What are John Piper's views on God's foreknowledge and openness theology?
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John Piper has written a significant number of articles dealing with specific texts and theological problems relating to the foreknowledge of God. For an in-depth look at the issue expounding his position with regard to the Baptist General Conference and openness theology, see the booklet entitled, Resolution on the Foreknowledge of God: Reasons & Rationale. This and other helpful articles can be found in the Foreknowledge section of the Online Library.
Bethlehem is also supportive of The Edgren Fellowship, an alliance of pastors and lay people in the Baptist General Conference who joyfully uphold and proclaim the vision of God and His work described in the BGC Affirmation of Faith. Specifically, they believe that this historic Biblical faith has always included the persuasion of John Alexis Edgren, the founder of Bethel Seminary, that, "God knows everything that ever was, everything that now is, and everything that is to be; all that is actual and all that is possible. Therefore God knows in advance all the free acts of all free creatures" (Fundamentals of Faith [Chicago: BGC Press, 1948], pp. 19-20).
For further reading, we highly recommend:
Bruce Ware, God's Lesser Glory: The Diminished God of Open Theism (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2000).
John Piper writes of this book:
Open theism, which denies that God can foreknow free human choices, dishonors God, distorts Scripture, damages faith, and would, if left unchecked, destroy churches and lives. Its errors are not peripheral but central. Therefore, I thank God for Bruce Ware's loving, informed, penetrating, devastating critique of this profoundly injurious teaching. I pray that God would use this book to sharpen the discernment of leaders and prepare the people of God to recognize toxic teaching when they taste it. O how precious is the truth of God's all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful care over our fragile lives. For your name's sake, O Lord, and for the good of the suffering church who rest in your all-knowing providence, prosper the message of this beautiful book and shorten the ruinous life of open theism.
