Does God change His mind? Is Open Theism true?

"Does God change His mind? Is Open Theism true?"
Dr. Bruce Ware answers in Honest Answers | Episode 90

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[vanillawarrior]

Pray for me please I am a lost Sinner. I am a hipocrite trying to repent, pray that the Spirit would convict me and give me a heart of repentance.

[TyRichard]

Great explanation. Thanks Southern!

Edit: That refrain you quoted from your father brought tears to my eyes.

[harveylopezt]

Thank you for this very precise clarification, very deep but clear for a mind that can get confused, but also very passionate about showing the practical implications of this truth for the day-to-day life of real Christians, with difficulties and sufferings. These videos of this ministry are a blessing. God bless you.

[Iffmeister]

Unrelated to the video, but man the folks at Southern Seminary have glorious beards. My fave is Peter Gentry 😂

[boykintreeservice]

From time to time the same thing happens with my children. It appears to them I've changed my mind when in fact it was just part of the plan or lesson all along.

[hjuopym]

Whether he changes his mind or not this in itself clearly shows us that he is still omniscient and omnipotent (because he knows every outcome, and he has full control over every outcome) . And he always finds a way around sinful man's shortcomings. Not that it catches him off guard because it doesn't, but more like he is saying "I'm the Developer of this Creation and will add and subtract anything I decide". After all he is God, and we really have no right arguing against his grand plan Concerning The World nor are we born to know everything. And there is the beauty, even if we don't know everything, we can be sure that We have a God who does.

[jackjones]

Great video! This is such wonderful teaching on God's true omniscience and understanding well beyond what we can even convey effectively.

[vlad]

Yes, he does, in the sense that he changes his attitude when people change their behavior. For example, when God sent a judgment message to the people of ancient Israel, he said: “Perhaps they will listen and each one will turn back from his evil way, and I will change my mind concerning the calamity that I intend to bring on them because of their evil deeds.”​—Jeremiah 26:3.


Many Bible translations render this verse as saying that God would “repent” over the intended calamity, which could be understood to mean that he had made a mistake. However, the original Hebrew word can mean “change of mind or intention.” One scholar wrote: “A change in man’s conduct brings about a change in God’s judgment.”


Of course, just because God can change his mind does not mean that he must change it. Consider some situations where the Bible says that God has not changed his mind:

God did not allow Balak to make Him change His mind and curse the nation of Israel.​—Numbers 23:18-​20.

Once King Saul of Israel became firmly set in badness, God did not change his mind about rejecting him as king.​—1 Samuel 15:28, 29.

God will fulfill his promise to make his Son a priest forever. God will not change His mind.​—Psalm 110:4.


Doesn’t the Bible say that God never changes?

Yes, the Bible records God as saying: “I am Jehovah; I do not change.” (Malachi 3:6) Similarly, the Bible says that God “does not vary or change like the shifting shadows.” (James 1:​17) This, however, does not contradict what the Bible says about God changing his mind. God is unchangeable in that his personality and standards of love and justice never alter. (Deuteronomy 32:4; 1 John 4:8) Still, he can give different instructions to people at different times. For instance, God gave opposite instructions to King David for fighting two consecutive battles, yet both methods succeeded.​—2 Samuel 5:​18-​25.


Is God sorry that he created humans?

No, although he does regret that most people ignore or reject him. Describing conditions before the global Flood of Noah’s day, the Bible says: “Jehovah regretted that he had made men on the earth, and his heart was saddened.” (Genesis 6:6) In this verse, the word “regretted” comes from the Hebrew word that can mean “change of mind.” God changed his mind about most of the people who lived before the Flood because they had become wicked. (Genesis 6:​5, 11) Even though he was saddened that they chose to follow a bad course, he did not change his attitude toward the entire human race. In fact, he preserved mankind through the Flood by means of Noah and his family.​—Genesis 8:​21; 2 Peter 2:​5, 9.

[heritagechiropracticwellne]

He does change his mind----Scripture attests to it....Jesus did it with the Syrophoenician women---Father God did it with Moses (was going to kill the people but Moses intervened)--he was going to destroy Ninivah but he changed his mind---He created man and said it was good---then later on God said he was sorry for creating

[CocoGirl]

This is such a wonderful lesson on God's character. Thank you!

[shawnsherman]

Fearing God today is no guarantee that one will fear Him 15 years in the future. God knew that Abraham feared Him prior to Isaac’s birth. So why did He test Abraham 15 years later? Could it be that Abraham, over that 15 year period, acted in ways that showed that he didn’t fear God? When Abraham was obedient to God & about to sacrifice Isaac, God got his confirmation that Abraham, in fact, still feared Him and then He said “now I know…”. At least this is how I understand that story. Peace and blessings to you all.

[balabenjaminharuna]

Thank you sir for this explanations. I just stumbled on this channel and been hooked up on the videos. Explanations are great and staight forward.

[TheRgordon]

Yes God changes His mind. It’s All in the scriptures. Changing your mind and telling a lie are two different things. Just because God changes His mind does not make Him a liar, it makes Him a merciful loving God. Swearing to king David that his descendant would sit on his thrown forever is a promise God could never change.

[AshwinThomasM]

Abraham Lincoln :" I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom,  and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day."

[sibbydems]

God can do has he pleases we are all his property to do to whom whatever he chooses let’s rejoice and praise him who is our loving and faithful God.
To God be the Glory

[jimmybates]

I don't know if one could say he changed his mind, but the story of Noah is a good example of him perhaps having a change of heart.

[이웃집고양이루루]

Where do we draw the line then? Sometimes (actually most of the time) we have to (or tend to) interpret the Bible literally, but when literal interpretation is unfavorable then we have to interpret the Bible differently (contextualize). Isn't that a bit "all things to all men"-approach?

[johnkw]

One thing most people miss in Genesis 22:12 (“now I know…”) is that it was *the angel* speaking, not God. So of course the angel could learn things from man’s actions, but you can’t use this passage to prove that God learned anything.

[scubaguy]

Me thinks this chap is misinterpreting. God doesn’t change his mind about what?? That’s the issue. It doesn’t say God cannot ‘ever’ change his mind about ‘anything at all’. Be careful how you extrapolate! Samuel is so clearly talking about God not regretting how he was dealing with Saul, etc. You’ve taken that and extrapolated it to ‘everything’ God does about ‘everything he ever does’. I think your interpretation is quite erroneous in comparison to what the significantly more limited text actually says. As I see it, this sort of errant hyper extrapolation is common with Calvinism.

[crisjones]

Answer if you believe the Biblical narrative: yes. If you have a systematic that precludes such a thing your going to have to find away around what the text plainly says. Good luck.