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Q.
Is there a scriptural basis for God changing God’s mind?
Traditional theology is troubled by this notion of God’s mind-changing, for
this means that God is not all-knowing. The traditional view maintains that
God’s mind is immovable and thus interprets these texts anthropomorphically—
that is, the writers “humanize” God in order to understand God’s mysterious
actions. In other words, from our fi nite human perspective, it seems as though
God changes God’s mind.
Some nontraditional approaches have either rejected or redefi ned divine
all-knowing. Process theology doesn’t endorse an all-knowing (or all-
powerful) God. Instead, God is all-loving creativity who, like all creation, is
still “becoming,” still evolving. After all, “I am that I am” can also be trans-
lated, “I will be that I will be.” As such, the future is unknown, even to God.
Among Evangelicals, there’s “open theism”. Open theists assert that God
is all-knowing: God knows all that exists. But since the future doesn’t exist,
God doesn’t know the future and is “open” to it.
Are we then at the mercy of an unpredictable God? While the Bible
affi rms both perspectives, two things should be highlighted:
- When God (seemingly) changes God’s mind, it’s always on the side of
mercy. - God never changes God’s mind about the promises God made (see Num.
23:19, Isa. 46:10, and Rom. 11:1–2, 29).
Gary Peluso-Verdend
Who is...
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Gary Peluso-Verdend
I wanted to be an astronaut until I learned I needed glasses.A.
Yes. In the following answer, I address this specifi c question rather
than the related matter of human beings changing their minds
regarding what is in God’s mind. But, that said, biblical stories of
God changing God’s mind are closely, if not umbilically, tied to what human
beings do. Even the story of the Great Flood (Gen. 6) is framed as a story of
God’s regret and action to undo his good creation after human beings had
ruined it.
Some stories of God changing God’s mind are laced with irony and are
more about God’s strategy of developing a person’s leadership than about
God changing God’s mind. Take the story of God and Moses in Exodus 32.
When Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the law from God, the people
convinced Moses’ brother Aaron to create and worship an idol (a golden calf).