I had two dreams last week. In one, I was with my son in
France, trying to find our way by train with a map. In the other, I was interviewing
a comedian on why he got into comedy, but he wasn’t interested in exploring his
origins. In both, my subconscious was searching for answers to ‘Where?’ and ‘Why?’
No wonder, given the days we’re living in.
It’s important, in all circumstances, to ask what lessons
God is trying to teach us, rather than giving way to despair. But, does God orchestrate
events specifically so we learn these points? Or, given these predicaments, these
are the lessons God can teach us?
Another way to ask the question is to wonder, ‘What is God doing?’ Someone said recently, that God may be doing 10,000 things in our life, but we can only understand three. Often we have no idea, we must simply remain faithful in the confusion, trusting that he is sovereign, and does indeed have a purpose, which is for our good.
It is sometimes said that we only understand his providence in hindsight, though even then we are frequently still in the dark. But for many, in these Covid days, any sense of meaning has vanished. I’ve talked to those, for whom there is no point in life. The macro-level Corona chaos merely reflects and reinforces the micro-level confusion of their everyday lives.
It is a great comfort to know that God has all things in his hands. This belief, however, contrasts with the position called ‘Open Theism’. In this, God does not foreknow the future, because it has not yet happened. Only thus, they believe is human freedom safeguarded, since absolute foreknowledge on God’s part would curtail our ability to freely decide.
Besides being wholly unbiblical (Isa. 44.6-8; 48.3-8), it is thoroughly scary; frightening, because humanity or the devil can do things which God cannot predict, and therefore, however theoretically, the possibility exists of God being blindsided and beaten. There is therefore no assurance of ultimate victory for the good.
Of course, there are huge problems, logical and moral, for believing in Divine Sovereignty. It threatens to make God a monster, responsible for all the world’s sufferings, including Coronavirus. But both Calvinism and Arminianism, however, believe in Providence. It throws us back on faith as the only thing to hang onto.
This mystery of faith is not a cop-out, but belongs properly to a doctrine of God’s incomprehensibility. It’s like holding both ends of a taught piece of string, between Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility. Both Hyper-Calvinism and Open Theism let go of one end: one by leaving no room for human responsibility, the other by refusing to bow the knee.
This tension between two paradoxical truths means we have to walk by faith, not by sight (2 Co. 5.7). Our countryman is Job, who lived in the ‘Land of Nod’, which, although often a euphemism for falling asleep, is actually a place of permanent wakefulness and awareness.
Click on this picture for a real encouragement to trust God's sovereignty in these times from my friend Felicia.
Another way to ask the question is to wonder, ‘What is God doing?’ Someone said recently, that God may be doing 10,000 things in our life, but we can only understand three. Often we have no idea, we must simply remain faithful in the confusion, trusting that he is sovereign, and does indeed have a purpose, which is for our good.
It is sometimes said that we only understand his providence in hindsight, though even then we are frequently still in the dark. But for many, in these Covid days, any sense of meaning has vanished. I’ve talked to those, for whom there is no point in life. The macro-level Corona chaos merely reflects and reinforces the micro-level confusion of their everyday lives.
It is a great comfort to know that God has all things in his hands. This belief, however, contrasts with the position called ‘Open Theism’. In this, God does not foreknow the future, because it has not yet happened. Only thus, they believe is human freedom safeguarded, since absolute foreknowledge on God’s part would curtail our ability to freely decide.
Besides being wholly unbiblical (Isa. 44.6-8; 48.3-8), it is thoroughly scary; frightening, because humanity or the devil can do things which God cannot predict, and therefore, however theoretically, the possibility exists of God being blindsided and beaten. There is therefore no assurance of ultimate victory for the good.
Of course, there are huge problems, logical and moral, for believing in Divine Sovereignty. It threatens to make God a monster, responsible for all the world’s sufferings, including Coronavirus. But both Calvinism and Arminianism, however, believe in Providence. It throws us back on faith as the only thing to hang onto.
This mystery of faith is not a cop-out, but belongs properly to a doctrine of God’s incomprehensibility. It’s like holding both ends of a taught piece of string, between Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility. Both Hyper-Calvinism and Open Theism let go of one end: one by leaving no room for human responsibility, the other by refusing to bow the knee.
This tension between two paradoxical truths means we have to walk by faith, not by sight (2 Co. 5.7). Our countryman is Job, who lived in the ‘Land of Nod’, which, although often a euphemism for falling asleep, is actually a place of permanent wakefulness and awareness.
Click on this picture for a real encouragement to trust God's sovereignty in these times from my friend Felicia.
Thanks Steve - interesting stuff as always.
ReplyDeleteI think you misrepresent Open Theism though, or at least its proponents' understanding of it. I heard Greg Boyd speak on this last year, when he outlined his Open position: In God's infinite wisdom and intelligence God knows all the possibilities that could occur according to all the possible human choices, and knows what to do in response in order to achieve his ultimate end. Thus there is no possibility of God being blindsided and beaten and there is assurance of ultimate victory for the good.
I'm aware that this doesn't address your comment that Open Theism is unbiblical!
I'm aware of Boyd's argument here. He also uses the analogy of the Chess Master, who foresees all his opponents' moves. But, if only theoretically, this leaves open the the possibility that something surprising can happen, since even the best Chess Master will lose at sometime. Furthermore, if God knows all the possible moves, then it falls into the same philsophical trap he is keen to escape from (and I think that the origin of Boyd's theology come from philosophy, to reduce God to the leve of our understanding) - that God's foreknowledge (of our possible actions) restricts our freedom to choose, since any choice we might make is already known. This is his objection, as I understand it to Arminianism. Nevertheless, the analogy of the Chess Master is helpful, if limited, and one i have used in explaining God's sovereignty (admittedly I am here using it to the opposite end that Boyd intends!); but all analogies (like the Trinity-as-shamrock) are limited and eventually inadequate to who God is. I realise I want to retain orthodox Biblical theology, with doctrine being an invitation to enter through prayer into the ultimate and incomprehensible mystery of God.
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