Product Description

The theological movement known as open theism is shaking the church today, challenging the doctrines of God's sovereignty, foreknowledge, and providence. This timely work clearly describes open theism and evaluates it biblically. Frame addresses questions such as How do open theists read the Bible? Is love God's most important attribute? Is God's will the ultimate explanation of everything? Do we have genuine freedom? Is God ever weak or changeable? Does God know everything in advance? Frame not only answers the objections of open theists but sharpens our understanding of the relationship between God's eternal plan and the decisions or events of our lives.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #599114 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 235 pages

Customer Reviews

Scholarly Endorsements
It is with a sense of relief that I turn from the amateurish and even wrong-headed writings of the "openness" theologians to this work by John Frame. He is as much at home in the historical dimensions of the debate as in the theological; he is as much in command of the interpretation of the relevant biblical texts as he is of the philosophical issues. With its wholly admirable freshness and a crisp incisiveness, this book is something both to read and to give to friends. A sad mark of the theological ignorance of our times is that Socinianism can dress itself up in new terminology and pass itself off as evangelical theology instead of a pernicious error frequently and roundly condemned. Frame's antidote is both needed and effective."

D. A. CARSON
Research Professor of New Testament
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Open theism is bad news. The appearance of this book is good news. Precisely because God is closed and not open to the nullification of his purposes (Job 42:2), he has opened a future for believers that is utterly secure no matter what we suffer. The key that would open the defeat of God is eternally closed within the praiseworthy vault of his precious sovereignty. With the Bible as his criterion, John Frame delights to show when it is good to be closed and when it is good to be open.

JOHN PIPER
Senior Pastor
Bethlehem Baptist Church

John Frame's No Other God presents the serious minded, biblically faithful, and philosophically responsible reflections of a seasoned theologian regarding the profoundly misguided open view of God. While portions of Frame's criticism could be directed more generally to classical Arminianism's commitments to libertarian freedom and the centrality of the love of God, yet much of Frame's deepest concern focuses upon a range of distinctively and deeply distressing aspects of the post-Arminian openness model. Here one will see vividly so much that is wrong with open theism while encountering afresh the beauty and glory of the true and living God of the Bible.

BRUCE A. WARE
Professor of Christian Theology
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Combining exegetical good judgment, sound theology, and profound philosophical insight, Professor Frame has written exactly the book we need today to put into the hands of Christians attracted to the allegedly "new" doctrines of so-called open theism. Open theism leaves believers with a god who is not merely "too small" but irrelevant to our lives, our needs, our goals. And John Frame spells this out clearly in this easy-to-read but comprehensive and compelling critique. It is "must reading" for all Christians today.

ROBERT B. STRIMPLE
Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology
Westminster Theological Seminary in California

Predominately Excellent Contribution
When it comes to matters of either theology or philosophy, being in a different camp then John Frame is not fun. Over the last 15 years or so, Frame has published a number of works on various topics that have taken Christian scholarship to a new level of freshness and coherence. This particular book, for the most part, falls into that category.

This contribution to the open theism debate, while not perfect, is a solid attempt to take on open theism on a variety of fronts. Unlike other critiques of open theism, Frame engages in an exegetical critique that is vital. But this book is not a purely exegetical critique, for it also engages open theism's presuppositions in the areas of hermeneutics and emotional imperatives that they bring to bear on the text. As a result, this book is one of the better books around in presenting a full orbed critique of open theism.

The result is a critique that exposes open theism for what it is - a philosophically and epistemically inconsistent worldview supported by dubious biblical exegesis and hermeneutical principles. Frame is outstanding in comparing the stated principles of open theism with the actual exegesis (to the extent that it can be called that) that actually violates their stated principles. He tends to be relentless not only in dismantling the legitimacy of libertarianism which is the lone guiding principle of the open theist program, but is also relentless in exposing the works of open theists as being AWOL when it comes to dealing with numerous biblical texts that militate against their system. It was refreshing to read a competent appraisal of the holes that tend to be gaping in the scholarship of the chief apologists of open theism.

I gave the book 4 stars mainly because while Frame's critique is full orbed and wide reaching, it suffered occasionally in what I felt was its unnecessary brevity. In particular, Frame's last chapter on the various theological ramifications of open theism was far too summary level and came off as an afterthought which was most unfortunate. The same can arguably be said about Frame's treatment of the love of God and how this attribute fits into a responsible attempt at a biblically based theology. Lastly, I would have appreciated a more in-depth critique of the literature that has been produced by open theists. I thought that Frame hit the highlights very well and dismantled many of the most serious errors of the movement as expressed in its writings, but there were many other areas that could have been covered here that weren't.

So overall, a very good contribution to this ongoing debate, but in my view, we are still waiting for a truly definitive treatise that systematically and exhaustively dissects open theism across the board in a responsible fashion. This work by Frame gets at least fairly close, but doesn't quite make it in my view.

The Best Critique
This is the best critique of Open Theism on the market today. Frame confronts the idea that God does not know the future exhaustively with a thorough biblical overview on relevant passages pertaining to God's sovereignty. Making his case from the Bible he avoids the pitfalls of name-calling, stereotyping, and alarmism by simply showing the ideas put forth by open theists to be contrary to well established biblical doctrines.

However, the book is different in that it does not deal extensively with issues within the realm of omniscience, but more or less refutes libertarian free will. Thus, it acknowledges at least in practice that the watershed issue in the debate is over free will, not omniscience. John Sanders would at least feel some vindication in this regard.

Nevertheless, the book is accessible and thoughtful and helped convert this reader from open theist to classical Augustinianism.