Midterm Essay
Submitted to Dr. Todd Buck
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
THEO 626
Doctrine of God
by
16 April 2025
Saying that Gods love is immutable seems to be a hot button topic of the modern
theological world. In this paper, the "classical theory" versus the "contemporary view" of God's
love will be discussed. Some people believe that God's love is immutable; this means that it has
never changed nor will it ever change. However, there are those who believe that the
immutability of His love can change. Classical theory that is presented by Feinberg, specifies the
context for this discussion by saying that God cannot and will never change regardless of what
His creation thinks. God’s loving nature towards His creation remains as a constant of his being
and his character because His creation does not dictate His nature. For God to remain God, he
has to always have been and always will be the same. If by chance he did ever change, he would
contradict his own Word, and God cannot contradict Himself.
First off, Numbers 23:19 tells us, “God is not like man that He should lie, and neither is
He like a son of man that He should change His word.” If this is truly His word, then again, he
cannot change as He would be making Himself out to be a liar; and because lying is a sin, and
God cannot sin, then we must conclude that he cannot change. The contemporary view, which
is supported by the openness theory, supports the idea that God is not immutable and adheres
to the idea that God is not constantly the same and changes His love for His creation based on
what people do in the future. Feinberg writes, “God is affected by what happens to us; he
changes with us, ever-increasing from moment to moment in his knowledge.”1 This is a
ridiculous view that contradicts the very nature of who God says He is. Two aspects of His
nature is his omniscience and his omnipotence. But passages such as Isaiah 45:6-7 which states,
“That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside
me. I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace,
and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.” (KJV) is somehow neglected. This so clearly shows
how Gods is in total control of everything! If he is forming light and creating darkness then he is
powerful enough to create the photon matter that make up light itself! Then in Jeremiah 1:5,
the prophet writes, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I
1 Feinberg. John. S. No One Like Him: The Doctrine of God, 2019, p. 59
consecrated you.” (ESV). How can God not know the future if he states that He knows us before
we are even born? Newsflash, it is a contradiction and is complete nonsense to think otherwise.
In the classical perspective, God’s sovereignty seems to be the bedrock for how He
interacts with His creation, and in turn, how His creation perceives Him. Basically, God in His
nature, essence, manifestation, and entire being is love2, and that love is immutable. Modern
thought gives people room to try to define God as evolving and changeable. But if God is
changeable or evolving, then that would make him dependent upon His creation. God cannot
change himself, not for anyone or anything; he is the “I Am who I Am”.34 This statement alone
speaks to God affirming that He is who He is and suggests that He does not change over time.
Because God does not change over time, humanity can have a fuller experience with God and
more stable understanding of His love.
WRITE ON OPEN THEOLOGY
Bray, on the other hand, concurs that God desires a relationship with His creation by
granting them free will4, but He disagrees with the modern view.5 He believes that God still
remains omnipresent and that no power is greater than his.6 He concludes that God is still
present in his people's lives, just as he was in the Old Testament, and that He is still with them
today. He supports the ideal of the classical theory of God's immutability because, in his words,
"God cannot be regarded as displacing himself in a way which is analogous to human
movement; his motion must therefore be internal."7 God is everywhere, all powerful, all
knowing, and all loving, very much unlike His creation.
Wells attempts to make a case for God being involved but also asserting that He gave His
creation freewill out of love. Unlike Bray and Feinberg, Wells gives no room However, unlike
Feinberg and Bray, Wells did not allow for the modern perspective that God is not immutable;
he believes that God is supreme and immutable, and that He always acts in ways that are
2 1 John 4:16
3 Exodus 3:14
4 Bray. Gerald. L. Contours of Christian Theology: The Doctrine of God, 2018, p. 52.
5 Ibid. p.56
6 Ibid. p. 56
7 Bray. Gerald. L. Contours of Christian Theology: The Doctrine of God, 2018, p. 59.
consistent with his characters.13 He holds that God must be consistent with his characters and
not human, as evidenced by his statements that "we are limited by space, but God is not. We
are always in only one place at any one time. Not so with God." He is not limited and is
everywhere all the once. Wells believes in a supreme God of judgment and love who knows the
beginning and end of His people, and he makes the argument that God is unchanging and does
not need to see what man will do in the future before determining his steps. He also believes
that God loves His people regardless of their actions, but punishes them when they disobey His
law.
Bibliography
Bray. Gerald. L. Contours of Christian Theology: The Doctrine of God, 2018.
Feinberg. John. S. No One Like Him: The Doctrine of God, 2019.
Wells, David. F Wells. God in the Whirlwind: How the Holy-love of God Reorients Our World ,
2019.
