Does God change His mind? Is Open Theism true? 

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.

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

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.

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.

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 man.......

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.

the bible does not line up with our philosophical understanding of God's foreknowledge. therefore, the bible must not mean what it actually says... Not a good way to do theology...

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."

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.

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.

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.

Great explanation. Thanks Southern! Edit: That refrain you quoted from your father brought tears to my eyes.

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?

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.

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.

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.

Careful here. There are cases where God has explicitly stated something and then "appeared" to change His mind. I don't think there is anyway around it. I don't know what Open Theism is, but know what scripture teaches. The case he gives is with respect to a given event - the tearing of the kingdom from Saul. That is the context where Samuel is removing any doubt from Saul that this would occur - even some early manuscripts use the word relent instead of repent. Indeed even Saul's humility before the Lord did not change this. This is the same issue that Calvinism faces; taking a specific context and applying it generally. I think the proper usage of the Hebrew word nachem is that of not changing His mind but being sorry for what He has done. God is generally not sorry for what He does because His judgments are just. But again context is important. A better explanation is this: When God tells us something He plans to do He is being completely honest; that it is His intent. Yet God will not always do what He say to whom he says based on man's actions, at least at an individual level. People receive the promises of God through faith (Hebrews 11:33). No faith, no promise realized. If so God would know that He would change His mind. Only in this way do we avoid the deceptive nature of the the presented argument. This seems more consistent with scripture.

if God does not know in advance what going to happen then how did he know me in my mother womb, some people are to smart for their own Good, God help us

That was the worst case of exegetical gymnastics I may have ever seen. How ironic that this comes up immediately after a video on Inerrancy. I'll just point out a couple quick things as food for thought to ponder. 1) I thought the argument "it's always been" or "everybody's doing it" was demolished in Grade School 2) When Ware says you have "nâcham" being used 4x in Samuel, 2x this way and 2x that way, he asks the question "what do you do with that?" and then claims you have to pick one or the other. Why? I don't. Why not hold both to be true? After all, didn't he just say 3x that God never lies? Ware makes God out a Liar. He just does it by saying, "Well, God didn't really mean to that." Bottom Line: Ware, and many others, have purposed in their minds that God is...therefore...and so they then twist and turn and finagle Scripture in order to make it fit their theology rather than saying, "I simply don't know." The irony they can't hold both in tension to be true because THEY are foolish enough to think that THEY can know an all-knowing God. They literally believe they can know the mind of God and I find that foolish I also find it to be a form of Idolatry. Ware makes this crystal clear at the 9-10min mark when he says "Oh no! He knew that. So what it has to mean is...". Do you see? He did not exegete the verse or passage. He just took what God says and crammed it with a crowbar into the image that it must be according to his HIS image. That is NOT the Creation being an image of God. But rather the reverse with the Creation creating a god in their image according to their ways, will, and wisdom. I'm NOT an Open Theist. But when God emphatically states that He did not decree something nor did it even enter His mind then I take that for what He says. I don't try to twist it, turn it, and force it into my way of thinking or my image of what God must be. I have too much fear of the Lord to go there. Can God know whatever He wants? I don't see why not. Can God choose not to know something and still be God? I don't see why not. And that does NOT make God one iota less of God than He is.

His entire basis from the beginning of the video is flawed. The chapters in Isaiah aren’t proof of knowing the future. It’s a testament to God’s omnipotence. God is predicting the future because he’s going to make it happen regardless. God saying something is going to happen in the future is just him saying what he’s going to do in the future. When God breathed life into us he also gave us free will and that means it’s untampered by God being able to know as he creates you what your future is. Otherwise we are just automatons doing what he wants us to do and we have no personal responsibility

Short answer: yes. Long answer: Biblically, in context, obviously. But obviously this isn't the flat meaning neo-platonic perfect-being philosophers impose on "change". When a classical perfect being philosopher (lots of theologians, like Augustine) says change, they assume ANY change, even emotion, response, taking in information, implies a lack of pure platonic immutable perfection. So God becomes defined as having one eternal alinear action which cannot feel, respond, change... pure simplicity, pure actuality, being itself but because of that he can't BE A BEING. But God doesn't present himself this way in scripture. He relates, feels, responds, intercedes, grieves, and he does so in real time. This is only a limitation if you assume certain metaphysical absolutes which the bible doesn't describe. So in a sense, open theism is right. However open theism isn't a rigid systematic. It's not one integrated coherent idea but a loose equation with variables. You can plug in scripture thoroughly and plug in those values into the variables and you get a biblical vision of passable yet supreme God. Do it wrong and you get absurdities, a liberal or Greek or Mormon concept of God... obvious heresy. But it being loose means it doesn't act as a box to put God in. You're free to see how God is free and let him define how he relates to us. A rigid logical system that's wrong is a box... an idol. One that isbt rigid is only as heretical as your faith is. Ground it in the God of scripture and you won't go wrong. But you're not grounding it in scripture if you can't answer yes to that question. Scripture says he changes his mind. Now it's up to us to understand that WITHOUT explaining it away, or using it as a metaphysical absolute to debunk God's perfection.

