Description
James K. Beilby and Paul Rhodes Eddy (Editors), Gregory A. Boyd, David Hunt, William Lane Craig, and Paul Helm (Contributors), Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001, 6×9″ softbound, 225 pages. ISBN: 0830826521
The question of the nature of God’s foreknowledge and how that relates to human freedom has been pondered and debated by Christian theologians at least since the time of Augustine. And the issue will not go away.
More recently, the terms of the debate have shifted, and the issue has taken on new urgency with the theological proposal known as the openness of God. This view maintains that God’s knowledge, while perfect, is limited regarding the future inasmuch as the future is “open” and not settled. Divine Foreknowledge: Four Views provides a venue for well-known proponents of four distinct views of divine foreknowledge to present their cases:
Gregory A. Boyd of Bethel College presents the open-theism view, David Hunt of Whittier College weighs in on the simple-foreknowledge view, William Lane Craig of Talbot School of Theology takes the middle-knowledge view, and Paul Helm of Regent College, Vancouver, presents the Augustinian-Calvinist view.
All four respond to each of the other essayists, noting points of agreement and disagreement. Editors James K. Beilby and Paul R. Eddy introduce the contemporary debate and also offer a conclusion that helps you evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of each view. The result is a unique opportunity to grapple with the issues and arguments and frame your own understanding of this important debate.
This book:
* offers four distinct views on God’s foreknowledge
* addresses a central question in the contemporary “openness of God” debate
* exposes principle issues and arguments involved in this debate
* contributors are leading evangelical scholars and well-known advocates of the views they represent
* presents each contributor’s evaluation of competing views
* helps to clarify and advance one of the great debates in evangelical theology
Contents:
Introduction
1. The Open-Theism Response – Gregory A. Boyd
A Simple-Foreknowledge Response
A Middle-Knowledge Response
An Augustinian-Calvinist Response
2. The Simple-Foreknowledge View – David Hunt
An Open-Theism Response
A Middle-Knowledge Response
An Augustinian-Calvinist Response
3. The Middle-Knowledge View – William Lane Craig
An Open-Theism Response
A Simple-Foreknowledge Response
An Augustinian-Calvinist Response
4. The Augustinian-Calvinist View – Paul Helm
An Open-Theism Response
A Simple-Foreknowledge Response
A Middle-Knowledge Response
