Does God “Change His Mind”? -- By: Robert B. Chisholm, Jr.
Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 152:608 (Oct 1995)
Article: Does God “Change His Mind”?
Author: Robert B. Chisholm, Jr.
BSac 152:608 (Oct 95) p. 387
Does God “Change His Mind”?
[Robert B. Chisholm Jr. is Professor of Old Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas.]
Most Christian theologians have affirmed that God is immutable. In support of this doctrine they often have cited several Old Testament passages, including Numbers 23:19 (“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent”), 1 Samuel 15:29 (“And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind”), and Psalm 110:4 (“The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind”). In all these cases “repent” or “change His mind” translates a Niphal or Hithpael form of the verbal root נחם. However, many other Old Testament passages, using a Niphal form of this same verb with the same semantic sense, assert that God typically does change His mind (Jer 18:5–10; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2), describe Him doing so (Exod 32:14; Amos 7:3, 6; Jonah 3:10), or at least assume that He might (Jer 26:3; Joel 2:14; Jonah 3:9). How can one resolve this tension and apparent contradiction? Some dismiss these texts as “anthropomorphic,”1 but this is an arbitrary and drastic solution that cuts rather than unties the theological knot. A more satisfying solution exists, if the biblical evidence is allowed to speak for itself.
The thesis of this article is that the question, “Does God change His mind?” must be answered, “It all depends.” This study begins with a lexical survey of the Niphal and Hithpael stems of נחם. The article then defines and illustrates the four kinds of forward-looking divine statements in the Old Testament: (a) marked or formal decrees, (b) unmarked or informal decrees, (c) marked or explicitly conditional statements of
BSac 152:608 (Oct 95) p. 388
intention, (d) unmarked or implicitly conditional statements of intention. The article then argues that if God has issued a decree, He will not change His mind or deviate from it. However, the majority of God�...
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