Summary Of The Openness Of God By Clark H. Pinnnock

Clark H. Pinnock, a 20th-century theologian known for differing opinions with regards to his unpopular opinion on open theism, was known for being an advocate of the openness of God. His controversial beliefs perhaps contributed to his lack of popularity in the theological world today. The main doctrines in this book focused on the characteristics of God, including His sovereignty, transcendence, immanence, power, immutability, impassability, eternity, and divine knowledge. Clark H. Pinnock believes in the openness of God because he conceives it to be more biblically correct and meaningful. The openness of God is labeled as free will theism, perhaps in an attempt to categorize it as an alternate, yet acceptable, view of God. Pinnock has chosen this over the first more common model, which sees Him as an all-powerful ruler who seems to not care as much for His creation. His approach is instead more focused on love. He explains that God cares for His creatures in such a way that He desires to play a large role in our lives. He then points out that many Christians already follow this viewpoint, possibly without even realizing it. This is due to the fact that humans tend to overanalyze their personal relationship with God, meaning they focus on theology so much to the point that the basics of Christianity are forgotten.
He simply states how, due to His being Creator of all, He has absolute supremacy over everything. However, His relationship to His people is different than one would normally expect of a monarch. Rather than using His ultimate power to have complete control over His creation to the point of tyranny, He has graciously chosen to delegate a portion of His authority to us, His image-bearers. Pinnock explains that it is quite obvious in the Bible that God chooses to use His power in such a way that we are still allowed to make our own choices when we are faced with