Mary van Balen

Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and how you swore to them by your own self, saying,‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky; and all this land that I promised,I will give your descendants as their perpetual heritage.’“So the LORD relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people.
Ez 32,13-14


Today's first reading brings to mind a question that theologians and thoughtful believers have grappled with for centuries: Can God change?

Hebrew Scriptures contain numerous passages where God "changes his mind." In the New Testament, Jesus shows emotion when he weeps over Jerusalem and at the tomb of Lazarus. Can prayers and entreaties for mercy change God's plans?

Part of the dilemma stems from the idea that perfection is unchangeable. If perfection changes, it can only change to less than perfection. So, if God is perfect, God cannot change. This is a static perception of God.

There are other ideas that do not share the static, dualistic (perfect or not) way of approaching God. Read More