Is God’s Limited Power or Knowledge a Solution?

Is God’s limited power or knowledge a solution to the problem of evil and suffering? This post begins in section four of Randy Alcorn’s book If God Is Good. In this section, Randy Alcorn looks at the Open Theist’s proposed solutions to the problem of evil and suffering. I will be sharing excerpts from chapters 15 and 16.

You can find earlier posts of previous chapters under the heading Bible Studies in the menu above. Unless otherwise noted, the Scriptures used are from the NKJV Bible.

Limited Power

The book “When Bad Things Happen To Good People” and “Process Theology” promote the notion that God’s weakness leaves him understandable and likable.

Rabbi Harold Kushner’s only son, Aaron, suffered from a rare disease; aging rapidly, he died in his teens, looking like an old man.

Kushner wrote in his book When Bad Things Happen To Good People, that some things are “too difficult even for God.” He said, “I can worship a God who hates suffering but cannot eliminate it, more easily than I can worship a God who chooses to make children suffer and die, for whatever exalted reason.”[1]  

The book, published in 1981, sold over 4 million copies and continues to influence many today. Our culture’s eroded view of God prepared the way for the book’s staggering success. People welcomed a kindhearted God who would stop anything bad from happening to us… If only he could. Kushner’s explanation that some things lie outside God’s control resembles polytheism, in which competing gods, like superheroes, have more power than mortals but lack impotence.

Process theology provides an alternative to viewing God in the classical framework of an unchangeable, all-knowing, all-powerful, and everywhere-present deity. Instead, process theologians see God as constantly changing, learning, and evolving, right along with humanity, just at a higher level.

Process theologian David Ray Griffin writes:

“most of the problems of Christian theology, I contend, have been created by the traditional doctrine of divine omnipotence… We must fully surrender this doctrine if we, while recognizing that genuine evil occurs, are to hold without any inconsistency or equivocation that our creator is unambiguously loving.”[2]

Prior to process theology, nearly all monotheists believed in an all-powerful God. Although men and women in Scripture expressed confusion about why God doesn’t remove their suffering, however, they never suggested that he cannot remove it.

Stephen Davis summarizes process theology:

“Faced with evil, God has his powerlessness as his excuse. He aims, intends, seeks, works, and tries his best to overcome evil: rather than blame, he deserves sympathy, even pity.” [3]

Writers argue that the reason Jesus didn’t restrain himself from exercising power to liberate himself from his captors and the cross, was because they believe he had no power to do so.[4]

Scripture Emphatically Reveals God as All Powerful

If process theology is correct, then writers of Scripture completely missed the boat. And if Scripture is inspired, even God doesn’t know his own nature:

“… I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,’… Indeed, I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.” (Isaiah 46:9-11) – God, Creator of everything

God Is “The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.” (Psalm 24:8)

“Is anything too hard for God?” (see Genesis 18:14 and Jeremiah 32:27)

The rhetorical question above implies a “no” answer. Consider the truth of God in the following Scriptures:

• Luke 1:37 – “with God, nothing will be impossible.” (the angel Gabriel)
• Matthew 19:26 – “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Jesus)
• 2 Corinthians 6:18 – “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
• Revelation 1:8 – “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Jesus)
• Ephesians 3:20 – “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think…” (Paul)
• Matthew 3:9 – “I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.” (John the Baptist)

A God of Limited Power Would Raise Other Problems

A God who can’t deliver us from suffering cannot deliver us through suffering. When asked what allowed Corrie ten Boom to endure the concentration camp where her beloved sister died, she responded, “not what, but who.” then she added, “the devil is strong, but his power is limited; Jesus’s power is unlimited.”[5] Jesus sustained Corrie at Ravensbrück. She believed his words “all authority” (see Matthew 28:18).

Suppose Jesus had said to his disciples, “I have a lot of authority, but I’m only in the process; human and demonic choices can thwart my limited power. But I sincerely hope things work out for you.” How many of his disciples do you think would have willingly died for him?

