Can God change the past?

Last updated on: August 18, 2011 at 7:28 pm by Roger E. Olson

Can God change the past? 2011-08-18T19:28:54-05:00 Roger E. Olson

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Sounds like “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?” doesn’t it? So, if you really hate speculative questions and discussions, maybe this one’s not for you!

I listened to a well-known evangelical Calvinist philosopher criticize open theism as limiting God–especially God’s omniscience. So, during the discussion time, I asked him if God can change the past. He said no, God cannot change the past. (My question wasn’t whether God would change the past but whether God could change the past if he wanted to.) Then my question was whether HE was limiting God’s omnipotence. He said no because the past is by definition what cannot be changed. Of course, open theists say the future is by definition what cannot be known (i.e., the portion of it that is not yet settled).

I agree with the Calvinist that God cannot change the past; it just seems inconsistent to me to say that does not limit God but saying God cannot know part of the future does limit God.

It seems that if God could change the past we would find some example of it in Scripture and we would find there something about praying for God to change the past. Also, in my experience, few people, if any, pray for God to change the past. Isn’t that a kind of implicit proof that Christians do not believe God can change the past?

IF I believed God could change the past I’d be on my knees praying for him to undo the Holocaust. (The Holocaust is on my mind because this evening I am going to hear some theologians and biblical scholars talk about it.)

But, if the fact that God cannot change the past (which most Christians agree he cannot) does not “limit God,” how does saying that God cannot know some portion of the future limits God? It would seem to me that, logically, God’s glory is just as much at stake in his ability to change the past as know the future exhaustively and infallibly including events that are yet to be determined.

Perhaps the real issue between classical theists and open theists is the nature of the future and not the nature of God. Greg Boyd has been pushing this point very strongly for years. And yet his critics continue to accuse him and other open theists of limiting God and depicting God as less glorious. I suspect those critics would agree with the Calvinist philosopher I mentioned at the beginning of this post. I think I see an inconsistency, if not hypocrisy, in this.

What do you think? Can God change the past? If so, why is there no example of it in Scripture? (I’m not talking about God forgiving past sins or anything like that. I’m talking about God literally undoing events that did happen.) And, to those who say God can change the past I ask whether they pray for him to do so? And, if God cannot change the past, how is that not a limitation of his power? And, if it’s not, then why is saying that God cannot know future events that are now undetermined?

Not long ago I heard a well-known open theist present a paper arguing that open theism does not in any way limit God. It does not even say God limits himself. The question is, of course, what constitutes a “limitation?” What do you think? Is it possible to say that even open theism does not “limit God” or even portray God as self-limiting? (I have customarily explained to people that open theist says God limits himself.)

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