He commits two fallacies. "God doesn't change his mind, because the majority in christendom have thought otherwise". It's ad populum. Of course, we should skeptical about new theologies, but that, in itself, doesn't make it wrong. By the way, you should not hold to Calvinism, Bruce. That's not the view of the majority. He also appeals to consequences. "If God changes his mind, it would mean he doesn't know the future". Well, that's what the debate is all about. On 1 Samuel, we have two apparent contradictory statements. One is made by God himself, as reported by the author, and by the author himself. The other is made by a character in the story. With which one should we make theology from?

Doesn’t the notion of God understanding the future in its entirety imply we live in a pre determined state which contradicts having any free will?

Why is the Bible able to be interpreted in so many different ways? It is the divinely inspired word of God and provides the only way to salvation and yet there are many sections that produce confusion in us believers.

If god “knows the future”, that would mean we have no free will and we are just a game God is playing with himself.

This is a LOT of jumping through hoops to justify this. You could just say there is typo and a lot more makes sense.

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

Bruce Ware brutally distorts 1 Sam 15. The text is clear. 15:10 says God regretted making Saul king because he didn’t fully carry out God’s commands. Therefore, God officially rejects Saul from being king ever again and instead looks for another king who will be better than Saul (15:26). Saul attempted to plead with Samuel that he may still hold on to his kingship (15:27 and Saul grasping for Samuel’s robe) but it was of no use , God had already decided to hand over the kingdom to someone else (David). THIS is what God would not change his mind about! God officially decided to dismiss Saul as king. No amount of pleading on Saul’s part would change God’s mind regarding this choice. His decision stands (15:28). Thus, God regrets that he made Saul king, but God will not change his mind about finding a new king. It’s that simple, folks. I am continually astonished as to how Calvinist professors can miss something so elementary in the text. The reality is, however, that calvinists are very uncomfortable with the idea of God regretting anything, because that means that human actions have the ability to emotionally affect God or causally influence God which inconveniently contradicts their pathetic doctrine of divine impassibility. Impassibility doesn’t come from the Bible, it’s a Greek philosophical and metaphysical concept originally derived from Plato and Aristotle who viewed god not as a loving personal creator who hears prayers and forgives sins, but a god who rather was a distant nonpersonal abstract rational principle. And yet, these Greek philosophical ideas such as permeated the church from the beginning and onward from Justin Martyr to Augustine, Boethius Peter Lombard, and Thomas Aquinas. The Reformers were all Thomists! By the way, ever wonder why most Christians believe God is atemporal (outside of time) yet the Bible never describes God as being such? (Psalm 90:2 won’t help you. All it says is that God has existed eternally. Existing eternally in time is not the same thing as atemporally. Please understand this!) Ever wonder why most Christians believe God created time yet the Bible nowhere says that God created time? Hmmm 🤔

That word doesn't just mean to change your mind.

God is paradoxical. He dos not fit in our categories. He is not bound to calvinism or open theism. Our job is not to figure this out but trust and obey Him.

The one thing God can not do is learn. He is all knowing so it is impossible for him to change his mind. .

After the flood, He decided never to kill off humanity, as he did. He gave his word by putting the sign of the rainbow, in the sky.

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.

Numbers 23:19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

Long answer....NO! Malachi 3:6 KJV [6] For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

So God created everything. Everything, he gave man the ability to change his mind. He's all powerful, and all knowing. Why would humans think he can't change his mind.

He does know in advance but he allows interaction such as when he says to put Him in Remembrance,.. we KNOW He ALREADY KNOWS what you might put Him in Remembrance of, but puts the onus on us to recite, for instance, that He remember the Covenant with Abraham, to sway His Judgement,.. it has nothing to do with Him knowing, .it has everything to do with Him allowing interaction where our prayer CAN and DOES change outcomes, this world is not hardwired the way it's to be, but has latitude for Prayer which is why we CAN Hope,.. And when Justice is seen, we'll see many things that could have been vastly different had we had Faith and Prayed our Hopes through His Son,..,...

