Many viewed the ETS doctrinal statement as lacking sufficient specificity for judging potentially heretical views. It has just two points: one on the inerrancy of the Bible; a second on the Trinity. Whether or not such a sparse statement was ever adequate, critics-on both sides of this current debate-expressed the need to expand it in the face of these and other dynamic challenges facing the church in North America. Some complained that statement of inerrancy itself was inadequate, as a definition of the word is not provided. This has allowed for a "porosity" with room for a range of views on what "inerrant" can mean. As for Pinnock, he said "I guess I'm of inerrancy of the nuanced kind."

While the occasion was not without tension, both Pinnock and Sanders commented on the nature and tone of deliberations-even prior to knowing the final verdict. "It has not been an altogether unpleasant experience. The matter has been handled admirably," Pinnock said; similar sentiments were expressed by Sanders. Current ETS president David Howard (Bethel Theological Seminary) began and closed the business meeting with an exhortation from Micah 6:8-"to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."

While the current actions by the body of ETS members leave some wondering where the scholastic society stands, others-even some of the more conservative ETS members-did not view the vote as a referendum on Open Theism. Critics of Open Theism admired the courage of founding ETS member Dr. Roger Nicole who brought the charges, but a number of them recognized that the narrow specificity of the charges made broader resolution on the issue of openness unlikely.

R. Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky said, "the problem is, we're dealing with ideas, we're dealing with doctrines. And we have to separate the teaching from the individuals and deal with the ideas, the concepts, the doctrines themselves. Then, we just have to have as a general principle the understanding that anyone who holds or teaches such things is to be excluded from membership."