:5; 1 Jn. 3:19-20). 2. What The Issue...

IS THIS CYNTHIA’S VINDICATION? As sure as Cynthia will be wearing braids today, she and her supporters will be claiming vindication for her earlier remarks about Bush. Let’s be clear .. No matter how puffed up Cynthia and her supporters become today, yesterday’s revelations don’t transform her from a loud-mouthed partisan into a sage. In her Berkeley NPR statement several weeks ago Cynthia McKinney implied – she did not directly charge – she implied that President Bush had specific knowledge that Osama Bin Laden’s henchmen would hijack commercial airliners on a specific date and would fly those airliners into specific...

The below info is a portion of a list of questions that are outstanding from the 9-11-01 WTC Attack.  Shouldn't we suspect that the dealing evidently involved "sensitive individuals"? Why are we treated as peons who have no need to know about matters like this? In September the Securities and Exchange Commission initiated an inquiry to establish who benefited from the unusually high numbers of put options purchased prior to September 11 for shares in companies whose stock prices subsequently plummeted, on the supposition that whoever was behind the hijacking was also behind most of the purchases of these put...

Foreknowledge (Refutation of Five Point Calvinism) From the Book, Subjects of Sovereignty by Andrew Telford Pastor, Berachah Church, 1608 W. Allegheny Ave., Philadelphia, PA. (posted with permission) Foreknowledge As we begin the subject of Foreknowledge, let me remind you that we are dealing with subjects that have to do with the Sovereignty of God. None of these subjects are connected with man's power of choice. We notice that Adoption is an act of the Sovereign God whereby he sets a goal for the believer. It means to be Son-placed. Then, we looked at the subject of Predestination, which is also...