Mormonism and Open Theism—Are They Compatible?

I have already touched upon the emergence of Open Theism, or the “openness of God” theology within Evangelicalism in another post, in connection with another subject that I was discussing (see here); but since it is a subject that seems to have drawn the attention (often a favorable attention) of LDS scholars and thinkers,* it is a subject that is worth examining in more detail from an LDS theological perspective.

Open Theism is a relatively recent theological development in Evangelical circles in the past decades, the core element of which is that God does not know the future exhaustively, because to do so would imply man’s inability to make free choices. It would imply that the future is predetermined and fixed, and therefore man’s decisions are not freely made. It is an attempt to resolve the age-old dilemma of reconciling God’s foreknowledge with human freewill. It attempts to do so by limiting God’s foreknowledge, rather than by curtailing man’s freewill. It does not allow for a third solution that preserves both. That is the core element of it. Everything else that has been added to it is window-dressing in order to give it the appearance of a coherent, self-consistent theological system. It also likes to portray itself as a much older system of thought in Christian theology than it really is. While there may have been one or two oddball characters in Christian history who may have expressed similar views, I am not aware that there has been a concerted attempt in the past to challenge traditional Christian theism with something resembling the Open Theism of today.

I have already discussed the theological problems of reconciling divine foreknowledge with human freewill (and proposed a solution to it) in another post which can be seen here. One of the most difficult theological issues that has challenged Christian theologians has been reconciling divine foreknowledge with human freewill, because the two appear to be incompatible. Calvinism’s answer to that is to deny human freewill altogether. It asserts that everything has been predestined, and man is not free. God has predetermined from creation who will be saved and who will be damned, and there is nothing that anyone can do to change it. That is Calvinism’s answer to that problem (which is equally false, and which LDS doctrine rejects).

Open Theism goes to the other extreme, and attempts to resolve that problem by limiting God’s foreknowledge instead, rather than limiting human freewill. It teaches that God does not know the future exhaustively, because if he did that would imply that the future is fixed (closed), which in turn would curtail man’s ability to make free choices. According to this theology God knows the future only partially, or as a series of contingent possibilities, and discovers the full extent of it in the course of time. The following quote is from Clark H. Pinnock (1937–2010), an ardent advocate of Open Theism; in conversation with David L. Paulsen, LDS scholar and academic. It comes from an article titled, “Open and Relational Theology: An Evangelical in Dialogue with a Latter-day Saint,” published in BYU Studies Quarterly, Volume 48:2 (2009), PDF download here. Here is the quote (emphasis added):

“David  and  I  are  quite  close,  and  find  debating  partners within  our  own  groups  on  the  subject  of  divine  omniscience.  Were  it  the case  that  God  possessed  exhaustive  definite  foreknowledge,  it  would  mean that  the  future  is  completely  settled,  and  no  issues  need  to  be  resolved. It leaves  no  room  for  the  historical  biblical  drama,  or  to  our  own  dignity  to make  contributions  as  co-laborers  with  God. It  prevents  us  from  being possibility  thinkers,  and  makes  us  into  a  people  of  resignation,  as  if whatever will be, will be.”

So he sees God’s foreknowledge to be incompatible with human freewill. He is unable to reconcile the two so as to preserve both. He cannot allow for the possibility that man’s choices might be freely made, and yet God knowing in advance what those (free) choices might be. An interesting article in Wikipedia on Open Theism explains it as follows (words in square brackets added):

“In short, open theism says that since God and humans are free, God’s knowledge is dynamic, and God’s providence flexible. While several versions of traditional theism picture God’s knowledge of the future as a singular, fixed trajectory; open theism sees it as a plurality of branching possibilities, with some possibilities becoming settled as time moves forward. Thus the future, as well as God’s knowledge of it is open (hence ‘open’ theism). Other versions of classical theism hold that God fully determines the future, entailing that there is no free choice (the future is closed) [i.e. Calvinism]. Yet other versions of classical theism hold that even though there is freedom of choice, God’s omniscience necessitates God foreknowing what free choices are made (God’s foreknowledge is closed) [i.e. non-Calvinist theologies, including possibly LDS].” Link.

