Re: God and change?
George Murphy (gmurphy@raex.com)
Fri, 14 Nov 1997 16:33:50 -0500Gladwin Joseph wrote:
>
> Dear folks,
>
> I have long held that GOD does not change. The immutability
> of God - I thought (still think) is a necessary
> biblically orthodox belief. BUT, i sense that there are some
> on the ASA list that may hold to other alternate
> perspectives or understand it differently. From what i
> understand, does a "free" cosmos described by quantum
> reality suggest that The Transcendent and Immanent Creator
> "changes" in some way. If this change ought not to be
> understood anthropomorphically, then how does one understand
> it being consistent to both the Biblical and Cosmic record?
> Any help in calrifying this thought would be welcome.
>
> The "orthodox" confession in an Omnipotent, omniscient,
> and omnipresent GOD does not allow for mutability or does
> it?. Does the appearance of mutability in God through His
> creation and the revealed confession of His Immutability
> remain a mystery, much like the other ancient Christian
> paradoxes?
In the Incarnation, God becomes a participant in the history of
the cosmos & that history is part of God's experience. If the Word's
becoming flesh, life, death & resurrection are taken with full
seriousness, if the Incarnation really matters to God, then we have to
say that in some important sense "God changes". OTOH there must be
senses in which we say that God does not change: "God is love" is has
been & always will be true.
What you call the orthodox confession about God is indeed very
traditional, but it is more the result of philosophical speculation
about what the divine nature must be than it is a statement of
revelation. Our understanding of God should begin from God's historical
self-revelation.
George Murphy