My Faithful Reader sent me an email question. “Is God truly ‘immutable and eternally unchangeable’? If so, why do we pray?”
Before I offer my opinion, let’s talk about “immutable and eternally unchangeable” as a characteristic of God. What does this mean and who established this as one of God’s characteristics? The words essentially mean the same thing: unchanging over time or unable to be changed. From where does this idea come as applied to God? Quoting from NewAdvent Catholic Encyclopedia,
“In God there is no change, nor shadow of alteration" (James 1:17); "They [i.e. "the works of thy hands"] shall perish, but thou shalt continue: and they shall all grow old as a garment. And as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: but thou art the selfsame and thy years shall not fail" (Hebrews 1:10-12, Psalm 101:26-28. Cf. Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8).”
There are other references, but these make the point. But why attribute this characteristic to God? If we believe God is in God’s being, perfect, then there can’t be a movement away from perfection to become less perfect, or by definition, God isn’t God anymore. Nor can God become more than perfect, since by definition, perfect--like the word “unique”--describes a singular state than can’t exist in degrees. To wit, if you’re almost perfect, you ain’t perfect. And if you’re perfect, well then, you can’t be more perfect.
This characteristic of God describes God’s being, nature, and perhaps ultimate will for creation. Yet, we read in Genesis 6:
5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
7 The LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them." (Emphasis mine)
Pretty clearly, God changed from viewing all creation as good, to being sorry about creation. Did God make a mistake? I think we can say, “no.” It was not creation that was no longer good, but humankind that was evil. Having been given free will, humankind decided to use that will inappropriately. God’s greater plan for communion with humankind endured--Noah, et al--and was ultimately expressed in Jesus.
So why do we pray to an unchanging God? Because that God is a God of love and mercy, who apparently longs for the best for willful humankind. [For more on prayer, see my blog series on prayer than began in January 2013.] This God is not immobile, just unchanging.
Okay, now to part two, who established unchangeableness as one of God’s attributes? When the Catholic Church was the only game in town, it spent a lot of time and energy nailing down the answer to all kinds of questions, including the one: what is God like? These musings became doctrine or dogma. And the Church was, and still is, rigorous in assuring that Catholics believe these. But, we aren’t Catholics. So are we bound by these formulations? Of course not.
Still, many Protestant theologians also assert unchangeableness as a God characteristic. Are we bound by their assertions? Nope. The Reformation changed a lot of things and one of them was an individual Christian’s ability to think for him/herself and to develop his/her best understanding of faith. Of course, this is best done in community so others can help you test your beliefs, but, right or wrong, we have the right to come to answer faith’s questions for ourselves. This is why we have functional heretics who are avid, active and devoted Christians--they just differ from the mainstream in their beliefs about various things.
Hope this helps, Faithful Reader. If not, I can probably change it.
Peace, Jerry+
No comments:
Post a Comment