Scripture speaks of Christ’s “incomparably great power” and “mighty strength” that made possible his resurrection. Today he sits at God’s right hand, “far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.” – Ephesians 1:19-21 (Bonnie’s response: Hallelujah! Praise God! Maranatha!)

Did you see anything in these passages that hints at his “limited” power? (No sir I did not!)

If God Lacks Power

A God who has high aspirations but limited power to bring them about resembles our mothers. We love them for loving us and wanting our best, but those nice intentions go only so far in a world they can’t control. If God lacks power his good intentions are inadequate.

Those who believe in a God of limited power might respond, “It isn’t that God can’t do anything, it’s just that he can’t do everything.”

If God is doing the best he can, then he doesn’t permit evil and suffering, rather he is overtaken by them since he can’t stop them.

Therefore, why frustrate God with prayers he can’t answer since if he could, he already would have? Limiting God may appear to get him off the hook for life’s difficulties. It might make us feel warmer toward him. But this is a God of man’s invention not the God revealed in Scripture.

An Omnipotent God

God can do what is humanly impossible, he can perform miracles. But he can’t do anything that contradicts himself. An omnipotent God cannot do what is intrinsically impossible. God can’t make a square circle or a round rectangle he cannot make a rock so big that he can’t lift it. That’s not a limitation; It’s an absurdity.

Since this omnipotent God is also omniscient and rational, he cannot contradict his own rational nature that governs the universe.

Scripture tells us that God cannot deny himself (see 2 Timothy 2:13). Moreover, he cannot lie (see Hebrews 6:18). It’s not a lack of power that accounts for his inability, it’s his nature. That’s why the universe, though full of paradoxes, is not full of contradictions.

God could easily make anyone obey him, but he cannot compel beings against their will, to freely obey him. God can invite, draw, and woo. But he cannot force us to love him, for love, by nature, cannot be forced.

Peter Kreeft wrote, “To be wholly trustable, a God must be both all good and all-powerful. For if he is not all good, he might deliberately do you harm and if he is not all-powerful, he might accidentally do you harm.” [6]

Does God Need Humans to Forgive Him?

Rabbi Kushner wrote,

“Are you capable of forgiving and loving God even when you have found out that he is not perfect, even when he has let you down and disappointed you by permitting bad luck and sickness and cruelty in his world, and permitting some of those things to happen to you? Can you learn to love and forgive him despite his limitations?” [7] 

In response, Alcorn states:  

“I have heard in recent years Bible-believing Christians talk about forgiving God. But I wonder what can be forgiven except moral evil. The one who forgives assumes the moral high ground. Telling God, we forgive him accuses him of wrongdoing and implies we are qualified to judge him. This is both blasphemy and silliness.”

God is the source of all good and the standard by which good is measured. We may not like what he does but we are in no position to accuse him of wrongdoing. Every breath he gives us, we who deserve immediate and eternal death is a gift.

We should ask for God’s pardon, not his confession. He owes us no apology however we owe him many. If you’re waiting for God to say he’s sorry for what he’s done to you, don’t hold your breath.”

However, Alcorn encourages those who want to hear him say he cares about you and sympathizes with you for the pain you’ve had to endure, and if you are crushed and brokenhearted, then read what the Lord God says to his people:

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands… Isaiah 49:15-16

God compares himself to both father and mother, and if you are his child, God says he cares for you. His care for you is greater than anyone’s. He loves you beyond measure and freely offers forgiveness.

God is surely loving, but we dare not attempt to purchase his love at the expense of his power. His attributes are not a menu for us to choose from but are each an essential part of his internal being. God’s omnipotence and love are not in conflict. Jeremiah 32:17-19 affirms God’s love in the midst of a passage not minimizing his power but exalting it.

Is Limited Knowledge a Solution?

Most proposed solutions to the problem of evil and suffering have been around for a long time; “open theism” is recent. Open theists believe God does not and cannot know in advance the future choices his creatures will make. A leading proponent of open theism, Gregory Boyd, writes, “The open view, I submit, allows us to say consistently, in unequivocal terms, that the ultimate source of all evil is found in the will of free agents rather than in God.” [8]  

Since Boyd includes suffering in the category of “all evil,” he believes God never sends us suffering. Hence, proponents of open theism argue, God cannot be held responsible for his creatures evil, since he could not foresee it.

