I just came across a statement by Zane Hodges on biblical repentance where he agrees with the "change of mind" view of it! I always thought that he held to the "harmony with God" view, but apparently that's a more recent development.
The following statement by Hodges on repentance is excerpted from his book Grace In Eclipse (Redencion Viva, 1985), page 113. This was Hodges’ view of repentance before he changed it in 1989 with the publication of his book Absolutely Free! Back in 1985, Hodges wrote the following about biblical repentance and I couldn’t agree with it more! Notice what he says: “The primary New Testament words for repentance (verb, metanoeō; noun, metanoia) signify simply a change of mind. They do not have the sense of the English word for repentance which almost always suggests turning from sin, with overtones of sorrow and contrition. Every act of saving faith necessarily involves some change of mind since one cannot move from unbelief to faith without altering one’s perspective. In that sense ‘repentance’ is always involved in trusting Christ. But the notion that one must decide to abandon his sin in order to be saved is actually based on reading the English meaning of ‘repentance’ into some New Testament texts. For valuable discussions of this subject, see Richard A. Seymour, All About Repentance (Hollywood, FL: Harvest House Publishers, 1974); and Robert Nicholas Wilkin, Repentance as a Condition for Salvation in the New Testament (unpublished Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1985).”[1]
Reference:
[1] Zane C. Hodges, Grace In Eclipse (Redencion Viva, 1985), p. 113, endnote 5. Please note: Robert N. Wilkin has since renounced his "change of mind" view of repentance. Following Hodges, he now takes the "harmony with God" view instead.
6 comments:
Zane Hodges openly admitted that he changed his mind on the meaning of biblical repentance. The following statements are from a teaching he did on repentance in 1998 in which he said: “I'm going to undertake to refute a view of repentance that I myself once held.” Hodges began the study by giving the following introduction:
“Our subject matter for tonight and the next two nights is repentance. Considering the difficulty of the subject, I am tempted to announce that I've decided to attend the 4-H meeting. Actually, I'm going to begin the evening with a confession. What I'm about to do is a little bit unusual, because in this session, at least, I'm going to undertake to refute a view of repentance that I myself once held. Now, that may sound strange to you. But, perhaps, the best way to say this is that I have repented of my view of repentance. As I was growing up, I grew up inside the grace movement. And the standard view of repentance among grace people was that repentance referred to a change of mind. And, in connection with eternal salvation, it referred to a change of mind from unbelief to faith, or from reliance upon works to reliance upon Christ for salvation. And, for a very long time right into my teaching career, I held that view. In fact, when I put out the first edition of the book Grace in Eclipse [which was published in 1985], there was a footnote, really an endnote, in the back of the book giving that view, and also citing the Doctoral Dissertation of Dr. Bob Wilkin, whom I think you already know as the director of Grace Evangelical Society [GES]. But, in the interim between the first and second edition of the Grace in Eclipse, I was entertaining doubts about my position. So, when we put the second edition out [in 1987], I removed the footnote, except for the reference to Dr. Wilkin's Dissertation. So, that was all that was left. And I maintained, at least for that focus, a stony silence on the subject of repentance. As I approached the writing of Absolutely Free, I was, by this time, developing a very distinct view of repentance. And one of my friends, a man who, in the pastorate, read my first draft of the book Absolutely Free. Chapter 12 is my chapter on repentance. And his advice to me was, ‘Leave this out.’ And I said to him, ‘How can I address the Lordship Salvation movement and be silent about repentance? It's impossible. They will think, correctly, that I'm dodging an issue which is a major consideration in the Lordship position.’ I would like to say to you that I'm very comfortable with the position that I now hold on the doctrine of repentance.”