So using this logic, how does current church doctrine agree with that of the Messiah? Think .. Meditate .. Did the selfsame GOD of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob change or not? Judging by current Christian doctrine, He did ..

I'm so darn confused listening to this🙏🏾

This is a presumptuous argument based on the Calvinistic hermeneutic which does not have the last word on Christian Theology. The "Open Theism" polemic is a straw-man argument to bolster the dogma of Calvinism by supplanting the idea that God in His foreknowledge cannot allow autonomous decisions (made by independent humans) as cause and effect. Why would Joshua command, "Choose" this day whom you serve? (Joshua 24: 14-24). Why would God change his mind in the face of Moses' appeal to not destroy His people? - "And the Lord repented of the evil which He thought to do unto His people" (Exodus 32:14). Furthermore, if God predestines everything in His sovereignty, He must endorse and will abortion and child sacrifice as well, unless you "spiritualize" the text out of context to justify the former realty. Nice try though. Cheers and God Bless.😁

The trouble with the Bible is that whatever theological position you hold, howsoever dear, there is a verse in scripture that will blow it up.

So before God created anything did he have foreknowledge of everything now? Wouldn’t that imply He had to create? Was God fated by His foreknowledge to create? I mean if He had the “foreknowledge” of today then He really didn’t have free will Himself.

There is a problem with this interpretation. Like most theologians, this man thinks that God is bound by linear time. Our time is part of this universe, part of creation. When God created the universe, he created all of it, time included. That means the creation is all of the universe including all of time. In this context, the answers he gives really don’t make much sense.

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.

God is an acronym the word means Grand order Dynasty. The concept of the word god is that it would be the grandest order Dynasty hence it was called god now this was not the first word for God and God has been called many things one before it was gae which was grand alliance Empire

Yes, "it only looks like God changes his mind." But when you first assume our theology as true, you understand God CAN'T change his mind and our theology be true, so therefore God can't change his mind. Pretty simple, right? The rest is handwaving and assertion of 'anthropomorphisms.' Traditionalists say, "Who ya gonna trust, me or your lyin' eyes?" Open theists do not deny God can foreordain, only that he doesn't know what he doesn't foreordain. So the balance of this man's argument is a strawman attack. It is up to the classical arguer to deny EVERY SINGLE example in the Bible of God 'apparently' not knowing what will happen, or God regretting his own choices or what did happen. The Biblical deck is stacked squarely against the traditional argument, and tradition fails utterly to overcome.

Thank you for the concise, detailed explanation.

Also, the thing is, if God changes what he says he's going to do, knowing full well that he wasn't going to do that, that would make him a liar.

We have a universe that is ever expanding, possibly with new creations beyond our scope. Life on earth changes and evolves. We ourselves grow in character just as our bodies grow and age. Who's to say God does not constantly evolve as well? If we attribute God to infinity, would that also mean he expands and grows?

Thank you for these short, helpful videos.

What he (and so many others) fail to mention is that nearly all the times when God describes the future, He is describing things that HE will be doing. That does not involve foreknowledge. It just means that if God wills something to be done--and pledges that it will be--then it will come about. That explains most (not all) of the instances in Scripture where God predicts the future. I will add something: If God knows everything that He is ever going to do (into infinity), then God is no longer free. God cannot do other than what He knows He is going to do. That's, eh....a bit of a problem. Forget the fact that it's just another place where we doubt what the biblical authors believed. "Yeah, they thought this . . . but we know better."

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

If you were to actually read the book of Isaiah you would see that God does not tell people He knows the future, but rather that by His power he brings the desired future to come to pass. By His actions and power, not some knowledge from a heavenly crystal ball.

Excellent, excellent EXCELLENT refutation of the heretical nonsense of open theism.

First of all the title is totally misleading, “Does God change his mind?” How silly, an “open theist” doesn’t suggest that God changes his mind but rather He is so omniscient and omnipotent that he doesn’t need to impose on our free will but rather guides us on an eternal quest back into his good graces

What about when God told Eve not the eat the apple or they will die then he changed hes mind by punishing them

Even if open theism is correct (and I’m not saying it is), God will win. Whether he knows the future or not, His plans will prevail. Who is more impressive: 1. Being beaten in a game of chess by someone who knows every move I will make in advance? 2. Being beaten in a game of chess by someone who didn’t know my future moves but won the game anyway? God has full control regardless.