When Alcorn first read an open theists article, he was not deeply concerned because he thought this view would never gain traction among evangelical Christians. However, he’s discovered that open theism has become surprisingly influential, and its popularity continues to rise.

Our Free Choices Preclude God’s Knowledge of Future Circumstances

While God can know in advance what he has planned to do, open theists claim he cannot know what his free creatures will choose to do. They believe this distances God from evil human choices and the consequent suffering that they bring.

Clark Pinnock said:

“The future is really open and not available to exhaustive foreknowledge even on the part of God. It is plain that the Bible doctrine of creaturely freedom requires us to reconsider the conventional view of the omniscience of God” [9]  (italics added).

Process theology has long taught that God grows in knowledge, learning more, and becoming more knowledgeable as events unfold. Moreover, events can surprise him. While Pinnock denies he is advocating it, he claims, “I am sympathetic with a number of motives in process theism.” He claims his view harmonizes with the Scriptures’ portrayal of God. [10]

Never Doubt, God Absolutely Knows Everything

Open theism stands in contrast to the biblical and historical teaching that God knows absolutely everything. However, this is what Scripture states:

• “Do you know how the clouds are balanced, those wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge?” – Job 37:16
• “For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.” – 1 John 3:20
• “He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name.” – Psalm 147:4 (that’s countless trillions of stars each named by God).

Jesus said:

• “Therefore, do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.” – Matthew 6:8
• “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered” – Matthew 10:30
• “Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God.” – Luke 12:6

Yet an open theist will say “I believe the passages that teach God’s vast knowledge. But while he knows everything that can be known, future choices of his free creatures can’t be known.”

Again, What does Scripture tell us?

• “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up;
  You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.” – Psalm 139:1-4 (emphasis added)
• “Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book, they all were written, the days fashioned for me when as yet there were none of them.” – Psalm 139:16 (emphasis added)

When David asked God questions about the future, God gave him detailed answers about what Saul would do. Saul and these men would make specific choices and God knew them in advance.

David asked God:

“Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will come down.” Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the Lord said, “They will deliver you.” So, David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah and went wherever they could go. Then it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah; so, he halted the expedition.” – 1 Samuel 23:11-13

God knows what choices his creatures will make, but he also knows what would have happened if his creatures made different choices. God reveals to Elijah what would have happened if king Joash had struck the ground five or six times with arrows (see 2 kings 13:19).

Jesus states: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.” – Matthew 11:21

Open Theists Don’t Believe In God’s Omniscience

The charge that open theists don’t really believe in God’s omniscience offends them. Nevertheless, Christians throughout church history have believed that God’s omniscience encompasses all knowledge, past, present, and future. Both Armenian and Calvinistic theologians have consistently taught this.

Strong’s definition of omniscience is typical: “God’s perfect and internal knowledge of all things which are objects of knowledge, whether they be actual or possible, past, present, or future.” [11]

A.W. Tozer wrote that God “knows instantly and with a fullness of perfection that includes every possible item of knowledge concerning everything that exists or could have existed anywhere in the universe at any time in the past or that may exist in the centuries or ages yet born.” [12]

Bruce Ware points out, “The open view has not been advocated by any portion or branch of the orthodox, Roman Catholic, or Protestant church throughout our history,” [13] 

8 Other Things Open Theists Believe About God

#1 – Open theists claim God knows all possible future events, but not the actual ones that result from human and demonic choices. However. Alcorn asked a great question.  

“If people make meaningful choices to turn to Christ, as open theists believe, and God doesn’t know such choices in advance, then how could their names be ‘written in the book of life from the creation of the world’ as it is stated in Revelation 17:8?”

#2 – Open theists believe that a partially unaware God brings greater comfort than a God who knows everything that’s coming.

In the book Is God To Blame? Boyd calls the traditional definition of God’s omniscience both misguided and harmful. [14]

#3 – Open theists believe that God’s limited knowledge showcases his unlimited power.