—Zane C. Hodges, “Repentance – Part 1” (1998), https://zanehodges.libsyn.com/repentance-part-1-is-repentance-a-condition-for-eternal-life-is-repentance-a-change-of-mind
Yes Zane once held to the change of mind view but he changed his mind on that view. His main argument is that words change meaning over time. For instance the word gay used to mean happy but over the course of time that meaning has changed. Just go read a book from 100 years ago and you can see the English is very different. Yet alone 300 years from when the Septuagint was written till the time of Christ. There are no clear passages in the the New Testament unlike the old where metanoia means a change of mind. That’s why BDAG doesn’t site one example from the New Testament for that meaning. Just because metanoia means change your mind in the Old Testament does not mean that is what It means in the New Testament time. The clear uses of the word metanoia in the New Testament is a turning from Sin to God as Zane shows, hence why the English word repent is used not a change of mind or relent, sorrow..
I find the change of mind argument as a synonym for saving faith a very weak argument. There are no examples of in the Bible or outside that I know of as metanoia simply being used as a synonym for faith. If a little kid comes to faith, chances are he didn’t change his mind. He just came to simply believe the gospel message. He may not of held any preconceived ideas of salvation before that. It would be a stretch to argue a change of mind in this context. In order to change your mind you have to hold an idea/belief that was contrary to the belief/idea you’ve now come to hold. This is not always the case.
Hi Anonymous,
Thanks for sharing your perspective. I've addressed most if not all of your objections in my article "The Meaning of Repentance: Quotes from the Ancients, Lexicons, and Theologians". For instance, you said: "BDAG doesn't cite one example from the New Testament for that meaning [of metanoia]." That is incorrect. Here's what I found in my research on the topic; I will copy and paste from my article (see below).
Bauer’s Lexicon (2000):
Bauer in his lexicon affirms that metanoeō in the two examples cited above from The Shepherd of Hermas [c. 140 - 150 A.D.] (which Bauer abbreviates as “Hv 3 7 3; m 11:4”) means “change one’s mind” (see page 640 in Bauer’s lexicon under definition 1 for μετανοεω).
Furthermore, in the lexical entry for the cognate noun metanoia, Bauer includes the verb metanoeō together with the noun and classifies them both as having the meaning of “primarily a change of mind”! Here is the actual statement in Bauer’s lexicon (I transcribed the Greek letters into English):
“metanoia, as, ē (metanoeō) prim. ‘a change of mind’ (Thu. 3, 36, 4; Polyb. 4, 66, 7;…[etc.]),…repentance, turning about, conversion; as a turning away metanoia apo nekrōn ergōn turning away from dead works Hb 6:1. Mostly of the positive side of repentance, as the beginning of a new relationship with God: ē eis theou m[etanoian]. repentance that leads to God Ac 20:21. axia tēs metanoias erga deeds that are consistent with repentance 26:20. Also karton axion tēs m[etanoias]. [fruit worthy of repentance] Mt 3:8; cp. Lk 3:8.” etc.[56]
Proponents of Lordship Salvation sometimes misrepresent Bauer’s statement here concerning the meaning of metanoia. For example, in the book Greek for the Rest of Us (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013), and in a section titled “Etymological Fallacy” (pp. 58-59), William D. Mounce says that “BDAG [i.e. Bauer’s lexicon] lists a meaning of metanoeō as, ‘change one’s mind,’ but wisely does not list any biblical examples.” What Mounce fails to mention is that in Bauer's lexicon the verb metanoeō is also listed in parenthesis after the noun metanoia, and here Bauer does in fact list biblical examples pertaining to both words! Mounce goes on to say, “The noun metanoia also has a meaning, ‘a change of mind,’ but all biblical references are under the gloss, ‘with the nuance of ‘remorse,’” (Ibid., p. 59). What Mounce fails to mention here is that if you look closely at Bauer’s lexicon on page 640 regarding the various gloss explanations for the word metanoia, there are absolutely no biblical references listed directly under the gloss that says “‘a change of mind’…with the nuance of ‘remorse’ (as regret for shortcomings and errors...)”