Divine Omniscience in Open Theism

Document Type : Original Research

Authors
Mehdi Abutalebi Yazdi 1
Rasoul Rasoulipour 2
Mohsen Javadi 3
Amirabbas Alizamani 4
Ghorban Elmi 5
1 Phd student of Theology, Philosophy of religion, and new theological problems, Faculty of Divinity, Political Science and Law, Science and Research Branch of Islamic Azad uiversity, Tehran. Iran.
2 Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
3 Professor of Philosophy, Philosophy and Islamic Theology Department, University of Qom, Qom, Iran
4 Associate Professor, Philosophy of Religion Department, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
5 Associate Professor, Comparative Religions and Mysticism Department, University of Tehran, Tehran. Iran
10.30497/prr.2019.2509
Abstract
One of the most important and challenging theories of Open Theism is its particular view of the attribute of divine omniscience. This theory acknowledges that God is the Absolute, yet stipulates that God's knowledge does not include what man performs with his free will in the future. The acceptance of absolute authority for man and the embracing of the contradiction between the "freely chosen actions of man in the future" and the "foreknowledge of God" have led the Open Theism to deny the foreknowledge of God in these acts. At the same time, they argue that the lack of “a priori knowledge of God” in these kinds of actions does not undermine his absolute knowledge. Advocates of open theism, proving their own viewpoints by referring to all kinds of views on God's knowledge and expressing the deficiencies in these theories, maintain that this view is more acceptable logically and philosophically, and due to its compatibility with the Holy Bible. While mentioning the shortcomings of three other contending perspectives in this regard namely "simple knowledge", "middle knowledge" and "Augustinian- Calvinist view ",  they consolidate their views and establish their own theory.
Keywords
Open Theism
Divine Omniscience
Apriori Simple Knowledge
Middle Knowledge
Augustinian- Calvinist view
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