Boyd counseled a woman named Suzanne who asked God to provide a husband with whom she could serve on the mission field. She met a man at college and sensed that God was leading her to marry him. Tragically he turned out to be an unrepentant adulterer. After she became pregnant, he left her to raise the child by herself. Boyd recounts Suzanne’s bitterness towards God and stated:

“I suggested to her that God felt much regret over the confirmation he had given Suzanne as he did about his decision to make Saul king of Israel….”

The woman found comfort in Boyd’s viewpoint. He concludes, “by framing the ordeal within the context of an open future, Suzanne was able to understand the tragedy of her life in a new way. She didn’t have to abandon all confidence in her ability to hear God and didn’t have to accept that somehow God intended this ordeal for her own good. Her faith in God’s character and her love toward God was eventually restored and she was finally able to move on with her life.” [15]

Alcorn wondered why it would help Suzanne to believe that she could still hear God and sense his leading. God might have a well-meaning prediction of a happy future, only to be proven wrong again.

Shouldn’t she think since God directed my past toward the wrong man the last time, how can I lean on his understanding instead of mine, in view of his limited knowledge? He already led me into a terrible marriage who’s to say he won’t lead me somewhere worse the next time?

However, Scripture calls upon us to trust God. Isn’t part of God’s trustworthiness based on his total not partial knowledge of the future? Boyd dismisses as naive the notion that somehow God intended this ordeal for her good.

However, is it really cruel of God to permit evil and intend it for our good, as he did with Joseph?

Romans 8:28 suggests that God does intend life’s ordeals for our good. However, there’s a difference between immediate good and ultimate good. Seeing that difference requires faith.

The God of historic orthodox Christianity is a God who cares deeply about us but also has a purpose and a plan even for the bad things we encounter.

#4 – Open theism sacrifices God’s future knowledge.

#5 – Open theists find comfort and believe God has not ordained our suffering from eternity past.

Believing in God’s limited future knowledge does not solve the problem of God withholding justice or allowing evil in the present. But their answer to the problem of evil is an illusion. The only way to fully defend God’s goodness would be to believe that God not only lacks knowledge of the future but also of the present.

Alcorn finds it easier to trust a God who has known all along and planned how he will use the tragedy for his glory and our good, than one who just found out about it but chose not to stop it anyway. (I agree)

Open theism is not only biblically wrong; it’s a shallow answer to the problem of evil.

#6 – Open theism portrays God as making mistakes.

John Sanders candidly asserts that Scripture  “does leave open the possibility that God might be mistaken about some points.” Sanders then often offers some qualifications about the meaning of the word mistake and says “even if we affirm that God is sometimes mistaken in the sense that God believes that something would happen when in fact it does not come about. The biblical record gives a few occasions, but we are in no position to judge just how many times this occurs with God.” [16]

Alcorn states that apparently, while God sometimes makes mistakes, we can’t know how often. I don’t find that the least bit comforting. Do you? (No, I do not find comfort in such a thought and it is not Biblical!)

God Knows The Whole Future

Because God knows the whole future, he can be good while allowing the pain that a good human being would try to stop.

John Stewart Mill argued that God should live under the same moral expectations he places on us. If it is wrong for us not to save the innocent, then it is also wrong for God. Mill’s statement sounds rational until we think through its implications.

God knows everything, including every contingency, and he knows what is ultimately best in ways we cannot. God can see ultimate purposes and plans that we can’t. He can know it is better for someone to die now rather than later.

The Amplified Bible states clearly:

“The righteous man perishes [at the hand of evil], and no one takes it to heart; Faithful and devout men are taken away, while no one understands That the righteous person is taken away [to be spared] from disaster and evil.” – Isaiah 57:1

Because God knows all things in the past, present, and future, God is uniquely qualified to know when to ordain or permit evil and suffering and when not to.

#7 – Open theists claim that human freedom and divine omniscience are mutually exclusive.

