Comments on The Other Six Days: Does God Change?

There are a couple of scriptures that talk about t...

2008-04-14T17:18:00.000-04:00

There are a couple of scriptures that talk about this clearly. Malachi 3:6-- For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. James 1:17--Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

I heard in November that there is more in the Bible about the temple destruction in 586 BC than for any other topic, including the life of Christ on Earth. I thought to myself, "God wants me to know that my default setting is evil." He wants us to understand the seriousness of His people not following Him. I do believe He's the same God (OT/NT and that He doesn't change), but I only believe it because the Bible is clear on it. In our day, Christians would prefer a different God from the OT, perhaps!

Thanks for your blog. Really enjoying it.

Randomguy, Thanks for your comment and question. ...

2007-12-14T11:28:00.000-05:00

Randomguy,
Thanks for your comment and question. When I mentioned that the church recognizes our understanding of God has changed, the comment was in reference to the way the church’s understanding of God changed with the coming of Christ. Christ, God in human form, revealed God to humanity in a way humanity had never experiences before.
Yet as you point out, the church’s understanding of God has changed even after the coming of Christ. The bible is the word of God and as such it is inspired by God. The Holy Spirit inspired its writing and that same Holy Spirit inspires its reading as well. Jewish tradition holds that every letter, every punctuation mark, every white space on the page, each one has 47 different layers of meaning. Sometimes, the Holy Spirit inspires us with a new interpretation of the word of God, allowing us new insights. Sometimes the Holy Spirit helps us to see a new layer of meaning.
That being said, I don’t believe that every new interpretation of scripture is accurate or inspired by God. We are all human and have our own biases. Sometimes we hear what we want to hear rather than letting scripture challenge us. Allowing scripture to challenge us helps keep us grounded in our faith.
As we all seek to be faithful and grow in God, we will have differences of opinion. When we do, we should keep in mind that we are all trying our best to be faithful. Through dialogue and conversation we can learn and grow together.

"...However, the church does recognize that our un...

2007-12-12T22:17:00.000-05:00

"...However, the church does recognize that our understanding of God has changed through out history,..."

My question: Is this a good thing or a bad thing? If the word of God stays the same, how come as time progresses views within the church change so much? Why are certain things (within some denominations) acceptable now that were not before?

I believe our perception of God has changed and th...

2007-12-12T12:43:00.000-05:00

I believe our perception of God has changed and that God is the same and will always been the same. Like you said, "God is." We have been granted new access to a view of God. God controls this as well. The writers of the new testament saw God in a different light than the writers of old testament through seeing God in human flesh. We shouldn't box God up and say that God didn't know how things were going to change and therefore had to change based on human action. Maybe in 1000 or a million years we will be able to see God in a different light once we are granted that access, a new perception of God that might make us take another look at how we view God through the lense of the new testament.