Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Genesis 6, Exodus 32, and 1 Samuel 15 all describe God relenting, regretting, and changing course. Most teaching rushes to soften those verses. In this clip from Ask N.T. Wright Anything, Tom Wright does the opposite, and he holds the tension with a clarity that surprised me.
I react to his full answer and add the pieces the interview left out: the Hebrew word naham used of both God and people, the difference between ordinary badness and metaphysical evil, and the way 1 Samuel 15 deliberately bookends its own paradox. Then I show why determinism, Molinism, and simple foreknowledge each struggle to let God genuinely respond to anything.
If you have ever felt the gap between the unmoved God you were taught and the God who grieves in the text, this conversation is for you. Drop your read in the comments: paradox, or open future?
00:00 Does God Change
00:23 Start With Scripture
01:01 Biblical vs Systematic
01:37 Why This Matters
01:55 NT Wright Clip Setup
03:04 Question on Naham
03:58 Anthropopathic Debate
06:03 Abraham Negotiates.
07:25 Jesus reveals God
08:04 Exodus and Ra Explained
09:24 Saul Paradox and Tragedy
17:40 Wrap Up and Open Theism
โ = โก
๐ ๐พ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ โข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฌโข ๐จ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ซ ๐ฐ๐บ ๐บ๐ฌ๐ช๐น๐ฌ๐ป๐ณ๐ ๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐น ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฌ? ๐
โช https://theoverlap.life/quiz
Do you ever feel like something about your faith just isn't *working*... but you can't name what it is?
Then you should take this ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ฎ-๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐๐๐ฒ ๐พ๐๐ถ๐ to find out "๐พ๐๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐๐๐?"
This ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐พ๐๐ถ๐ will help you:
โ ๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ that's been quietly shaping your view of God โ and stealing your joy, peace, and hope.
โ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ "๐๐๐ฝ๐ฒ" โ are you a Theological Pioneer? A Wounded Warrior? A Faithful Doubter? Find out which of 5 faith profiles fits you best.
โ ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐น๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ with the specific truth that dismantles *your* lie โ and real next steps to rebuild hope.
โ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ โ because chances are, they're carrying a lie too.
โ ๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐น๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป ๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ โ because God is so much better than you've been able to see.
๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ค๐จ๐๐ญ ๐ง๐ข๐๐๐ฌ! โ https://theoverlap.life/quiz
โ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ป๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฌ๐น๐ณ๐จ๐ท โ
We're striving to provide a community for believers who are radically eternity-minded, and excited about both their everyday life and their eternal life.
My aim is to create a home for Christians of all stripes who are in love with God and His plans for the universe; a haven for those who are ready and willing to live lives worth telling stories about.
๐๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป, ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ถ๐:
- Grab my book, "The Overlap Life"! โ theoverlap.life/book
- Join the Skool Community! โ theoverlap.life/community
โ๏ธ ๐ญ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐, ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐! โ๏ธ
Genesis 6, Exodus 32, and 1 Samuel 15 all describe God relenting, regretting, and changing course. Most teaching rushes to soften those verses. In this clip from Ask N.T. Wright Anything, Tom Wright does the opposite, and he holds the tension with a clarity that surprised me.
I react to his full answer and add the pieces the interview left out: the Hebrew word naham used of both God and people, the difference between ordinary badness and metaphysical evil, and the way 1 Samuel 15 deliberately bookends its own paradox. Then I show why determinism, Molinism, and simple foreknowledge each struggle to let God genuinely respond to anything.
If you have ever felt the gap between the unmoved God you were taught and the God who grieves in the text, this conversation is for you. Drop your read in the comments: paradox, or open future?
00:00 Does God Change
00:23 Start With Scripture
01:01 Biblical vs Systematic
01:37 Why This Matters
01:55 NT Wright Clip Setup
03:04 Question on Naham
03:58 Anthropopathic Debate
06:03 Abraham Negotiates.
07:25 Jesus reveals God
08:04 Exodus and Ra Explained
09:24 Saul Paradox and Tragedy
17:40 Wrap Up and Open Theism
โ = โก
๐ ๐พ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ โข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฌโข ๐จ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ซ ๐ฐ๐บ ๐บ๐ฌ๐ช๐น๐ฌ๐ป๐ณ๐ ๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐น ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฌ? ๐
โช https://theoverlap.life/quiz
Do you ever feel like something about your faith just isn't *working*... but you can't name what it is?
Then you should take this ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ฎ-๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐๐๐ฒ ๐พ๐๐ถ๐ to find out "๐พ๐๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐๐๐?"
This ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐พ๐๐ถ๐ will help you:
โ ๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ that's been quietly shaping your view of God โ and stealing your joy, peace, and hope.
โ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ "๐๐๐ฝ๐ฒ" โ are you a Theological Pioneer? A Wounded Warrior? A Faithful Doubter? Find out which of 5 faith profiles fits you best.
โ ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐น๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ with the specific truth that dismantles *your* lie โ and real next steps to rebuild hope.
โ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ โ because chances are, they're carrying a lie too.
โ ๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐น๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป ๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ โ because God is so much better than you've been able to see.
๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ค๐จ๐๐ญ ๐ง๐ข๐๐๐ฌ! โ https://theoverlap.life/quiz
โ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ป๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฌ๐น๐ณ๐จ๐ท โ
We're striving to provide a community for believers who are radically eternity-minded, and excited about both their everyday life and their eternal life.
My aim is to create a home for Christians of all stripes who are in love with God and His plans for the universe; a haven for those who are ready and willing to live lives worth telling stories about.
๐๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป, ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ถ๐:
- Grab my book, "The Overlap Life"! โ theoverlap.life/book
- Join the Skool Community! โ theoverlap.life/community
โ๏ธ ๐ญ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐, ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐! โ๏ธ
