God changes her mind

This has been a difficult post to write. So apologies if it's not super coherent. A few weeks a go I mentioned I've recently discovered the hilarious Mr Deity. Part of the humor of the show is based tension between two ideas, one that that God is in control of everything and knows the future and two that the world can be a pretty painful place to live. The way the writers explain the tension between the two is by presenting God as a fumbling, absent minded depressive who doesn't always have great help. One of my favourite examples of this is where his assistant Larry asks him who will "go to hell" and Mr Deity miss hears this as who "will do well" to which he answers the Jews (his chosen people) and homosexuals (who have great design sense).

One of the reasons I don't find Mr Deity offensive is that I don't feel like it is showing up faults in my theology of God. I don't think of God as in control of everything and knowing the future. The two reasons for this are that I think God changes his mind and that God is not outside of time. These two ideas have been two very critical and very liberating ideas that have not only helped me but have often been a big stumbling block to many non-Xns I know who ask really sensible and obvious questions like. "If God knew the future and he has the power to control everything then how come the Tsunami / Holocaust / 911 happened?" Below I have tried to outline my thoughts and why I think they are important.

1. God changes his mind.

Aristotle (Ancient Greek Philosopher) saw God as "the unmoved mover" that God is perfect love loving himself perfectly. He saw God as unchangeable unmovable and unaffected by human wisdom, thought or action. Aristotle saw that God is in ultimate control of the universe. That is it's going exactly how God wants it or God is executing his perfect plan. Furthermore, God won't change his mind because his plan is perfect in the first place. Although perhaps worded a little bit more starkly here these are probably similar sentiments to things you might of heard many Xns say.

None the less this is not what we find in the Bible. For example...

• Exodus 32:9-10 vs 32:11-13 God relents and doesn't destroy (Ex 32:14)
  
• Jonah 1:1-2 and 3:1-10 God relents and doesn't destroy (Jonah 4:2)
  

In these passages we see God is affected by humanity. God reacts, interacts responds too and is influenced by creation. The Hebrew word often translated as relent is the very same word translated as repent. Our English bibles often translate it as relent as repent has sin connotations.

Other times were God repents are...

• Gen 6:6 Just before flood God repents of having made humans
• 1Sam 15:11&35 God repents that he has made Saul King
• 1 Chron 21:15 God repents of sending a plague to Israel
• Psalm 106:45 Talks of God repenting in
  
• Jer 18:7-8 A promise that God will repent
  
• Jer 42:10 God repents of disaster he inflicted on Israel
• Joel 2:13

When God repents God changes his mind. This is what repentance is. Just like if someone repents from sin they decide not to sin anymore. In Genesis God repents because he wishes he hadn't made humanity so he sends the flood. In 1 Samuel God wishes he hadn't made Saul King so he makes David King. In all the other occasions God repents from a right or just thing to a loving graceful thing.

So why is God changing his mind so friggin important?

• If you understand this you will find Mr Deity funny and not offensive.
• Prayer: It's actually worth praying. It's hard to pray to God if everything is already decided in a perfect plan.
• You don't have to believe that the world is going perfectly to God's plan and that disasters and tragedies are not part of God's plan.
• Our future is completely undecided. God can change his mind about it. This is something I talked about in the God's plan for your life post.

The one logical consequence from believing that God genuinely changes his mind is that God is not outside of time. If we are truly to believe in freewill and that God changes his mind then the logical consequence is that God is outside of time and doesn't know the future.

Again the idea that God is not constrained by time comes from ancient Greek thought. So unlike Mr Deity who checks the script of the future God is not doing that. As the idea of being outside of time is not an idea in the Hebrew writers mind there is nothing to suggest this in the old Testament and also nothing to deny this. Passages like 2 Peter 3:8 (a day is like a thousand years) just as reasonably suggests that God often forgets to look at his watch as it does that God is outside of time.

One of the biggest bits of evidence that none of the New or Old Testament writers thought of God as "outside of time" is that none of them go through the theological gymnastics that are needed when you believe God is outside of time.

The theological gymnastics includes explaining how...

• God appears to change his mind he hasn't really because he knew he was going to but it just appears that way to us.
• God knows exactly what you are going to do for the rest of your life who you are going marry and who you will have lunch with today, but you do have free will it's just that God know what that is.

So why is God being outside of time so friggin important?

• If you understand this you will find Mr Deity funny and not offensive.
• If God doesn't know the future we truly have free will and we truly have a mutual relationship with God.
• Despite what some may first think this actually makes God more powerful rather than less powerful. God doesn't know the future because he's seen the end of the movie rather God has plans that he has promised to carry out.

If you've got this far thanks for reading I hope it helps.