Before I Formed You I Knew You: Jeremiah, Divine Knowledge, and the Collapse of Open Theism

Open Theists often argue that the future is not fully knowable because it consists of undetermined possibilities. They say God is omniscient—but only of what can be known. Since free choices haven’t happened yet, and aren’t “fixed,” they claim those choices have no truth-values until they occur. But this view runs headfirst into the very opening of Jeremiah.

“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” —Jeremiah 1:5

Notice the language: Before Jeremiah even existed in the womb, God knew him. God also consecrated him and appointed him to a lifelong prophetic mission. That’s not merely a divine hunch or a retroactive label. It’s intentional foreknowledge rooted in God’s sovereign choice and exhaustive understanding of Jeremiah’s future identity, freely formed character, free choices, and chosen vocation.

Not only does this verse support the Pro-Life view by affirming personal identity and divine calling before birth—it also presents a serious dilemma for Open Theism.

If the Open Theist says God knew Jeremiah because He planned to causally determine Jeremiah’s life, then what happens to the libertarian freedom Open Theists are committed to preserving? Did Jeremiah really have a choice to resist his calling? Verse 17 seems to rule out determinism:

“Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them.” —Jeremiah 1:17

God’s warning implies that Jeremiah could falter. Jeremiah is responsible for how he responds. That’s not compatible with divine determinism.

On the other hand, if the Open Theist affirms Jeremiah’s freedom, then they must explain how God could truly know who Jeremiah would be before he was born. This kind of foreknowledge implies the truth of counterfactuals of creaturely freedom—statements like:

“If Jeremiah were born and placed in these conditions, he would freely respond by obeying God’s call.”

That’s middle knowledge, not Open Theism.

But even setting counterfactuals aside, Jeremiah 1:5 also implies that God knew what will happen—namely, that Jeremiah will be formed in the womb, will be consecrated, and will become a prophet. This isn’t merely hypothetical knowledge; it concerns concrete future events and personal actions of a libertarian agent who doesn’t yet exist. So unless the Open Theist admits that these are settled facts (though not causally determined)—or else abandons libertarian freedom—they’re stuck. Open Theism rejects the idea that future-tensed propositions about genuinely free agents can be true. But Jeremiah 1:5 only makes sense if such propositions are true—and were already known by God.

Furthermore, God’s foreknowledge of Jeremiah isn’t isolated. It fits a biblical pattern. Psalm 139 affirms that all our days were known before one of them came to be. Matthew 11 teaches that Jesus knew how Tyre and Sodom would have repented had they seen His miracles. 1 Samuel 23 recounts David’s deliverance based on what would have happened had he stayed. These are all counterfactuals—truth-claims about what free creatures would do in specific scenarios. Molinism makes sense of them. Open Theism does not.

In short, Jeremiah’s calling—like Peter’s denial, David’s flight, and Christ’s counterfactual rebukes—exposes a fatal flaw in Open Theism. God doesn’t merely guess or roll the dice with free creatures. He knows them truly, even before they exist. And He invites them into His story.

That’s not theological speculation. That’s Scripture.

And it’s fatal to Open Theism.

Stay reasonable (Isaiah 1:18),

Dr. Tim Stratton