Changing the Mind of God, part 1

I am currently working through a philosophical exercise with theological implications.

I was reading the book Boundaries by Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend. If you are not familiar, the book is about relational boundaries between people to create healthy relationships. Chapter 13 of that book is called Boundaries and God. A few pages into that chapter, I read this idea:

...God does not want us to be passive in our relationship with him {sic} either. Sometimes, through dialogue, he changes his mind. We can influence him because ours is a real relationship of the kind Abraham had with God (Gen. 18:16-33). God said that he would destroy Sodom, yet Abraham talked him out of it if he could find ten righteous people.

Foregoing the example of  Abraham, I was intrigued by the idea that in the relationship God offers, we can influence God's decision-making process. Changing the mind of God sounds like it may be too good to be true. But could it be possible, I wondered.

I decided that the best place to seek out an authoritative answer would be the authority of the evangelical church - the Bible. What I found there sort of caused me to sit back and think. If we look up passages where it says explicitly that God's mind was changed or that there is an example of the mind of God being changed, there are actually a wide selection of passages.

The reason this was surprising is the theological framework that the authority of Tradition has built around the decision-making process of God. God is omniscient and omnipresent. That declaration of the Church establishes that God knows all and is present in all places and times. God is also transcendent above the finite and material existence of humanity. God's living room exists outside of time, space, and matter. When issues of God's mind come up, the Tradition of the Church points to these supports of God's identity. If we have a choice to make, or we have a need/want/desire and we bring that to God, then God is already fully aware of the outcome. God's mind does not need to change since God is aware of the outcome.

That is not what scripture supports.

But before I make that argument clearer, perhaps it would be fair to establish that the Bible records for us the witness that the mind of God does not change.

• "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? (Num. 23:19 NAU)
• "Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind." (1 Sam. 15:29 NAU)
• The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, "You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek." (Ps. 110:4 NAU)

We see in these verses that writers in three styles (Law, History, Wisdom) of literature recognize that the mind of God will not change. First, because God is not human, God does not fall victim to the frailty of knowing and exclaiming something that must be undone. Second, the providence of God is built upon the steadfastness of God; that if God says it then it will come to pass. Third, the word of the LORD must stand as witness to God's nature. Once the word has gone out, God must act in that way.

Human beings are abundantly aware that we have to have the ability to change our minds. We cannot know all that there is to know. We build choices upon a lack of information. When we are confronted with new data, then we must change our minds in order to have a better outcome. We also know that when we make a choice, and we cannot change course, then we must accept the consequences and try to learn from that error and not make the same mistake down the road. God does not suffer from our limitations in this regard. God is complete in knowledge and wisdom, knowing and choosing the right course of action.

For many of us, we try to live by our word. When we speak something, we hope that our word will be enough to stand guarantee for our action or the quality of our character. But, as many of us have also not lived up to our word, we face a reality where a person's word means much less than it used to. God must be above our standard of keeping the word and following through. If God is not faithful to that, then our hopes of God's promises being fulfilled will come to naught.

What do we do, then, with the places in the Bible where it does seem to point to the ability of humans to influence the mind of God? Feel free to verify any of these you wish.

• The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. (Gen. 6:6 NAU)
• "Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?" So the LORD said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account." (Gen. 18:25-26 NAU)
• He said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me." (Gen. 22:12 NAU)
• So the LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people. (Exod. 32:14 NAU)
• So the LORD said, "I have pardoned them according to your word; (Num. 14:20 NAU)
• But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them." (Num. 20:12 NAU)
• When the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge and delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed and afflicted them. (Jdg. 2:18 NAU) See also Jdg 3:9, 15.
• So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD; and He could bear the misery of Israel no longer. (Jdg. 10:16 NAU)
• Then Samson called to the LORD and said, "O Lord GOD, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, O God, that I may at once be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes."
•  29 Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and braced himself against them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left.
•  30 And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" And he bent with all his might so that the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed in his life. (Jdg. 16:28-30 NAU)
• Therefore the LORD God of Israel declares, 'I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever'; but now the LORD declares, 'Far be it from Me-- for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed. (1 Sam. 2:30 NAU)
• "I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands." And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the LORD all night. (1 Sam. 15:11 NAU)
• Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel. (1 Sam. 15:35 NAU)
• When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who destroyed the people, "It is enough! Now relax your hand!" And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. (2 Sam. 24:16 NAU)
• And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it; but as he was about to destroy it, the LORD saw and was sorry over the calamity, and said to the destroying angel, "It is enough; now relax your hand." And the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. (1 Chr. 21:15 NAU)
• What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?" Says the LORD. "I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies-- I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them.  (Isa. 1:11-14 NAU)
• But they rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them. (Isa. 63:10 NAU)
• At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it; if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it.  (Jer. 18:7-10 NAU)
• Perhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way, that I may repent of the calamity which I am planning to do to them because of the evil of their deeds.' (Jer. 26:3 NAU)
• Now therefore amend your ways and your deeds and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will change His mind about the misfortune which He has pronounced against you. (Jer. 26:13 NAU)
• 'If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I will relent concerning the calamity that I have inflicted on you. (Jer. 42:10 NAU)
• Who knows whether He will not turn and relent And leave a blessing behind Him, Even a grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God? (Joel 2:14 NAU)
• The LORD changed His mind about this. "It shall not be," said the LORD. (Amos 7:3 NAU)
• The LORD changed His mind about this. "This too shall not be," said the Lord GOD. (Amos 7:6 NAU)
• When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it. (Jon. 3:10 NAU)
• Therefore He said that He would destroy them, Had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him, To turn away His wrath from destroying them. (Ps. 106:23 NAU)
• And He remembered His covenant for their sake, And relented according to the greatness of His lovingkindness. (Ps. 106:45 NAU)
• And He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. But she said, "Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. Then Jesus said to her, "O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed at once. (Matt. 15:26-28 NAU)
• And He was saying to her, "Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." But she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children's crumbs." And He said to her, "Because of this answer go; the demon has gone out of your daughter. (Mk. 7:27-29 NAU)
• "And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, 'Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.' "And the slave said, 'Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.' "And the master said to the slave, 'Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. 'For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.'" (Lk. 14:21-24 NAU)
• A voice came to him, "Get up, Peter, kill and eat!" But Peter said, "By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean." Again a voice came to him a second time, "What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy." (Acts 10:13-15 NAU)

In sorting out the previous verses, I wanted to focus solely on the ones where God seems to make a course correction based on human influence. That may be direct intervention, such as the case of Abraham for Sodom or Moses for the Hebrews. It may also be passive as in the situation of the suffering of people and God's witness of that. There is a question whether the Jonah passage should be included since God's desire was for the people of Ninevah to repent, so in this case, they responded appropriately. But Jonah's position is that God is "went back on God's word" and showed compassion instead of divine wrath. 

He prayed to the LORD and said, "Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. (Jon. 4:2 NAU)

The Acts verses regarding Peter's vision may also be questionable. This is included in the context of the overwhelming number of things that God previously declared unclean to eat (Leviticus 11:1-23) and the wider subject of what is unclean (Leviticus 11-15) in relation to the community. Peter rightly states that he would not be accountable to that list. God appears to make that list of unclean items contingent upon circumstances.

In the face of the number of verses that provide the possibility of changing the mind of God, it may seem easy to choose a position of affirming Cloud and Townsend's statement. I feel there may be more at work, though.