If prayer matters, proverbs, if God The Most High is a living God, God having emotions, evil is active and has power, the. the conclusion is quite clear. These calvinists reformers deny The God of The Bible.

at this time i understand it like this: - the story of Adam and Eve might -change the future -if their choices were different than what we know it. - the bad people in Noh time if they were repented they might avoid the great flood. - this be applied to all the Biblical stories; Lot and Sodom and Gomarra's fate. Moses hitting twice the rock. King David life errors. etc - every humans and single individual's choices have the potential and impact to change the future. - every positive prayer that has a response can change the future. - free will and prayer can make longer or shorter the age of the world, infact we pray saying Maranatha to end quickly the suffering. - God remains OMNISCIENT no matter of our free decisions and heard prayers. in fact the meaning of all prophecies written in The Bible, they happened in the future in the exact time and way they are described. God knows the end of the world.

it's not about whether or not God knows exactly what will take place. God knows EVERYTHING that could EVER take place, and He knows all future possibilities as if they ARE "the future". I don't personally care what you think this does to God's power. God is altogether more powerful and praiseworthy if He is able to leverage His wisdom in contingencies and strategy for different potential outcomes. We are free creatures and so are God's enemies. Yet He alone is the sovereign guide who is responsible for judging and shaping the path that history will take.

I think the account of Hezekiah proves God changes his mind on things. If you say he never changed his mind in that situation then you are forced to say that when God said he would not recover and that he would die, that simply was never true thus you have God lying.

Then why don't the scriptures just say God determined nineveh to repent God caused nin eventually pint I'm going to make them repent it doesn't say that God is leaving it open for none of us to repent or not. No God forknew what none of us would choose but he's not making them choose.

So God knew what would happen to Nineveh, He just lied? Seems I'm being told it's dangerous to believe that future events may not be entirely settled, but it's not dangerous to believe God is a liar who caused every tragedy and act of cruelty you can think of. I don't buy it, but I remain open minded and look forward to reading Dr Ware's books on the topic

The LORD GOD told Isaiah to inform Hezekiah that he was going to die....but after Hezekiah prayed to the LORD, the LORD told Isaiah to go right back and tell Hezekiah he would be healed and would live 15 more years. (2 Kings 20:1-6). Did the LORD change HIS mind....or did HE tell Isaiah to say something was going to happen that the LORD Never planned to happen in the first place? According to the speaker on this video, the LORD told Jonah to tell the people of Ninevah that their city would be destroyed in 40 days, but in actuality, the LORD told Jonah something that HE knew was NOT going to happen. Does the LORD bluff? Does the LORD dissemble? That is, does the LORD say something is going to happen when HE already knows it isn't going to happen? Does the LORD say HE is going to do something that HE knows HE is NOT really going to do? That's what dissemblers do! They tell their landlords that they will pay the rent on Tuesday when they KNOW, as they speak those words, they will NOT be paying the rent on Tuesday! Are we comfortable assigning the attribute of "dissembling" to our LORD GOD ALMIGHTY? Think about it!

Isaiah 43:13 ESV / 1,376 helpful votes Also henceforth I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand; I work, and who can turn it back?”

Kinda speaking in a fallacy… Stating one thing does not mean that another can’t be true. Especially when dealing with something as incomprehensible as God’s omniscience.

Someone once said, "Has it ever occurred to you that nothing ever occurs to God?"

Saw the title. Omnipotence is a word not in my Bible (KJV). And I'm not sure what an open theist is, nor care if I am mapped to that pejorative. In Genesis 22, when Isaac has seconds to live. The Lord stops Abraham from slaying his son and says, "Now I know that thou fearest God." If you interpret "Now I know" to mean, "I always knew in my omniscience," I understand to motivation to correct the Bible. But it's Bible correction nonetheless. The Bible should correct us, not the other way around. There were earlier instances that Abraham was a God fearing man, but Abraham was not tested to this extent until this time. Is there, perhaps, something that God does not know as a result of His graciously divesting himself of knowledge of particular events? "And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." Hebrews 8 and 10. Did I say omniscience is not in the Bible?

In the bible text there are different figure of speech used of the author. The bible is truly inspired books God cannot control the authors mind he wrote by his freedom. The language of the text is an ANTHROPHOMORHIC the feeling of the authors intention was credited to God, But God cannot change his mind bcoz he is a perfect God..

