| Classical Theism | Freewill Theism | Open Theism | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operative Root Metaphors | God as creator, judge, and king. | God as savior, lover, and friend. | Same as freewill theism. |
| Nature of God | Emphasis on divine control. God is unchangeable and unaffected by creatures. God has no emotions. | Emphasis on divine relationality. God is changeable in will and emotions and is affected by creatures. Divine nature is unchangeable. | Same as freewill theism. |
| Type of Sovereignty | God exercises unilateral power in creation, providence, and redemption. God takes no risks because he tightly controls every detail. | God exercises unilateral power in creation, but bilateral power with creatures in providence and redemption. God takes risks because he exercises general control. | Same as freewill theism. |
| Creaturely Freedom | Humans have compatibilistic freedom; we can act on our desires, but our desires are determined. | Humans have libertarian freedom; we could have done otherwise than we did -- not determined. | Same as freewill theism. |
| Problem of Evil | All evil is planned by God to display the divine glory. Every evil has a specific purpose and serves God's good plan -- humans respond exactly as God wants. | Evil is permitted but not wanted by God in order to make possible relations of love with creatures. Humans do not necessarily respond as God wants them to. | Same as freewill theism. |
| Salvation/Election | Solely of God's choosing -- we respond to God's choice. Irresistible grace, unconditional election. | God's choosing is based on our choice -- we cooperate with God. Enabling grace, conditional election. | Same as freewill theism. |
| Petitionary Prayer | Our prayers never influence God; they are God's means of bringing about what God has ordained. | May influence God; God makes some of His decisions dependent on whether we pray or not. | Same as freewill theism. |
| God's Will | God's will cannot be thwarted -- it is always done. God has a blueprint for our lives regarding job, marriage, etc., and we always fulfill it. | Some believe God does not have a blueprint for our lives regarding job, marriage, etc. Together with God we determine our lives. | God does not have a blueprint for our lives regarding job, marriage, etc. We cooperate with God to decide what the future will be. |
| The Relationship between God, Time, and Eternity | God as "eternal." God is timeless. He experiences all time at once (the eternal "now"). | Most (not all) Arminians agree with classical theism here: God is timeless. Some Arminians agree with openness on this point. | God as "everlasting." God endures forever in "time" and interacts with us in give-and-take relationships. |
| The Nature of the Future | The future is completely definite because God determines it. | The future is completely definite because God timelessly sees all that will happen in history. God does not determine all of the future. | The future is partly definite and partly indefinite -- God is working with us to bring about the future. God does not determine all of the future. |
| Foreknowledge | Eternally definite foreknowledge. God knows all that humans will do in the future because he controls what we do. Foreknowledge is based on foreordination of all things. | Eternally definite foreknowledge. God knows all that humans will do it in the future because He "foresees" it -- he does not control what we do. Foreknowledge is based on timelessness, not foreordination. | Presentism: God knows the past and present exhaustively as well as that part of the future that is determined or foreordained. God knows all the possibilities of what humans could do and what we are likely to do but lacks absolute certainty about what we will do. |