Open Theism also denies the divine attributes of omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence; as well as the immutability and impassibility of God. Open Theism is not honest theology, because it changes its shape in order to appeal to the widest possible audience. It presents itself one way in order to appeal to LDS, and another way in order to appeal to Evangelicals or others. This is evident from the interactions of Clark H. Pinnock and David L. Paulsen, which appeared in the article published in BYU Studies mentioned above (see also “A New Evangelical Vision of God: Openness and Mormon Thought” by Paulsen and Fisher, download PDF here)—and several LDS scholars have fallen for it! For the rest of this post I am going to analyze Open Theism in more detail in the light of LDS revelation, and see how it compares.

The most important element of Open Theism, without which it would not exist, is the idea that God does not know the future exhaustively. He has some ideas, and knows all the possible contingencies, but doesn’t know definitively which course will be taken until he gets to it, or until man begins to make his choices. If that doctrine can be proven false, Open Theism dies with it. And modern LDS scripture does precisely that. It kills it off instantly by demonstrating conclusively that God’s foreknowledge is exhaustive. There are several passages in LDS scripture that demonstrates God’s ability to know the future exhaustively, including the choices that men will (freely) make. Indeed, God knows the future so completely that he is able to show it to prophets in a vision like an unfolding drama, in minute detail like a movie. One of these examples is the vision of the future that God gave to Nephi in the Book of Mormon. The complete vision covers chapters 11 to 14 of 1 Nephi, which would be too long to quote. The following is a snippet from chapter 12 (punctuation revised):

1 Nephi 12:

1 And it came to pass that the angel said unto me, Look, and behold thy seed, and also the seed of thy brethren. And I looked, and beheld the land of promise; and I beheld multitudes of people, yea, even as it were in number as many as the sand of the sea.

2 And it came to pass that I beheld multitudes gathered together to battle, one against the other; and I beheld wars, and rumors of wars, and great slaughters with the sword among my people.

3 And it came to pass that I beheld many generations pass away, after the manner of wars and contentions in the land; and I beheld many cities, yea, even that I did not number them.

• • •

11 And the angel said unto me, Look! And I looked, and beheld three generations pass away in righteousness; and their garments were white, even like unto the Lamb of God. And the angel said unto me, These are made white in the blood of the Lamb, because of their faith in him.

12 And I Nephi also saw many of the fourth generation, who passed away in righteousness.

13 And it came to pass that I saw the multitudes of the earth gathered together.

14 And the angel said unto me, Behold thy seed, and also the seed of thy brethren.

15 And it came to pass that I looked, and beheld the people of my seed gathered together in multitudes against the seed of my brethren; and they were gathered together to battle.

• • •

19 And while the angel spake these words, I beheld and saw that the seed of my brethren did contend against my seed, according to the word of the angel; and because of the pride of my seed, and the temptations of the devil, I beheld that the seed of my brethren did overpower the people of my seed.

20 And it came to pass that I beheld and saw the people of the seed of my brethren, that they had overcome my seed; and they went forth in multitudes upon the face of the land.

21 And I saw them gathered together in multitudes; and I saw wars, and rumors of wars among them; and in wars and rumors of wars I saw many generations pass away.

For God to be able to show a vision of the future to Nephi in such detail, which includes the outcome of people’s future (free) choices, he must know the future exhaustively, which in turn negates Open Theism. In Open Theism that kind of foreknowledge is impossible—without abrogating human freewill. The next example comes from the Book of Moses, and a similar vision that God gave to Moses (punctuation revised):

Moses 1:

8 And it came to pass that Moses looked, and beheld the world upon which he was created. And Moses beheld the world, and the ends thereof, and all the children of men which are and which were created; of the same he greatly marveled and wondered.

9 And the presence of God withdrew from Moses, that his glory was not upon Moses, and Moses was left unto himself; and as he was left unto himself, he fell unto the earth.