Clark Pinnock states, “If God now knows that tomorrow you will select A and not B, then your belief that you will be making a genuine choice is mistaken… God can surmise what you will do next Friday but cannot know it for certain because you have not done it yet.” [17]

This argument also may sound plausible, but it is not. God’s foreknowledge of future events does not necessarily cause those events. Yes, God causes many things that he knows about, but he can also know about something without causing it. He knew in advance of Satan’s fall and Adam and Eve’s sin, but he did not cause it.

God neither tempts people to evil nor causes them to commit evil (see James 1:13). Yes, he could have kept them from sinning, and yes, he is accomplishing an ultimate plan of redemption that will glorify him through his conquest of sin and death. But knowledge is not the same as causation.

#8 – Open theism credits Satan with too much power and God with too little.

If human and demonic free agents can choose differently than what God supposes they will, couldn’t they derail God’s promise to work “all things” together for the good of those who love him (see Romans 8:28)? How can you make such a promise if you did not know what “all things” would entail?

Warfare Against Demonic Powers

The warfare against demonic powers depicted in Scripture is very real but does not put God’s power or knowledge in doubt.

Boyd believes that spiritual warfare implies that the battle’s outcome must remain in doubt. Scriptures’ use of warfare terminology does indeed indicate that rebels can resist and violate God’s will. However, though angels can fight God, they cannot overpower him.

“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” – Revelation 12:7-9

This passage should keep us from three errors.

1. We shouldn’t believe that everything that happens pleases God.
   1. What ruler is gratified by his loving subjects turning against him?
2. We should never believe that the conflict between good and evil is not real.
   1. This passage vividly shows its reality.
3. This passage should keep us from believing that anyone can thwart God’s ultimate plan.
   1. The rebellion is real, and the warfare is real, but Satan “was not strong enough” to stay in Heaven. God accomplished his will by casting out the devil.

We too, war against those evil beings:

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” – Ephesians 6:12

We should take up our armor yet not fear the future, for the outcome is certain:

 ^“He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” – 1 John 3:8

God Remains In Charge

Job recognized that regardless of Satan’s role God remained in charge. When everything Job had, including his children, was taken from him, he said:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.” – Job 1:21

Under divine inspiration the writer comments in verse 22:

“In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.” –  Job 1:22

Satan did appalling things, but Job saw them as coming from God’s hand. Job did not say, “the Lord gave, and Satan has taken away.”

After Job had lost ten children, Job said God had taken them away, and still, he blessed God’s name. Therefore, the psalmist can say, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”-  Psalm 116:15

Does God Learn and Grow?

God knows the end from the beginning, if he didn’t, he wouldn’t be God. In 1 Samuel 15:11 God says, “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me.” Open theists use this to prove that God changes his mind. However, the word translated into “I regret” is also rendered as “I am grieved” (NIV) and “I am sorry” (NLT).

Open theists argue that when God says “he regrets” something he implies that he didn’t know what would happen. After gaining further knowledge, God changes his mind. God acted on the best knowledge he had at the time but the bottom line is, regardless of the terminology used, God made a mistake.

On the contrary, our Creator directly tells his people:

• “I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore, you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.” – Malachi 3:6
• “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” – James 1:17
• “Whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” – 2 Corinthians 4:4
• “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” – Hebrews 13:8

These Scriptures rule out so-called constant change, whether in knowledge or anything else.

Fulfilled Biblical Prophecies Are Proof

Fulfilled biblical prophecies are not good guesses on God’s part but proof that God knows the future in detail. Isaiah 40-45 demonstrates that false gods make faulty predictions. Why? Because false gods are either human projections or demons and therefore finite.

Demons and false prophets may be able to guess certain aspects of the future, but they err on some points because finite beings can’t know everything about the future. In contrast, the Creator states:

“Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,’”- Isaiah 46:9-10

God can make known the end from the beginning only because he knows the end from the beginning.

When God said to the prophets that Messiah would be born in a certain place and crucified between two evildoers, he was not speculating but stating what he has always known.

When he prophesied that Judas would betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver and throw the money back to the priests, he knew exactly what choices people would make. Compare the prophecy in Zechariah 11:13 to the fulfillment in Matthew 27:3-7

“And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—that princely price they set on me. So, I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter.” – Zechariah 11:13

“Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,  saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” … Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself…” –  Matthew 27:3-7

That’s why God can say:

“When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.” – Deuteronomy 18:22.

