God's Lesser Glory

by Ware, Bruce

• ISBN13: 9781581342291
• ISBN10: 1581342292
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-11-07
• Publisher: Crossway Books

Summary

Christians throughout history have been strengthened by their confidence that God knows everything about the future. But consider this: What if it simply is not true? What if God can only rely on His best guess about tomorrow--just as you and I do? Would it not affect your trust in Him, your confidence in facing the future, your worship, and your motivation to leave everything in His hands? And yet this is the consequence that has to be faced if you trust what a number of leading voices in evangelicalism are proposing under the doctrine of open theism.In its redefinition of the nature of divine providence, open theism adjusts the entire picture of God's sovereignty and involvement in our lives. Bruce Ware carefully summarizes and critiques this dangerous doctrine from a thoroughly biblical perspective, providing an excellent treatment of both the classical and openness views. He explores their implications and faithfully pinpoints the subtle ways that open theism undermines our trust in God and lessens His glory in our lives.Open theism offers a God who, like us, does not know the future. Its sponsors see this humanizing of God as logical and devotional gain. Bruce Ware sees it as a way of misreading Scripture and impoverishing the life of faith, and he makes a compelling case for his view. I heartily commend this thorough and insightful book. --J.I. Packer, Professor of Theology, Regent CollegeOpen theism, which denies that God can foreknow free human choices, dishonors God, distorts Scripture, damages faith, and would, it 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. --John Piper, Senior Pastor, Bethlehem Baptist Church, MinneapolisEvangelical theology faces a crisis of unprecedented magnitude. The denial and redefinition of God's perfections will lead evangelical theology into disintegration and doctrinal catastrophe. The very identity and reality of the God of the Bible is at stake. The real question comes down to this--does God really know all things, past, present, and future? Or, is God often surprised like all the rest of us? The Bible reveals that God is all-knowing and all-powerful. Bruce Ware sets out the issues carefully inGod's Lesser Glory. This book is a much-needed antidote to contemporary confusion, and it is a powerful testimony to the truth of God set forth in Scripture. I can only hope that Christians will read it and rejoice in the knowledge of the true and living God. --R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President, The Southern Baptist Theological SeminaryAt once businesslike and practical, Bruce Ware's restatement of classical Christianity in the face of contemporary challenges to it within evangelicalism is bold and bracing. Driven by the pastoral and practical importance of God's greatness, Ware's approach keeps his defense from bogging down in pedantic rhetoric. This book clearly demonstrates that the historic Christian view, against centuries of antecedents to "open theism," has been favored for so long for one reason: It is so evidently biblical. --Michael Horton, Associate Professor of Historical Theology, Westminster Theological Seminary in CaliforniaNot even God knows whether you will decide to buy this book or read it, at least according

Author Biography

Bruce A. Ware is the Senior Associate Dean of the School of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 9
Foreword	p. 13
Introduction
Why You Should Be Concerned	p. 17
What Does Open Theism Propose? Examining God's Lesser Glory
The Perceived Inadequacy of the Classical Arminian View of God	p. 31
The Perceived Benefits of Open Theism	p. 43
What's Wrong with Open Theism's View of God? Assessing God's Lesser Glory
Assessing Open Theism's Denial of Exhaustive Divine Foreknowledge	p. 65
Scriptural Affirmation of Exhaustive Divine Foreknowledge	p. 99
The God Who Risks and the Assault on God's Wisdom	p. 143
What Difference Does It Make in Daily Life? Expressing God's Lesser Glory
Harm to the Christian's Life of Prayer	p. 163
Weakening of Our Confidence in God's Guidance	p. 177
Despair amid Suffering and Pain	p. 191
Conclusion
God's Greater Glory and Our Everlasting Good	p. 219
General Index	p. 231
Scripture Index	p. 237
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