God's Wrath: Reality or Cop-Out?
posted by Jeffrey on Monday, November 13, 2006 at 7:31 AM
I've been involved in a comment string on a friend's blog that has begun to deal with this issue of God's wrath. [I'll link up that convo if and when some comments get going here, so as not to slant or jade the dialogue before it begins. *UPDATE*: Screw it, here's the link.] So here's the question, do you think that God's "wrath" on humans and nations living in sin is a reality, is it a fictitious way that humans have copped out of responsibility and/or blame, or is it something else? I know my blog really isn't known for it's massive comment strings, but I do hope to get some discussion going on.
Tags: Christianity, wrath, the wrath of God, grace, forgiveness, Jeffrey Davis
5 Comments:
Link it up, bro. I'm ready.
Let's be honest: those who speak of God's wrath are never the victims. They are arrogant mouthpieces who have the privilege of life.
The survivors write the history, so they get to blame or thank whoever they want for their victories.
Thus, the Israelites attribute their genocide of the Canaanites to God because they were heathen outsiders, when if fact, their conquest was a selfish endeavor to steal land, and not the outpouring of God's wrath.
November 13, 2006 9:06 AM
nice comment Sam. I knew that few people would have the cojones to step up to the plate on this one. lol.
I very much liked your post to last week's question, which dealt with a similar issue...
November 15, 2006 10:49 AM
ok...
Adam and the garden.
40 days and 40 nights.
Soddam and Gommorrah (sp?)
compared to...
Holocaust
Genocide (pick a country)
Holy wars
what's different?
maybe God protected Adam from living for eternity in his fallen state.
maybe God was speaking to whomever would listen and only Moses did.
maybe God knew the most merciful thing to do for a destructive community was to 'take them home'...maybe the purifying fire burned up all that wasn't God and left only their spirits to reunite with God.
maybe the others had selfish motive...maybe that's the difference between the two...selfish vs unselfish motives...maybe not.
November 15, 2006 12:23 PM
Nice softball question. ;)
This is something I think about frequently. I like what Sam said. I feel like most of the time people claim to speak for God, God is on their side or supporting their position. That seems awfully convenient to me.
Honestly, I don't know whether God's wrath is reality, but I very much want to believe that it isn't.
I once read an analogy that really put this into perspective for me: Most parents would do nearly anything, even giving their own lives in many instances, to spare their children from agony. If sinful and broken people who are parents have the wisdom to act in love this way, surely God would be abundantly more merciful. I hope so.
November 26, 2006 8:10 PM
i like ur honesty rob. that analogy does help doesn't it?
November 27, 2006 6:45 AM
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