5:10..."He never does literally change his mind. What He does is change what He said was going to take place before." Sheesh, that's some fancy exegetical footwork there. The speaker himself acknowledges it's hard to trust a god who doesn't know what's going to happen in the future, so Must.Make.God.Fit.Our.Theology.

From 0:11. this can be paraphrased to "We decide what we want the Bible to say then interpret what it says to agree with our decision". And that is how you get 30,00 different Christian sects you all make different guesses then "interpret the Bible to agree with your guess. Exodus 4 21 The Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’” 24 At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses[b] and was about to kill him. 25 But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it.[c] “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. 26 So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.) Moses does just what Yahweh wants then Yahweh changes his mind and kill Moses then changes it again as he is bribed by infant mutilation.

I don't know why it's called "Christian Philosophy" because if you're just going to say, "God's mind works differently than human's" that is pretty much the exact opposite of "philosophy." You're admitting you can't understand the mind of God... so what are you studying? It should be called "Christian Semantics" instead, since It's always just trying to get words to mean things that they don't mean so they can maintain the "truth" of the Bible. If the Bible says something like "God doesn't change his mind" and then two verses later has God "regretting" something, (which is a change of mind, I don't care how vehemently Christians declare it isn't) Christians HAVE to explain the incongruency and since you can't logically get from A to B, the only way to get there is in semantics. Attempting to reinterpret the author's words to fit your preconceived notions.

This is much too long of a story, but Tell me if you can, why does God need us to pray? If you say we can't change his mind as many people do, and if you say he is all-knowing, meaning he knows the end from the beginning, why then does God need us to pray? I believe after reading it in his word when he gave us dominion over all the Earth in Genesis 1:26 taking himself completely out of the equation, and if you read it correctly you'll have to agree and if he doesn't lie then his word on that, still stands today.That he gave us dominion over all the Earth. He didn't say anything about sharing Dominion he said let us give them. By giving us, his creation, dominion, in the old covenant and power, over all the powers of the enemy of the cross in the New covenant, Luke 10:19 he took himself out of the equation and now needs our petitions asking Him for help which gives him a license so to speak, and legal right to intervene in the affairs of men on earth. This tells me he is not sovereign not that it can't be sovereign but he is bound by his word, in Genesis 1:26 he has given sovereignty over this Earth to us. But reiterating it again Adam and Eve gave sovereignty over to satan in the garden of Eden through disobedience of what God commanded them saying do not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil which I command you to do not eat. And then God took dominion back in the New covenant, when he came to Earth in the flesh willingly giving himself as a sacrifice for us. Perfectly keeping the law, he fulfilled it perfectly. In that He took back dominion from satan what Adam and Eve through their disobedience to God, gave satan thousands of years ago. But he gave us in the beginning dominion over everything taking himself out of the equation completely. that's why I think he needs our prayers. Because Without the holy Spirit's help man can do absolutely nothing and without man petitioning God for His help He cannot, without breaking his word and will not intervene in the affairs of man without us praying for his help. Prayer is what defeats the enemy. God inhabits the prayers of Men. We need to get that in our heads right now.

Samuel: And then God changed his mind. Modern Guy: That means God didn’t change his mind.

My people,.... Not only he changes his mind in the texts he read but he does it in many other texts, why ???? He simply does it because he limits his own power and foreseeable power to interact with us. ( he limits himself ) Which makes him even greater then you could ever imagine..... For example,.. The text where God was going to destroy the people that were with Moses.... Did he destroy them? Moses changed Gods destruction to mercy ......its in the text, just accept it... Why did God not destroy them? When he said he would...??? Because he chooses to always apply mercy when people repent... Learn from me.....

God CAN change His mind. You gave an example with Nineveh. Knowing the future and acting on that knowledge are 2 seperate things. Could God have seen that future? Yes. But, if He had forgiven them without a warning of punishment, then what is the point? The people of the city would not have taken God seriously. Another example is Adam and Eve's rebellion, in effect stating that they would decide right and wrong themselves and NOT let God decide. God could have seen that future and just not created them. Or created different people. Or not given them a choice. But, if God had done that, the question of "if mankind can successfully rule themselves" would still need answering regardless. No, He tempers His knowledge of the future with a willingness to act, or changing of His mind by not acting and showing love and forgivness also.