10 And it came to pass that it was for the space of many hours before Moses did again receive his natural strength like unto man; and he said unto himself, Now for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed.

• • •

27 And it came to pass, as the voice was still speaking, Moses cast his eyes and beheld the earth, yea even all of it; and there was not a particle of it which he did not behold, discerning it by the Spirit of God.

28 And he beheld also the inhabitants thereof; and there was not a soul which he beheld not; and he discerned them by the Spirit of God. And their numbers were great, even numberless as the sand upon the seashore.

29 And he beheld many lands; and each land was called earth; and there were inhabitants on the face thereof.

These again demonstrate God’s ability to know the future exhaustively, including the (free) choices that people make. In Open Theism that would be impossible. The last example I will quote is from the vision given to Enoch, from the same book (punctuation revised):

Moses 7:

21 And it came to pass that the Lord showed unto Enoch all the inhabitants of the earth; and he beheld and lo, Zion in process of time was taken up into heaven. . . .

• • •

23 And after that Zion was taken up into heaven, Enoch beheld and lo, all the nations of the earth were before him.

24 And there came generation upon generation; and Enoch was high and lifted up, even in the bosom of the Father and of the Son of Man. And behold, the power of Satan was upon all the face of the earth.

• • •

41 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Enoch, and told Enoch all the doings of the children of men. Wherefore Enoch knew, and looked upon their wickedness, and their misery, and wept; and stretched forth his arms, and his heart swelled wide as eternity, and his bowels yearned, and all eternity shook.

42 And Enoch also saw Noah and his family, that the posterity of all the sons of Noah should be saved with a temporal salvation.

43 Wherefore Enoch saw that Noah built an ark, and that the Lord smiled upon it, and held it in his own hand; but upon the residue of the wicked the floods came, and swallowed them up.

44 And as Enoch saw this, he had bitterness of soul, and wept over his brethren, and said unto the heavens, I will refuse to be comforted. But the Lord said unto Enoch, Lift up your heart and be glad, and look.

45 And it came to pass that Enoch looked; and from Noah he beheld all the families of the earth. And he cried unto the Lord saying, When shall the day of the Lord come? When shall the blood of the Righteous be shed, that all they that mourn may be sanctified and have eternal life?

46 And the Lord said, It shall be in the meridian of time, in the days of wickedness and vengeance.

47 And behold, Enoch saw the day of the coming of the Son of Man, even in the flesh. And his soul rejoiced, saying, The Righteous is lifted up, and the Lamb is slain from the foundation of the world; and through faith I am in the bosom of the Father; and behold, Zion is with me.

• • •

65 And it came to pass that Enoch saw the day of the coming of the Son of Man in the last days, to dwell on the earth in righteousness for the space of a thousand years.

66 But before that day, he saw great tribulations among the wicked; and he also saw the sea that it was troubled, and men’s hearts failing them, looking forth with fear for the judgments of the Almighty God which should come upon the wicked.

67 And the Lord showed Enoch all things, even unto the end of the world; and he saw the day of the righteous, the hour of their redemption, and received a fulness of joy.

These scriptures show that God knows the future exhaustively, including the future decisions that people (freely) make. He knows it so well that he is able to show it to Enoch in great detail like a movie—which in turn kills off Open Theism altogether. No doubt some, including Open Theists, will now argue that if the above propositions be true, then the future must be fixed, predetermined, otherwise God would not be able to know it exhaustively; but that is not a logical, or necessary requirement or conclusion. Man’s decision can be freely made, and yet the outcome still be known to a superior intelligence far in advance. God’s ability to know the future exhaustively, including man’s future choices and decisions, does not necessitate predestination or predetermination. One thing does not logically follow from the other. Some may find it hard in their minds to reconcile the two, but there is no logical necessity that they should be irreconcilable.

