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Book Review
July 17, 2001

God's Lesser Glory: The Diminished God of Open Theism by Bruce A. Ware

"What if God ... faces the same limitations as we do in not being able to know what will happen ... How would this effect your trust in God?" Bruce Ware begins his first page of this timely book with that penetrating question. How can we trust a God who doesn't really know what lies ahead anymore than we do?

Unless you have been hiding in a theological cave somewhere, you are aware of the growing teaching called Open Theism. What is that? Chapter One of God's Lesser Glory answers the question in a way everyone can understand. Chapters Two and Three continue in seeking to explain the basic teachings of Open Theism.

Chapters Four through Six focus on the the problems with this teaching. Ware makes sure we understand that this is not an attack just on predestination but also on God's foreknowledge. Chapter Six, The God Who Risks, examines what happens to prophecy when one does away with the foreknowledge of God. To the Open Theist, God is a celestial risk taker. In essence, God hopes things will turn out the way He wants them to. Ware rightly asks how prophecy can be certain with a God who is uncertain.

Chapters Seven through Nine are most important. Part Three asks the question, "What difference does it make in daily life?" These are not just obscure arguments for ivory tower theologians! The teaching of Open Theism undermines our basic understanding of prayer and God's purpose in the trials of our life.

This is a most important book for every believer! First the authority of Scripture came under attack among even those who called themselves Evangelical. Now, the very person of God Himself is being questioned

God's Lesser Glory: The Diminished God of Open Theism by Bruce A. Ware (Crossway Books, 200) paper, 240 pages.

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They say that God learns from and changes His mind to the unfolding of human events .., it is clear that God does not have comprehensive knowledge of the future... (p.33)

(In their view) God purposefully puts reminders in place so that he won't forget - a sort of divine version of a string tied to one's finger. (p.80)

The single richest and strongest portion of Scripture supporting God's knowledge of the future is Isaiah 40-48 ... God knows and declares the future (including future free human actions) before it occurs... (p. 102)

Every committed Christian wants to believe that God's will is best. If we cannot have confidence in God's will, where can we turn? If cannot entrust our lives, the lives of our families, and our very futures to God's perfect oversight and direction, how shall we avoid the chronic anxiety and fear over what lies ahead? If we wonder whether God's knows for sure what he is doing ... why should we trust him instead of simply following our own instincts, thoughts, and desires in charting out our futures?" (p. 175)

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