CALVINISM: The FALSE Doctrine of Immutability

Why You Should Reject the Pagan Doctrine of Immutability | Interview with Theologian @tomburger1775

Check out Tom Burger's channel

In this thought-provoking interview, Dominic Enyart sits down with theologian Tom Burger to tackle a widely held belief: the doctrine of immutability. Is the concept that "God cannot change" truly Biblical, or did it sneak into church doctrine from pagan philosophy?

Together, they explore:

The Stakes of Immutability:
Why does it matter if God can change?
What implications does this have for prayer, genuine relationships, and trust in God's character?

Biblical Foundation (or Lack Thereof):
Dominic and Tom examine well-known verses often cited to support immutability, such as Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8, and James 1:17. They uncover that, rather than teaching an unchanging essence, the Bible emphasizes God’s moral consistency and faithfulness.

The Real Origins of Immutability:
If the Bible doesn’t teach this doctrine, where did it come from? Tom sheds light on historical influences from philosophers like Plato and Augustine, suggesting that parts of Christian theology have been shaped by Greek philosophy rather than Biblical teaching.

The Importance of Rejecting Immutability:
As Christians, should we embrace this traditional view, or is it time to break with ancient philosophy and reconsider what Scripture truly reveals about God?

Join us for this deep dive into theology and history as we question long-held assumptions and seek a more Biblically-rooted understanding of God’s character. Don’t forget to check out Tom Burger’s YouTube channel for more of his insights on faith and doctrine!

[lawrencestanley]

That's rich. Accusing Bible-believing Christians of pagan thought for believing all of the scriptures where God declares that He does not change, while at the same time, you people subscribe to "free will, " a concept that comes to us from Stoicism, and introduced into Christian thought through Tertullian and Irenaeus.

[Paul-ihep]

I've enjoyed watching Tom's channel for about six months. He definitely needs more exposure!

[DavidOhlerkingII]

My wife Anya killed herself. She repeatedly stated that she was "made unto destruction, " as the calvies had taught her. I couldn't talk her out of it. Her childhood was brutal, so being made for destruction oddly made sense to her.

[mikefoht]

Great show. My experience with my old Pastor who converted to reformed theology was he definitely had an attitude against the old testament.

Everyone who takes up determinism seems to only get excited about preaching against false converts and making shock jock statements that contradict plain scriptures. Like you said they say they are all about solo scriptura but then they belittle plain scriptures just like Jehovah Witnesses do. The words whole world mean elect. God's love is really secretly only to the elect even though it clearly says to the world. I was listening to an old time Free Presbyterian lashing out that Christ did not die that we might be saved, but that we would be saved! Yet what does scripture plainly state in John 3:17
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
John 3:17 KJV. This is the norm because scripture is not teaching determinism. Thus the calvinist is constantly preaching against scripture so that in his mind he can say he is preaching the true meaning of scripture. Total mombo jumbo.

It is amazing how absolutely unscriptural the solo scriptura people can become. Their paradigm only allows scripture to speak plainly when it lines up with their Platonic god view, but when scripture seems to be speaking on determinism then it suddenly become solo scriptura and is not figurative.

Yes, they do purposely overlook the old testament quotes by Paul when he is speaking about how the lump of clay became spoiled. The people became unclean so God could not fashion them into a good vessel. They cannot handle the thought of men having a will. To them this is blasphemy. To them, they believe that if men have a free will that makes them more Sovereign than the Almighty. In reality they are showing us that their doctrine is above scripture and if scripture conflicts with their doctrine they will destroy it. It also reveals their hatred of how God really created and made men and borderlines living in a fantasy world where you can blame God for everything while not blaming God for anything.

Solo Augustine is the bottom line for them even though they claim to stand against Rome, they have fallen captive to the biggest heretic Rome ever produced. The guy is know as the father of the inquisition. How dumb can Christians be to love this guy's philosophy.

[jessepadgett]

God is personal. He thinks about things. He feels things. He works towards goals. He hopes for things. One of the persons of the Trinity still has a human body that still bears the marks of scourging, crucifixion, and being impaled (none of which He had before those experiences). That person is Jesus, who was born (which is a change), grew up (which is a change), learned (which is a change), spoke (which is a change), performed miracles in real time (which is a change), and, as mentioned above, suffered/died (which is a change). He then changed over from death to life when He resurrected. Jesus was very much in time and subject to change. All that said, He is ALWAYS full of grace and truth - even if it costs Him His life. Praise God for who He is!

[gracemercywrath]

One of the best points you made was how the OT is treated by Calvinist and the way they misunderstand the context of what Paul and other New Testament writers were saying in context. Great talk. Keep up the awesome work.

[emmanuelmakoba]

God bless you, guys. You guys are awesome - never knew that you knew each other. I love watching Tom Burger's sessions

[sharonlouise]

Love Tom Burger! Thanks for a great segment!!

