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You may not have realized it, but God was really worried this morning. I know it’s hard to believe, but He was watching you anxiously from heaven. He was trying to figure out whether you were going to read Tabletalk today. He knew it was likely; after all, you read it most mornings. The chance remained however, that you might not get to it.
Of course, now that you actually have read Tabletalk, you have given Him something new to be concerned about. What will you do with your new-found knowledge? Will it somehow aid your sanctification? God only knows how you will respond to what you have read. Wait … no He doesn’t. Poor God.
Absurd? Not for adherents of open theism. But when Scripture determines our theology, open theism is demonstrably lacking. God’s Lesser Glory by Dr. Bruce Ware makes this abundantly clear.
Ware, a dean at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., uses this book to respond to open theism’s various claims. He begins with a brief history of “evangelical” open theism and explains why we should be concerned about it. In successive chapters, he explains open theism’s critique of the classical Christian doctrine of God’s foreknowledge, then debunks the benefits the system purports to offer.
The next section examines how open theism misreads Biblical texts to defend its position. Ware then presents the clear Scriptural teaching that God fully knows all future events. He is especially good at highlighting how the “risk-taking” god of open theism cannot promise anything because he can guarantee nothing.
Open theists claim that their system is superior for making sense of a Christian’s prayer life, God’s guidance, and suffering. Ware demonstrates that this claim is empty. He clearly shows that we cannot prayerfully entrust our future to a God who does not know the future.
Ware concludes the book with a chapter on God’s glory. Far from making God more glorious, open theism calls into question God’s success, wisdom, and power. Ware reminds us that only the all-knowing and all-determining God of Scripture is a God of glory. God’s Lesser Glory, published by Crossway Books, shows that the god of open theism is a god without glory.