Review of “God’s Lesser Glory: The Diminished God of Open Theism” by Bruce A. Ware

This is the second book in my personal series studying the Open Theism debate among Evangelicals. The first book I reviewed was by a well-known proponent of OTH (open theism) named John Sanders. To read my review of “The God Who Risks” click here. “God’s Lesser Glory” is written by Bruce Ware, a well-known conservative evangelical theologian, and senior associate dean at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Obviously, his views offer a critique of OTH stances.

What I Liked: Bruce Ware’s critiques of OTH seem to be spot-on from a purely biblical standpoint. This volume is formatted nicely offering the OTH stances on a topic, their perceived flaws of classical theism, and then Ware’s refutation based on Scripture. More than Sanders, Ware seems to desire a pure biblical conclusion above all else. His hermeneutic seems more consistent and thought-through, rather than seeking to prove his own point. His refutations analyze OTH arguments point-by-point, offering clear answers and asking questions open theologians need to answer.

Much like Sanders, Ware’s heart for God shines through each chapter. I believe God is truly the center of this debate above all else, not denominations, not church politics, and not schools of thought. This controversy is about God Himself as we perceive Him through His revelations in the Bible, and I do believe that both sides are desiring to know God better and make Him known more clearly. However, Ware makes a fantastic stand for orthodoxy and beautifully refutes the bulk of propositions made by open theists.

What I Didn’t Like: There is very little I did not enjoy about this book. At times, Ware’s confrontation of open theists brinks on becoming more of a personal attack than a debate on doctrine. However, I think he only toes this line and does not cross it.

Favorite Quotes: (also major points he makes against OTH)

• “The fact is that God cannot be subject to and limited by the libertarian free   choices of people of which he has no prior knowledge  and over which he has   regulative control, and still be able to know and ordain all the days of our lives.”
• “If God’s glory rests, ultimately, in His control of all that is, then it stands to reason that when God’s control is diminished and human control elevated, so too is His glory diminished- while human pretense to assume that glory is encouraged.”
• “Again, the truth of the matter simply is that, because God’s knowledge and wisdom is vastly superior to ours, we would be utter and absolute fools to want God to wait to ‘hear from us first’ before he decides what is best to do.”
• (this sums up the book well) “...the sobering truth here is that, by the openness view, neither we nor God know now whether in fact God will so win in the end. If God is at war, and if God has taken significant risks, then we must wait to see if God will win, and so wait to see if God is in fact glorious.”

Personal Takeaways: God is glorious. He is glorious because of his infinite wisdom and knowledge of all things past, present, and future (Isaiah 41-48; Deut 31:16-21; Ps 139; etc). I cannot make the views of OTH sync with this understanding of the glory of God. 

Who’s It For?: This book is fairly accessible for most readers. It gets technical in some of its theological language, but I believe is very understandable and straightforward. Anyone desiring a classical theism refutation of open theism would do themselves a great favor in reading this book.