Regarding Nineveh repenting, we can assume that God brought about the repentance of the people, so He not only knew what would happen, He made it happen: 2Ch 30:11 However, some men of Asher, of Manasseh, and of Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. 2Ch 30:12 The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the LORD. 2Ti 2:25 . . . God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 2Ti 2:26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

The presenter doesn't understand how the Son relates to these passages. So his entire perspective is skewed. Consider this... In the Gospels, the Son "lacks knowledge" at specific times, noting how He doesn't know there are no figs on the fig tree, doesn't know who will sit on His right/left, and does not know the day and hour of his return. ThIS IS BECAUSE THE SON IS FREE TO "LACK KNOWLEDGE" because the Father "holds" omniscience for the Son (Phil 2:5-8). This frees the Son to take human nature--to be born into Earth's linear timeline. This means EVERY Bible passage where the Lord lacks knowledge MUST be a reference to the Son (OT included). And, from the Son's perspective, he DOES learn new information as he moves through time one moment at a time. Now, the Son still possesses omniscience through his connection with the Father, but this is an attribute he set aside to become FULLY HUMAN. Get it? ... I don't understand why these things are so difficult for seminary professors. You read the OT and don't understand how Christ is EVERYWHERE in it. And, when you come to a passage your limited brain cannot understand, you twist the passage rather than accepting it AS WRITTEN. The Bible is EXACTLY what it is, and it means EXACTLY what it says...even if it is a paradox to your mind. If you don't understand, say you don't understand. But don't teach your ignorance to other people. Seek understanding, understand it for yourself, then teach.

It is interesting that hardly ever do these preachers quote any part of the Bible other than Genesis. For God to change His mind, there must be concepts of "before" and "after." It is not proved that in Heaven, time runs, or does not run. This is another human telling God who He is. He hasn't read the Book of Jonah, where God changed His mind because of changed circumstances. It upset Jonah who said "I knew this would happen!" Sorry, he has come to Jonah. Quite apart from the big fish, the story of Jonah is a parable. One cannot imagine that a preacher from a different tradition could convert the whole city of Nineveh, including the king! If Jonah could do that, there is yet hope for the preachers waving Bbles on street corners.Having listened to the whole address, I still ask: What about the New Testament? AND How relevant is Genesis alone to today's problems? The Bible is one book, the history of the religious development of the Jewish people, but "The Devil can cite Scripture to a purpose." Look at the story of Jesus' Temptation. Something more than a good memory is needed.

So what you're saying is that this is why we know that God is not a woman... because women be changing our minds all the time! lol. 😉🤣 Seriously though... thanks for this video. Some things clicked into place that I want to share because I feel like it's another piece to the puzzle or... a different perspective that might help something click for someone else. My relationship with God has changed quite a bit in the last five years or so. I got to thinking... if it's really true that the Holy Spirit is within us.... actually WITHIN us... that must have some physical impact. I pondered for quite a while the question of... what would it feel like if God were IN me? For these past years I have been operating under a theory that seems to be holding true.... I think it's probably intuition. That part of you that just knows in your knower about something. I've grown up being trained to be ashamed of this part of me, sweep it under a rug, shove it in the corner... do whatever, but don't follow it. Having this new theory to kind of "play" with I came to understand that if it really is true that Holy Spirit expresses through intuition... that's where the physical and the spiritual kind of overlap in a way... then I need to start honoring it. There are these things that I call "highlights"... where I see God kind of pointing me to through Holy Spirit/intuition. I'm learning if I step there, in those highlights... my life has shifted in ways I can't explain. I haven't undergone some miraculous overnight healing from anxiety, depression, PTSD, ADD, etc... but things don't feel like they are spiraling downward anymore. I was thinking a few months back about these highlights and how sometimes I follow where I believe He is leading to then turn and not go where I thought I was going, but ended up going somewhere else. Like reaching out to my ex-husband to see if we could work together to create some kind of legacy for our son. The focus was about working together to create something for our son that will help him in the future... it was not about reuniting. I reached out to him at a time before a bunch of things happened in both of our lives that we were able to help one another with. Had we not had each other for that support, I'm really not sure how things would have turned out. And this is where these thoughts kind of overlap with this video. It could be that we will be able to build a legacy for our son, but it also could be that is what I needed to see was possible so I would reach out to him at all. I was very committed to not having anything to do with him. Because I reached out to him for what I saw was possible, we were able to help each other through some really tough stuff. In fact, it's probably because of the tough stuff that we went through that anything more happened. I saw that he really was not the same. From one perspective it might seem that God changed His mind about the purpose of reconnecting. We see one thing and think... oh this is where He is taking me I will walk on this path, then later see God leading us down a different path altogether. But we never would have gotten to the second path had we not taken the first one to begin with. I'm sorry this is babbly and scattered. Words are hard for me sometimes. And it's all so complex. I love God. He is so very personal, intricately intimate.

