The Openness of God.
Traditional understandings of the word “sovereignty” insist that God must always act and never react. The problem with this is that it is not biblical to have a view of God that imposes upon Him the necessity of being a god who is pure act, leaving no room for reaction and interaction. This is what differentiates the biblical narrative’s portrayal of a God who is intimately involved in the everyday occurrences of his people’s lives and the god of Greek philosophy that must have absolute foreknowledge of all events in order to be considered god. Such a stipulation (absolute foreknowledge) necessitates that God be abstract to, and completely outside of, time in which he experiences all things in one simultaneous “eternal now”. Unfortunately, such a stance has no correlation to the biblical text, nor does it find much resemblance in the faith practices of believers. God is seen as a being that actually interacts with the humanity he created as well has having the capacity (both by volition and according to the whole of the biblical message) to change.
In my first experiences as a believer I was taught to interact with God. Things like prayer, worship, and Bible study were times in which I interacted with the Father, but it seems like those are lost if we take seriously conventional views of theism. Ultimately, when one gets more acquainted with theological jargon and doctrine that the reality behind the situation is brought to light. If God knows all things (how I will act, how he will act, and how I will respond, and down the slippery slope we go) then it seems that there is no room for true meaningful interaction between Creator and creation. God becomes static, rather than dynamic. Thus my actions have no effect or value when it comes to God or how he acts…
A Side Note
-My actions having no effect on his actions are directly antithetical to many stories in the scriptures. A perfect example of this would come from the story of the prophet Jonah, whom pronounced to Ninevah that God would bring about their destruction because of their immense depravity. As soon as Jonah pronounces this judgment the city immediately turns from its wickedness, and in response God relents of his anger and does not bring about the city's demise. It seems that this is an example of God both interacting with Jonah, and responding to Nineveh’s repentance. Did God know all along that he was going to spare Nineveh, and if he did, then was his threat to destroy them merely a “holy head-fake”? There’s no genuine mercy left in the story because it was a predetermined event, and there was no real example of God’s holy judgment because it was a bluff. Instead, the story we are presented in the Bible is one that strongly proposes that God in fact was going to destroy Nineveh because of its depravity, but because of it’s repentance God responded by changing his mind and relenting of his intention for destruction. This is a perfect example of God's dynamic interaction with the world in time.
With all that is in me, I do not feel that this type of stance detracts any from who God is and who he has revealed himself to be. Rather than deducting form his sovereignty I feel that it truly enhances it.
