167ORIGENONTOLOGY. From the Greek ontos
(being) + logia (study of ). The study of
being or an account of what exists. One
engages in ontology in the course of
inquiring into what exists, and the result
of this inquiry (when successful) is called
an ontology.
OPEN QUESTION ARGUMENT. An
argument designed to test identity claims.
If goodness is the very same thing as
pleasure, then the question “Is pleasure
good?” is not open. An analogy: the ques-
tion “Is H 2 O water?” is not open to those
who know atomic theory.
OPEN THEISM. Open theism is a
developing theological movement that
is gaining credence in certain sectors of
Protestantism. The view has attracted
widespread attention since the publication
of The Openness of God (Clark Pinnock
et al.) in 1994, but essentially similar
views were held by a number of earlier
theologians and philosophers. Like more
traditional versions of Christian theism,
open theism affirms that God is the
personal creator ex nihilo of all that exists
other than God, and that God is omnipo-
tent, omniscient, and morally perfect.
(The affirmation of creation ex nihilo and
of divine omnipotence clearly distinguish
the view from process theism, with which
it is sometimes confused.)
Open theism distinguishes itself from
much of the tradition by affirming that
God is temporally everlasting rather than
timeless, and it emphasizes the continu-
ing dynamic interaction between God
and created persons that is so prominent
in the Bible. It holds that humans are free
in the libertarian sense and that much of
the future is genuinely contingent and
undetermined, from which it is held to
follow that even a perfect Knower cannot
have complete and detailed knowledge of
that which is at present indeterminate.
This last point is clearly in disagreement
with the main theological tradition and
has led to many and sometimes vitupera-
tive attacks on the view, especially by
those of Calvinistic persuasion. Open the-
ists claim, however, that their view is more
con sonant with a piety that emphasizes a
personal relationship with God than are
views that see God as all-determining and
humans merely as the executors of God’s
foreordained plan for the world.ORDINARY LANGUAGE. Normal dis-
course as opposed to recondite philo-
sophical language. Ordinary language
philosophy was popular in the mid-twen-
tieth century when some philosophers
(such as J. L. Austin) critiqued philosoph-
ical projects such as radical skepticism on
the grounds that such philosophers were
misusing ordinary language.ORIGEN (c. 185–254). Origen believed
that the ultimate overcoming of evil