Does God Change?

Great Is Thy Faithfulness is an old favorite hymn of mine. In one of its lines it proclaims, “There is no shadow of turning with thee.” I find comfort envisioning a God that does not whimsically morph from friend to foe, merciful to vindictive, or reliable to random. There is security in stability.

But, is there a limit to the extent to which God does not change? The Rock of Gibraltar is often referred to as a symbol of unchangeable stability, yet it has changed over time, given the forces of eroding tides, rain, and winds. Why are we so certain there is no change in God? Actually, I believe that no change in God whatsoever is problematic. Here’s why . . .

Let us start with the assumption that God exists. If that is indeed the case, God must be infinite. If God is infinite, we certainly cannot have characteristics that God does not have. That being the case, God must be a living entity. (For extensive arguments supporting these points, see Slices of God, chapters 2.02 through 2.04.)

What does living mean? Does God breathe? Is God growing, aging, or improving? If we believe God is developing (or worse yet, that the composite of all of us is God), then the infinitude of God is immediately called into question. If God is something today that God was not yesterday, then God never was infinite. Infinitude is not something anyone or anything, including God, can become. Infinitude simply is or is not. It would appear, then, that a living God and an infinite God are mutually exclusive.

I think you know I would not be writing this blog if I thought God was not living. So, how do I reconcile this impasse? First of all, it may well be that my definition of living is quite limited. There may be an infinite number of variations on the theme of life. Secondly, I am confined to time, whereas an infinite God, the creator of time, has no such bounds. What does living outside the bounds of time imply?

It implies “timeless change.” God is all change: infinite change. God’s change, and therefore God’s “life,” simply is. Without the constraints of time, all possibilities simply are.

God is. God is infinite. God is timeless. God is life. Rather than thinking of God as a life form that is breathing, it may be more accurate to think of God as breath. Rather than thinking of God as living, think of God as life. God is all change: infinite change. God is.

-Sam Augsburger