It's weird when I pause the video and look up these verses. It is like the whole argument being made by Bruce Ware falls apart like the house of cards. 1 Samuel 15 he tries to show that God never changes His mind in verse 29. In context, God changes His mind on allowing Saul to become King, but will not change His mind on allowing him to continue to reign for the sake of Israel. If God planned out the end from the beginning and someone, like Saul doesn't want to play ball with God's plan, then God can change His mind on keeping Saul in power, but maintain his judgement for the sake of His ultimate purpose. To me, open theism can make perfect sense of this passage if you are willing to check all your preconceptions at the door. 🤷‍♂

Challenge me on this. Jesus teaches to keep the law of Moses. Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

If I tell my kids we're going for ice cream at dairy queen, but find that it's closed. So I change the plan. We'll go to McDonald's. Did I lie? Did circumstances effected my plan? We're I to be omniscient I would have known dairy queen was closed. Is it possible that knowing the ice cream shop was closed, I was trying to teach my kids how to handle disappointment, instead of the teaching that I know the future? King Saul served a purpose. Saul was tall and handsome, and was a prophet. Who would make a better king, right? So God gave them what they wanted. Don't forget Israel was not to have a human king. God was supposed to be their king..... Saul failed, but God knew he would fail. Knowing Saul's future failure WAS THE POINT. There is always an answer if we look to the context. I think God puts apparently contradictions in His Word for purposes too.

How can the names be written in the book of life that was written before the world was made if GOD does not know the future? GOD picked Jonah because GOD knew of Jonah's disobedience, not because of Jonah's compliance because Jonah's disobedience worked in Nineveh's repentance.

God feels, Open theism is far more biblical that strong divine simplicity. This man is misrepresenting Open theism. A sign of a weak arguement. Divine Simplicity is a Greek Pagan view.

This guy seriously disagreed with the passage in genesis 18 because it disagrees with his personal view of God. He didn’t even give a rebuttal. Anthropomorphic way of speaking are you kidding me? So it’s not literal only when it’s convenient for you? What a tap dance…

Think about one statement by Jesus to the Father: Luke 23:34 King James Version 34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

For a person who believes in Christ, your commentary on Gen 18:20-21 is stunningly ignorant of Christ's role in the OT. In this passage, the Son literally came down from HEaven. He literally met with Abraham, and the Gospel of John attests to this. And, as the Son ate then visited with Abraham, the Son was experiencing events in his body. The Son is not required to hold all information because the Father does this for Him. So, although you have a difficult time understanding, Gen 18 is teaching exactly what it says...that the Lord--that is the Son--didn't know things (just like how the Son doesn't know the day and hour of his return). /// Also I find your presentation of the false dichotomy troubling when you say it is your view or the Open Theist view. To me, BOTH views are nonsense. Neither of you understand how the Son relates to the Father. And, because of this, you fumble through all these passages. You are good at wearing suits and looking nice, however. Just not theology.

If God does not change his mind then he is ambiguous. I don't think Saul is the best example hence before Samuel even anointed him as king God already rejected the idea of Israel having a king beside him. I think the only example of God changing his mind is were he regreted making mankind on earth(genesis 6:6) But in this case he chosed to make man and no one forced him. But still before he knew what was going to happen so he prepared Jesus Christ. In other words in either way he knows how it is going to end. It as if God test man to make man to know what he already knows about them. To God this might mean omniscience, but in reality to man this mean ambiguity. But however I believe God put himself to physical limitations, even on earth, or else life will not have sense to man( and this passage is in the statement Jesus Christ being God but physically limited said in Mathew 24:36=But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. There are many other passages of Jesus proving my thesis, for example by asking the father that brough his son to him with the dumb and mute spirit asking him for how long it has been happening to him mark 9:21). In other passages Jesus through the permission of the father show his deity where he told Peter that he was going to betray him three times before the cock crows Mathew 26:34 or many others asJudas betrayal, the untie of the donkey etc...... So God limiting himself or exposing his deity all depends on what he thinks will benefit man in that time. But as for we with human limits this is called ambiguity. Only God will have to confirm what I have said.

at 12:13 this gentleman describes what Open theism actually is, and defends it. It amazes me how people who hold to strong divine simplicity, or the pagan "unknowable God" seem incapable of considering the nuanced views of Open theism, and dynamic omnisciences.

