Can the Bible Change Its Own Mind?

Can the writers of the Bible change their own minds on topics of theology?

Here's what I mean. Can one biblical writer hold a theological idea as settled truth, and then centuries later, another biblical writer come along and rewrite it? Not clarify it. Not expand it. Actually change it. I think the answer is yes. But probably not in the way you might expect. Here are two examples from the Old Testament and one from the New.

Early in Jewish belief about what happens when we die, the earliest followers of Yahweh believed that the place after death is Sheol. A dark underworld where no one comes back from. Ever. See Genesis 37:35, Psalm 6:5, or Psalm 88:3-12. However, much later, Daniel introduces something entirely new. Resurrection. Daniel 12:1-3. So which is it? Death in the deep forever, or one day being raised back to life?

Here is another one. There is a story about King David and a census he took of the nation. In 2 Samuel 24:1, it says that God incited David to take the census, and yet David is later punished by God because of it. That is strange. Why would God punish David for something God himself caused him to do? Centuries later, this did not sit right with the writer we call the Chronicler. So he changes the narrative. No longer is it God who incites David to take the census. Now it is this shadowy figure called the Satan. 1 Chronicles 21:1. At one point, the biblical author could only imagine a world in which God is responsible for everything. Later biblical authors grew in their understanding that there must be a secondary actor involved.

One more. There is an ancient Jewish law straight from the Torah itself. The sacred law given by God to guide his people. Deuteronomy 24:1-4 states that a man can divorce his wife simply because she no longer pleases him. That seems harsh. Centuries later, when Jesus is asked about this law in Matthew 19:3-9, he reframes the entire conversation. That law, he says, was given because the people's hearts were not right. Not because it reflected what God actually wanted. Jesus points them back to the original intent of marriage altogether. Think about that. A law given by God, followed for centuries, embedded into the social fabric of Israelite life, was a concession to stubbornness. And then Jesus begins to undo it, to point people toward what God actually desires for us.

Okay, this is getting long for an "I'm Just Saying," and if you are still with me, here is what I want you to sit with. Too often we settle for the things we learned long ago and assume those things are fixed, immovable, and certain. But what we actually see in the Bible itself is a faith that grows, develops, rethinks, and questions. God invites us into a dynamic faith, not a static one. One that is full of ongoing growth and deepening understanding.

So if your faith has felt bland lately. If reading your Bible has become a chore, or worse, a tool for spiritual manipulation. May I invite you into the mystery, the depth, the beauty, and the wonder of this book? What you think you know may not be what God is inviting you to know in the days ahead.

I will leave you with what the writer of Hebrews said to his audience.

"Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God's ways; solid food is for the mature, who have some practice in telling right from wrong. So come on, let's leave the preschool fingerpainting exercises on Christ and get on to the grand work of art." Hebrews 5:13-6:1

I'm just saying.