Those who believe that God doesn’t know about billions of future choices and events that flow out of those choices must simply hope for the best. However, those who believe in a God who knows “the end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46:10), can relax because even though they don’t know what lies ahead, their Sovereign God does!

We can find great assurance in believing God knows the future and that he works even evil and suffering together for our good. God, because of his comprehensive knowledge of the future can bring eternal value out of evil and suffering.

Far-Reaching Consequences

Attempts at limiting God’s omniscience or other attributes have far-reaching consequences. There’s a great deal at stake in the issue of open theism. God does not need us to rescue him from the problem of evil, and particularly not at such a great cost.

Justin Taylor wrote,

“Open theism is not just another intramural squabble among evangelicals. It is not a debate about second-order doctrines, minutiae, or peripheral matters. Rather it is a debate about God and the central features of the Christian faith.” [18] 

There has been a domino effect in books that promote open theism. When someone diminishes or topples one of God’s attributes, other attributes inevitably start to fall. Deny God’s omniscience, and you deny his immutability. Once we begin to dismantle God’s attributes, the God we wish to relate to ceases to be the only true God, revealed in Scripture. This cannot please him.

“These things you have done, and I kept silent; you thought that I was altogether like you; but I will rebuke you, and set them in order before your eyes.” – Psalm 50:21

If we feel free no matter how well-intentioned to abandon the doctrine of God’s omniscience as presented in Scripture and reaffirmed by councils and creeds, then what other divine attributes will we redefine next?

• Is God everywhere present, or are some places beyond his reach?
• Is he absolutely holy and just, or only 98% of the time?

Whatever meager gains we suppose our revisions bring us, the losses pile up to heaven. Fortunately, God will always remain who he is. The question is, as we try to modify him, what will become of us?

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End Notes

• [1] Harold S. Kushner, When Bad Things Happen To Good People (New York: Schocken Books, 1981), 134.
• [2] Note 2 David Ray Griffin, “creation out of nothing, creation out of chaos, and the problem of evil,” in encountering evil, addition. Stephen T Davis, (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox, 2001 ), 96.
• [3] Steven T. Davis, “God the Mad Scientist: Process Theology on God and evil,” Themelios 5, no. 1 (1979 ): http://S3.amazonaws.com/tgc-documents/ journal-issues/5.1_Davis.pdf.
• [4] See, for example, John D. Caputo, The Weakness of God (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006), 44.
• [5] Corrie ten Boom interview with Pat Robertson on 700 Club, 1974. (www.youtube.com/watch? V=6VZYFDCS3Gw& NR=1).
• [6] Peter Kreeft, Making Sense Out of Suffering (Ann Arbor, MI: Servant Books, 1986), 39.
• [7] Kushner, When Bad Things Happen To Good People, 148.
• [8] Gregory A. Boyd, God of The Possible. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 2000), 98.
• [9] Clark Pinnock, “God Limits His Knowledge,” in Predestination and Free Will, eds. David Basinger and Randall Basinger (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1986 ), 150.
• [10] Pinnock, “God Limits His Knowledge,” 147.
• [11] Augustus Hopkins Strong, Outlines of Systematic Theology, (American Baptist Publication Society, 1908), 77.
• [12] A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (San Francisco: HarperOne, 1992 ), 87.
• [13] Bruce Ware, Their God Is Too Small (Wheaton, IL: Good News, 2003), 16.
• [14] Gregory A. Boyd, Is God to Blame? (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2003), 11.
• [15] Boyd, God of The Possible, 105-6.
• [16] John Sanders, The God Who Risks (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity 1998 ), 132-33.
• [17] Pinnock, “God Limits His Knowledge,” 156-57.
• [18] Revelation 13:8 may be speaking instead of names written in the book of life before the world’s foundation; if so, the notion of the absolute certainty of Christ’s eventual redemptive work is still apparent in passages such as Acts 2:23; Acts 4:27-28; 1 Peter 1:20.