[Richard_Rz]

I love this channel..Thanks for these Dom theyre very helpful and give me new rabbit holes to go down in study 😂!

[georgesherry]

Great discussion. Thank you.
I was deceived by Charismatics and Pentecostals for close to 30 years then I decided in 2005 to die with the least number of wrong convictions.
The Scripture from Mark 7:8 b "... and many other such like things ye do" had me thinking and I re-investigated myself over and over.
His mercy endureth forever and ever, praise the Lord!
George Sherry

[williammarinelli]

In the video we are encouraged to read the next verse past Mal 3:6 of contextual enlightenment. I say first read the end of Mal 3:6 "therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." The verb, consume, points my mind back to Ex 32, when the Lord told Moses to let Him alone, allow His anger to wax hot, that He may *consume* them."

As anyone who reads the Ex 32 text with open eyes can attest, the Lord did not consume them *as a result* of Moses' intercession. And He is the same God in Mal 3 as He was in Ex 32 as well as in 2 Kings 20 (Hezekiah's death sentence, Hezekiah's prayer, the addition of 15 years to Hezekiah's earthly pilgrimage *as a result* of Hezekiah's prayer.) He is the same relational God that responds to prayer now as He was when He responded to prayer then. He changes not!

[lightandperspective]

I'm so glad to see some videos on immutability! I found out that I'm not a calvinist when I was challenged on my theology from a ministry I was taking part in. They determined that because I don't believe in Augustine's Original Sin that I'm a heretic. Yay, not the first time I've been called that and it won't be the last. In the meantime, the pastor of my church, which is about half calvinists and half not (again, calvinism wasn't even on my radar until Jan or Feb of this year), started taking us through the attributes of God. I'm waiting in eager anticipation of him hitting this one and hope we hit it in our small groups, because I WILL be speaking up. I've already challenged the study group a few times the pastor used verses out of context or used a leading question rather than an honest, open question. Apparently, our small group has a reputation of being the most lively, and I say that's because we're allowed to challenge the ideology.

[burdoch]

Perhaps we ought to stop intellectualizing about God and just let him reveal himself. Because we are always going to get it wrong.

[cameronc]

Glad to see Tom Burger. I started learning a lot from the guy a few months ago…. Then he fell off the face of the earth

[SamHarless-whed]

The god of Calvinism is so hard to fit into scripture it’s not even funny. So strange how so many fell for it the last 15-20 years. They had amazing marketing campaign. “Let’s make God great again” is what I’m praying for!! Let’s leave the false teachings of determinism that basically reflects modern forms of Atheism and get back to authentic biblical Christianity.

[Jano]

For anyone who wants to see an even more detailed breakdown of what Tom Burger is speaking about in the second half of the video (i.e. the parts about how Immutability is derived from Plato) yall should read Mark Sheridan's Language for God in Patristic Tradition: Wrestling with Biblical Anthropomorphism (by the way Sheridan is an agreement and thinks we SHOULD use dignum deo as a proper way to interpret scripture so this book isn't a critique but an explanation). This book details how many church fathers used a "dignum deo" idea to speak about God. It's not only Augustine. We can see this is Origen too. Even Irenaeus used that idea when arguing against the gnostics. All of them used that idea to interpret scripture and defend their idea of God from critique. These men were people of their time just as we are today. So, I think it's good to go back to the scriptures as these two gentleman have done and ask the question "Do the scriptures present God in the way theologian x said?" If not, then we don't have to hold ourselves to their ideas because we can treat the scriptures description of God as supreme. Thanks for the great discussion yall.

[WalkingTemple-wssi]

Everyone should stop trying to define our infinite
Eternal God with ridiculous human philosophy!
We can only KNOW about Him what He has given us to know and we should not run with that and form deeper understanding. This always gets us "humans" into trouble. I'm fine with not knowing many things and waiting on the appearance of our Lord when we shall be changed to be like Him and see Him as He is.
God Bless all😁

[wildflower]

New subscriber. I thoroughly enjoyed this discussion. I really hope Tom is back again very soon to discuss Romans. Super interested to hear what he has to say.

[kaicohan]

When I cut sugar out of my diet, eventually, I found that I could not ever tolerate stevia in my sugar-free drinks. This is how I have walked with my theology also. I think the most frightening thing to a lot of people in the comments - is the sheer notion of paganism existing in their belief structure. Where those of us who were fully immersed in it, are able to identify the subtle indications. Calvinism is a great comfort that comes at the cost of the commission and (worse in my opinion) disciples.

[R.L.KRANESCHRADTT]

What does not change about God is his character, nature, and what motivates him. This is what makes him trustworthy and reliable. Anything else not only denies that he "thinks" now... but that he ever did. It's nonsense. It denies that God ever 'responds' to men. Ask yourself, who is it that wants men to believe God cannot be trusted and that he will never respond to