This past weekend my Pastor, Justin and myself headed off to the Resurgence Conference at Mars Hill in our home city of Seattle. We were all very excited to go and yet wondering what we would encounter in a church that is so different from us and our conservative ecclesiology. The conference was called "Where the Hand of God and the Hands of Men Meet" and the guest speaker was Dr. Bruce Ware from Southern Seminary. The three different sessions were to discuss the Providence of God in Process, Open Theism, Arminianism and Reformed Theology. Since I had read Ware's book on Open Theism, I was excited to hear him speak on the topic and was excited that I was going to have the opportunity to ask him some questions on some of his conclusions on this "theology."
I used to attend Mars Hill back in the early 2000's before they bought and moved into their new warehouse, so I was excited to see their new building and see Driscoll's passion for a facility in the downtown area come to life. As we walked in to the building we were immediately welcomed by a young man in his, you got it, mid 20's. Which is what I was expecting since that is exactly the type of person Driscoll first desired (not saying this is bad) to see saved in our
unchurched area up here in the great northwest. As we looked around the foyer there was little difference between this church and any other mainstream church in any city in America. As we moved into the sanctuary it was apparent that there was some difference here though. The warehouse is very "raw" in that it looks like a concert venue, which is exactly what Driscoll was aiming for. The video equipment and sound system is top of the line and in Driscoll's book I found out that the church was GIVEN this equipment by a major manufacturer and it was worth $500,000. Not only that but the one who designs Disney's sound came in and donated his time as well to design the sound and video for Mars Hill, amazing. (If you would like to learn a little more about Driscoll, Adrian Warnock has a great interview with him and also some good articles at the bottom of the interview)
As we sat down, we were welcomed and we started worship. I found it, as I did back in the early 2000's a little "showy" instead of worshipful but that is probably just cause I am not used to it. What I do not question is the love and spirit that Pastor Tim (their worship pastor) and the congregants have for our Lord. I could tell that I was in the middle of a crowd whose main concern was Jesus Christ and His name exalted.
The first night of the conference Dr. Ware started to speak on Process Theology and Open Theism. Dr. Ware hammered on this for about an hour and half and had some great points and refutations straight from Scripture. Let's just say that it became so ridiculous in our minds (the thought that Open Theism was orthodoxy) that people in the crowd started to laugh at some of the points being made by Dr. Ware when explaining Open Theism. One of the key points that Dr. Ware made against Open Theism was Isaiah 41:21-24 which explains that to prove one is a god, they must be able to tell us of all the past events and also pronounce what is to come. But because YHWH is the only God who can do this (Open Theism denies God can do this), all others are false. So, Isaiah states that if you believe in these false gods that cannot predict the future YOU are an abomination. This, Dr. Ware stated, was basically a definition of Open Theism and even said that he has told those whom he has debated that they must be careful because this is describing them.
Then came the Q & A. One gentleman got up and simply asked. Dr. Ware, as pastors should we warn our flock that Open Theism is heresy and that the teachers are wolves in sheep's clothing? I will tell you that I thought this was almost an absurd question. This seemed like a question that Dr. Ware would just say, "yes" and then turn to answer another question. He had led "this horse to the water." I was ready to drink, my mouth was dry and knew that Dr. Ware would satisfy my thirst of thinking this was heresy. Then Dr. Ware said, "no, I am not ready to call this heresy. There are too many similarities in our beliefs." I was floored. I had to refute this. I had to ask him how he could come to this conclusion. So, I stood and simply asked, "Dr. Ware I was surprised that you said this isn't a heresy. Did you not state that Isaiah 41 is a description of Open Theism?" He agreed. I then asked, when in the Bible does God ever call the elect an abomination?" Further I stated that Mormons also believe a lot of the same doctrines that we hold but it isn't our similarities that make us call them brothers, but it is our differences that make us call them heretics and a cult. He wasn't able to give me a satisfactory answer in my opinion and he did say that he felt like he was "waffling" because of him calling Open Theists brothers when calling the Mormons heretics. I did probably "outstay my welcome" at the mic and probably pushed too much, because I do respect Dr. Ware. But, the next day when I asked another question I did apologize if he felt he was disrespected. He said he was not, and so I continued to ask my question on double predestination.
The rest of the weekend went very well and I really enjoyed, not only Dr. Ware and his explanation of Arminian and Reformed view of providence, but also enjoyed the people of Mars Hill. I was expecting some more "heated" questions that were against the reformed position but most of the questions were sincere "clarity" questions by people just simply wanting to learn. Dr. Ware has some interesting views on compatible freedom and the atonement but both are going to cause me to make sure that I study more before coming to my conclusions.
I believed before this conference that Open Theism is heresy and, whether Dr. Ware likes it or not, he just solidified this thought. Open Theists believe in a false god that cannot ordain nor foreknow the future and Isaiah 41 tells us that those people who "chooses them are an abomination."
There will be free MP3 downloads and video from the conference coming in a couple of weeks and I will link there when they become available. I have the outlines from all three sessions, and if you would like to download the notes click below:
Session 1 - Process Theology/Open Theism
Session 2 - Arminianism
Session 3 - Reformed Theology
I respect Dr. Ware greatly and thank him for his studies in this area and pray that God would continue to use him. I also thank God for Mars Hill church and their love for the gospel and to see people's lives transformed by its power. I just read Driscoll's book on the biography of Mars Hill and you can check out that review here. May God transform all of us to loving Him more so we can love others more and show them the grace that God offers.
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This last March, Justin, my pastor and I went to the Resurgence Conference with Mars Hill and Bruce Ware and it was very well done. If you would like to read my review of the conference you can see that here. I wanted to link over there as they now have the video, notes and Q & A sessions.