Modern LDS scripture, however, destroys Open Theism in more ways than one. Another thing that Open Theism does is that it denies the divine attributes of omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience, which modern scripture affirms. God has to be omniscient (including having exhaustive foreknowledge) in order to be omnipotent and omnipresent. If he does not have the first, he cannot have the second or the third. Modern scripture affirms that God is all of those. There are many passages of modern scripture that could be quoted, but I will confine it to these (punctuation revised):

1 Nephi 9:

6 But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men. For behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words. And thus it is. Amen.

2 Nephi 9:

20 O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it.

Mosiah 4:

9 Believe in God; believe that he is; and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth. Believe that he has all wisdom and all power, both in heaven and in earth. Believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.

D&C 38:

1 Thus saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great I Am, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end; the same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven before the world was made;
2 The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes;
3 I am the same which spake, and the world was made, and all things came by me.

D&C 61:

1 Behold, and hearken unto the voice of him who has all power, who is from everlasting to everlasting, even Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

D&C 100:

1 Verily thus saith the Lord unto you, my friends Sidney and Joseph, your families are well. They are in mine hands, and I will do with them as seemeth me good, for in me there is all power.

Abraham 2:

8 My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning, therefore my hand shall be over thee.

Lectures on Faith 2:

2. We here observe that God is the only supreme governor and independent being in whom all fullness and perfection dwell; who is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient, without beginning of days or end of life; . . .

Now omnipotence does not mean that God can do what is inherently illogical, inconsistent, impossible, or against his own nature. He cannot lie for example (Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29; Heb. 6:18; Titus 1:2; Enos 1:6; Ether 3:12); that is against his nature. He cannot sin, be unholy or unjust. He cannot make 2+2=5. He cannot will himself out of existence. He cannot build a rock so heavy that he cannot lift it himself. He cannot make something out of nothing (according to LDS revelation). That is not what is meant by God being omnipotent. But aside from those kinds of logical absurdities and inconsistencies, according to LDS scripture God is indeed omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, which also negates Open Theism. Likewise modern LDS scripture affirms the immutability and impassibility of God, which also negates Open Theism. Impassible does not mean unfeeling. It does not mean that God does not have emotions. It means that he cannot be acted upon (2 Nephi 2:13-14, 26). Thus LDS scripture discredits Open Theism on many fronts. It negates it completely—and LDS scholars who have pedalled this kind of nonsense ought to know better.

A deeper analysis of LDS scripture, however, enables us to gain an even deeper insight into the internal workings of divine omnipotence and omniscience, which Christian theologians may not have even considered. Modern LDS scripture teaches that God is not only able to know the future exhaustively (without infringing man’s freewill); but he is also able to make use of that foreknowledge to intervene into the future to change the course of events to achieve his own objectives—but still without infringing man’s freewill. In other words, even though God knows the future exhaustively, the future is still not closed! It is still open to the will of God to make changes to it, or alter its course as he sees fit—and to do so without infringing man’s freewill. This may sound bewildering at first, and counterintuitive; but evidently that is what God is able to do. There are a number of passages in LDS scripture that confirm this. Here is one (punctuation revised):

Moses 7:

50 And it came to pass that Enoch continued his cry unto the Lord saying, I ask thee, O Lord, in the name of thine Only Begotten, even Jesus Christ, that thou wilt have mercy upon Noah and his seed, that the earth might never more be covered by the floods.

51 And the Lord could not withhold; and he covenanted with Enoch, and sware unto him with an oath that he would stay the floods; that he would call upon the children of Noah.

52 And he sent forth an unalterable decree that a remnant of his seed should always be found among all nations while the earth should stand;

This event occurs in the course of God showing to Enoch a detailed vision of the future, thus demonstrating not only God’s ability to know the future exhaustively; but also to intervene in the future to alter the course of events to something other than what it otherwise would have been. It is mind boggling that God can do that, but evidently he can. That is what makes God omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. His power is infinite. He can do what he wants. He can look into the future, see how it unfolds exhaustively; and then decide to make changes to it so it turns out differently to what it otherwise would have been—and to do so without infringing man’s freewill. Another example is in the following verses (punctuation revised):

1 Nephi 9:

5 Wherefore the Lord hath commanded me to make these plates for a wise purpose in him, which purpose I know not.

6 But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men. For behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words; and thus it is. Amen.

