“many evangelicals do not have the faintest clue what Thomas wrote or taught, and Thomas’s views are in actuality markedly different than those of many born-again believers. Most of us believe that when Scripture teaches us that God is merciful, then we may understand God as such.” - Owen Strachan
“1. God cannot contradict His own character…. 2. God cannot lie…. 3. God cannot change…. 4. God cannot be tempted and cannot sin…. 5. God cannot be unjust.” - Randy Alcorn
If God’s omniscience and immutability rule out a change of mind, then why does the Scripture relate incidents in which he “repents”? I’ve suggested that the biblical authors are using literary devices to demonstrate important points about God—theological points. If you’ll run down the list of those incidents, you should be able to state the point that the author is making in each case—
What do we make of the fact that the Bible says both that God repents and that he doesn’t?
I think the key to what’s going on here comes from the passage about God’s rejection of King Saul. I don’t know whether you noticed this in the previous post, but this event appears in both the list of statements that God doesn’t repent and the list of examples of his repenting.
In other words, the passage says both that God doesn’t repent and that he does.
In a previous post I meditated a bit on the prophets’ repeated description of God as “one who relents concerning calamity” (Jonah 4.2). And as I noted at the time, that assertion introduces what appears to be a significant theological problem.
The Scripture says repeatedly that God does not repent:
“Church Works Media has a helpful resource for pastors and those who plan worship services: a topical list of hymns. In a similar spirit, I wanted to share a list of hymns that we either sang or considered singing in connection to a series I preached on the attributes of God.” - DBTS Blog
Sometimes 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 is used to teach that the Holy Spirit will be removed from the world before the tribulation begins. But how can this be true in light of the doctrine of omnipresence?
Read Part 1.
Many Christians may not realize how closely intertwined omnipresence and communion are within the confessional Lutheran perspective. Martin Luther certainly taught “that the Lord’s bread in the Supper is His true natural body.”1 Mueller therefore admits: “The true doctrine of God’s omnipresence is of special importance for the right understanding of the Lord’s Supper (Real Presence).”2
Orthodox Christians have confessed throughout the centuries of church history that God exists eternally in three co-equal Persons—each possessing one glorious nature, essence, substance, being or “form” (Phil. 2:6). Each of the three, while distinct from the other two, fully possesses all of the attributes (sometimes called perfections) of the “Godhead” (Rom. 1:20).
