Does God Change His Mind?

 A church recently asked me to share with them my thoughts on the question, "Does God change His mind?"  After writing my response, I thought I would share it here as well in case anyone is interested.  I'd love to hear your thoughts in response!  Please disagree with me if you like! :)
 1. If we take the narratives of Scripture "literally," then the answer is yes. God is said to have "repented" or "changed His mind" in several places in Scripture. For example... when Abraham "bargains" with God about whether or not He will destroy Sodom, He makes it clear that He would change His mind based on Abraham's stipulations; when the Ninevites repent after Jonah's message, God relents from destroying their city as He had proclaimed that He would do.

2. God's foreknowledge makes this tricky... If we believe God knows everything, even the future (though without determining the future since He has given mankind free will), then God changing His mind becomes a bit problematic. If God already knew, for example, that the Ninevites would repent and He would then "change His mind," is this really God changing His mind??? Some Christians have dealt with this by saying that God actually chooses to limit His own future knowledge by giving us free will, that He chooses not to know what we will decide and therefore is actually able to change His own mind based on what we decide. (This is part of a belief system called "open theism"--it is a very new idea, however, and most of orthodox Christianity has denied its possibility). Most of us, however, choose to live in the tension that, yes, God knows what will happen and yet has given us totally free will. Thus, God is "practically" changing His mind in response to human decision, but He is "technically" not changing His mind since He already knew what we would do and how He would respond. (Does your brain hurt yet? lol)

3. God's promises are trustworthy. God does not flippantly change His mind in that He does not revoke His promises. Thus, Numbers 23:9 reads, "God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?" In this sense, no, God does not "change His mind."

4. I believe the best way to approach this whole topic is that (a) God is truly and personally relational, meaning that He actually responds to us (our prayers, our decisions, etc.) in a perfect yet relational way. (b) The Scriptures about God changing His mind highlight this real interaction in a way our human minds can comprehend. They are meant "pedagogically," meaning they intend to teach us about the reality of our interactions with God, rather than "scientifically," meaning they are a technical representation of how God works in His inner mind--His psychology. (c) The mystery of God's perfect knowledge makes it hard for us to systematize what it means for God to "change His mind," and that's ok. The point, again, is that how we live and interact with God actually affects the way He works in the world.

Hope that helps rather than confuses!