Words of Mormon:

6 But behold, I shall take these plates, which contain these prophesyings and revelations, and put them with the remainder of my record, for they are choice unto me, and I know they will be choice unto my brethren.

7 And I do this for a wise purpose, for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore he worketh in me to do according to his will.

D&C 10:

38 And now verily I say unto you, that an account of those things that you have written, which have gone out of your hands is engraven upon the plates of Nephi;

39 Yea, and you remember it was said in those writings that a more particular account was given of these things upon the plates of Nephi.

40 And now, because the account which is engraven upon the plates of Nephi is more particular concerning the things which, in my wisdom, I would bring to the knowledge of the people in this account;

41 Therefore you shall translate the engravings which are on the plates of Nephi, down even till you come to the reign of king Benjamin, or until you come to that which you have translated which you have retained;

42 And behold, you shall publish it as the record of Nephi; and thus I will confound those who have altered my words.

43 I will not suffer that they shall destroy my work; yea, I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil.

44 Behold, they have only got a part, or an abridgment of the account of Nephi.

45 Behold, there are many things engraven upon the plates of Nephi which do throw greater views upon my gospel; therefore it is wisdom in me that you should translate this first part of the engravings of Nephi, and send forth in this work.

46 And behold, all the remainder of this work does contain all those parts of my gospel which my holy prophets, yea and also my disciples, desired in their prayers should come forth unto this people.

What these verses reveal is God’s ability not only to look into the future, and see how it unfolds exhaustively; but to make use of that foreknowledge to change its course, so it works out differently than it otherwise would have done—and to do so without infringing man’s freewill.

God knew thousands of years before Joseph Smith was born that he was going to make that error of judgement by allowing Martin Harris to lose part of the translated work; and made arrangements to counter it so his purpose would not be frustrated—and did so without infringing man’s freewill. God had several options to solve that problem. One option might have been to cause Martin Harris to drop dead before he made the attempt. But he chose not to do it that way. He allowed them to make the mistake that they made, and learn from their mistakes; but at the same time made contingency arrangements to ensure that his purpose would not be frustrated.

An interesting question that arises from this discussion is that, if God can intervene into the future in that way, can he do so into the past? Can he go back in time, and make changes to events of the past, and thus change the course of subsequent history? Can he go back in time, and undo the Holocaust? Can he go back in time, and undo the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (and rewrite history thereafter accordingly)? Only God knows the answer to that question of course, and he hasn’t told us; but the logic of the argument implies that he should be able to. If he can intervene into the future in the way that he can, there is no logical reason why he should not be able to do so into the past. So it looks like not only the future may be “open” to God but also the past—and in ways that Open Theists could have hardly ever imagined. That is an interesting puzzle for clever Christian theologians to try to solve if they can. 😁

The answer to the original question, however, is that LDS theology and doctrine is not compatible with Open Theism. They are poles apart. Modern revelation teaches the absolute sovereignty, omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, immutability, and foreknowledge of God; while at the same time maintaining the absolute freedom and moral agency of man. The correct way to reconcile the two was explained in the post which I had previously linked to.
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*Among LDS scholars and apologists who are ardent supporters of Open Theism are Blake Ostler and Louis Midgley. But I think that if a survey was taken, the list would be much longer. Louis Midgley for example says in his FairMormon blog post, “But the fact is that Latter-day Saints are strictly Open Theists, if any group of believer fit that label.” Sorry, but this Latter-day Saint isn’t! I think he should just speak for himself. I see absolutely no point of common interest, doctrinally and theologically, between Open Theism and LDS theology and doctrine. They are as far apart as East is from West, or North from South, or earth from heaven. Perhaps it would be a good idea if the LDS Church published one of their ubiquitous “essays” on their website, and put this error to rest once for all.