! Instead, all the biblical references appear under the next gloss explanation, and the two gloss explanations are separated with a semi-colon! So rather than being under the gloss explanation that says “‘a change of mind’…with nuance of ‘remorse’”—all the biblical references actually appear under the following gloss explanation: “primarily ‘a change of mind’…in our literature with focus on the need of change in view of responsibility to deity...repentance, turning about, conversion” (see p. 640). Under this gloss, Bauer lists many biblical examples, such as: “Hb 6:1…Ac 20:21…26:20…Mt 3:8; cp. Lk. 3:8…Mt 3:11…Mk 1:4; Lk 3:3; cp. Ac 13:24; 19:4…Lk 15:7…24:47…Hb 12:17…Ac 5:31; 11:18; 2 Ti 2:25…Lk 5:32…Mt 9:13…Mk 2:17…Ro 2:4…Hb 6:6…2 Pt 3:9…2 Cor 7:9,…10” (see pp. 640-641 in Bauer’s lexicon). So Mounce’s entire argument that Bauer doesn’t list any New Testament passages under the “change one’s mind” definition of metanoeō falls flat and doesn’t hold up under close scrutiny because Bauer lists many New Testament references under the cognate noun metanoia, (together with the verb metanoeō immediately following in parenthesis) where both together are given the meaning of “primarily ‘a change of mind’”!
[Continued below....]
Wayne Grudem is another proponent of Lordship Salvation who has misrepresented Bauer’s lexicon regarding metanoia and the meaning of repentance. I have already written about it in some detail in my blog post titled “‘Free Grace’ Theology: 6 Ways Grudem Misrepresents Biblical Repentance” (posted December 14, 2019). See that article for more information.
All in all, the lexicons clearly support the traditional Free Grace view of repentance as meaning primarily “a change of mind”. Commenting on the meaning of metanoeō and metanoia in the New Testament, Joseph Dillow (a Free Grace author) affirms: “The problem for Experimental Predestinarians [proponents of Lordship Salvation] is that, even though usage and the standard lexicons admit that the words are primarily mental acts and not volitional surrender, they must be made to mean volitional surrender in order to square them with the Reformed [Lordship] doctrine of perseverance and with the notion that discipleship is a condition for becoming a Christian.”[57] Norman Geisler makes the same point in regards to the lexicons when he says: “Virtually all the Greek lexicons agree that to metanoeo is ‘to reconsider’ or ‘to change one's mind.’”[58] Charles Bing of GraceLife Ministries similarly concludes: “The basic meaning of the Greek word metanoeō is ‘to change the mind.’ This is the uniform opinion of lexicographers and Lordship proponents alike.”[59]
I also want to share a few thoughts in regards to your comment when you said:
"I find the change of mind argument as a synonym for saving faith a very weak argument. There are no examples of in the Bible or outside that I know of as metanoia simply being used as a synonym for faith. If a little kid comes to faith, chances are he didn’t change his mind. He just came to simply believe the gospel message. He may not of held any preconceived ideas of salvation before that. It would be a stretch to argue a change of mind in this context. In order to change your mind you have to hold an idea/belief that was contrary to the belief/idea you’ve now come to hold. This is not always the case."
I find it interesting that you said, "chances are". So you're basically leaving it up to chance, basing your argument on chance. How is that not "a very weak argument"?!
And in response to when you said, "If a little kid comes to faith, chances are he didn’t change his mind. He just came to simply believe the gospel message." But that obviously implies that the child didn't believe the gospel previously. So there was a change of mind: from not believing the gospel to believing it. To say it another way, the child was initially not trusting in Christ (before salvation), but then he or she "just came to simply believe the gospel message." So the child went from a place of not having faith in Christ, to then having faith in Christ for salvation. The Bible says, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ" (Rom. 10:17). So there is an obvious change of mind involved in salvation: from not having faith in Christ to now having faith in Christ.
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