Open theism. Just thinking out loud.

So. Humans have free will. Then, according to open theists, God does not 'know' everything that will happen in the future. More specifically, God chooses not to know in order to allow room for the oh ever so widely debated free will.

As I told a friend who brought up the whole topic, this idea really pulls the ground from right under my feet. Maybe it's just me, but I have a lot of assurance in knowing that God has 'the plan,' and not a bunch of alternatives and emergency tactics, and that this plan of His, though fully known, does not necessarily rob me of my free will (though sometimes I almost wish it did).

One of the major arguments of the open theism seems to be that if someone knows the outcome of a choice, the very notion of choice itself is automatically eliminated. And in human terms it makes perfect sense. But this is when we need to bear in mind that God exists on an entirely different ontological level where time, for instance, is not a dimension of life. In fact He is the Creator of time, and not subject to it. Considering that the limitations of time are exactly what makes the combination of terms ‘all-knowing’ and ‘free will’ in the same sentence somewhat oxymoronic, if these limitations are out of the equation, it doesn't have to be the case.

Furthermore, I think there is a difference between God knowing and God intervening. (Somehow I feel I am stepping on very thin ice here and that this ice is about to crack. Oh, lack of articulation!) God knows our choices, the products of our free will, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that He wills these choices through the very act(?) of knowing what they are going to be.

It also seems that open theism lacks consistency (some things God knows, and wills (i.e. prophecies that are fulfilled) and some others He chooses not to foreknow. What about Judas then? Did he have free will in betraying Christ?

And it makes me very uncomfortable claiming that as a human being I can surprise the Omnipresent, Almighty God, who somehow decided to put so much into my sinful hands without knowledge of how it will turn out and what would happen to my poor soul.

Anyways, this is just some initial response to the idea. Maybe I’ll change my mind when I find out more about it. Any suggestions regarding sources are welcome.