I don't believe God's mind can be changed, but I do think that humans can influence an intended decision, when appropriate. There are certain elements laid in stone that God declares. These declarations will happen regardless. The question is if these actions can be accelerated or decelerated by the actions of man. God doesn't enjoy carrying out destruction and there are many passages where God states that if people repent, the bad or doomed outcome may be avoided. In the OT we know that God delayed the ruin of Israel many a time b/c of his good servant David. God intended to ruin Israel, b/c of their unrepentant sinning. In Jonah God intended to destroy Ninevah, but that imminent destruction was delayed b/c the people repented. (That city was destroyed 200 years later) If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. (Jeremiah 18:7-10)

This is still very hard to wrap your head around. Because if you say God is all knowing even those times where he gives people the free choice to make a decision that moves to part 2 of plan A as you say. God would have already knew that would have happened

If God knows everything including what humans will say and do why would he state this? Deuteronomy 30: 15 “See, I do put before you today life and good, and death and bad. 16 If you listen to the commandments of Jehovah your God that I am commanding you today, by loving Jehovah your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his judicial decisions, then you will live and multiply, and Jehovah your God will bless you in the land you are going to possess. He changed his mind when Jonah preached and the people of Nineveh repented. Trying to read God's mind is treading on thin ice.

If God didn’t change His mind regarding Nineveh, was their threat of judgment empty? God does not lie. That less-controversial (I think) fact suggests that He is willing to follow through with a threat of judgment even though He knows He will answer a cry for mercy. It makes sense to me that God can change His mind while also being omniscient. Why shouldn’t God be able to change His mind even when He knows He will do so? The idea that we may be unable to do so if we were all-knowing is no reason because God does not fit in our box and because we are not omniscient.

"The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth..." -Genesis 6:6, NIV. Does that imply that God changed His mind? Interpret it as you will. Better yet be honest and admit that you can't be sure.

19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name....Who is this pervert who thinks God is not free to choose? God brought the animals before Adam to see what he would call them. Any questions?

He is right God is the same yesterday, today and forever. God said I change not. Just read about King David in (2 Sam read 11, 12, 13,) the event regarding Bathsheba . God never changed His mind of what He spoken through Nathan the prophet to speak to David and David suffered the consequences behind his actions. God put a sword that would never depart from his house. God is all knowing and all powerful God and He change not we change. Who can know the mind of God because His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. God can change the event but consequences still will come sooner or later. Through God's grace and mercy He will bring us through. Be bless.

It is true that God is omnipresent, so why does he bother to communicate with us at all? If he knows the decisions that we will make why doesn't he just annihilate all the rebels and the evil? Why does he repeatedly warn them and forgive them and chastise them?..... Maybe he does it for us, for all those down through history so we can see that our God is full of mercy and gave them a chance to repent. These stories are a testimony to God's character to all people, not just the ones who understand omnipresence. Sometimes a question is asked in mixed company not because the answer is not known by the questioner but to expose the question and the answer for the benefit of others. Jesus taught with questions, God teaches and councils us when he puts himself into our situation, when he includes us in the problem and the solution. He doesn't do that for our input but for our benefit and the witness to others.When we make decisions in such a way we realize more and grow closer to our father in heaven. What happened to Abraham when he decided to do what the Lord commanded him to do? He trusted God, he loved God, he believed God. In his heart Abraham sacrificed his son to God.... he gave his son to God. How much did Abraham love this child of his old age that GOD gave him!! Abraham proved to himself that he loved God and feared God, and honored God. He realized that Issac was God's son 1st then he was his prescious son.

Yes God cannot change His mind. (3:57) That says His will be done. It does not say He doesn't have to change His approach. If it did it would be saying free will is an illusion. Same simpleton arguments you commonly hear. It's evidence that the future is open.

Silly question. God doesn’t change his/her mind. It appears so in the Bible because the Bible is NOT infallible. It was written by men who were desperately trying to understand the nature of reality (god). Was the Bible inspired by god? Sure. Does it manifest some missteps and misunderstanding. Yes again. So what appears like god is vengeful, violent, and volatile are only mans misunderstanding of the true nature God.