What is the answer, then? God could have created a world which was better than this one, a world where people freely loved Him and there was no sin or suffering or death. He could have created a world where tens of thousands of people are not killed by tsunamis, earthquakes, and plagues; nor by drugs, guns, and germ warfare. For whatever reason, God chose not to create that world, or, at least, created an initally 'good' world with the knowledge that it would become as it has. He is the Creator: He is the one who is responsible. Ultimately, He will avenge suffering, punish those who have done evil, reward those who have done good, and right the wrongs which He has permitted/caused to have occurred. And, perhaps, the way we come to truly know something is by it's contrast: therefore, to know God's love, it benefits us to know hate. To know God's justice, it benefits us to know injustice. To know God's mercy and grace, it benefits us to know His sternness and wrath. To know His power fully, it benefits us to see His power demonstrated both in the saving of those who call on Him and in the destruction of those who do not.
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1 comment:
I've been reading a Brian McLaren book "A Generous Orthodoxy" -- REALLY GOOD, I RECOMMEND -- and it had an interesting section about salvation issues. He dislikes how an emphasis on salvation as merely this "get out of jail free card" kind of thinking in regards to Hell can cause many people to have a "who cares about life then, I'll just die and go to heaven" response. Later on I liked how he talks about the Trinity.
I quote: "I learned that the early church leaders described the Trinity using the term perichoresis (peri - circle, choresis - dance): the Trinity was an eternal dance of Father, Son, and Spirit sharing mutual love, honor, happiness, joy, and respect. Against this backdrop, God's act of creation means that God is inviting more and more beings into the eternal dance of joy. Sin means that people are stepping out of the dance, corrupting its beauty and rhythm, crashing, and tackling and stomping on feet instead of moving with grace, rhythm, and reverence. Then, in Jesus, God enters creation to restore the rhythm and beauty again."
Then he offers a cool Chesterton quote: "For to us Trinitarians (if I may say it with reverence) - to us God Himself is a society. It is indeed a fathomless mystery of theology...This triple enigma is as comforting as wine and open as an English fireside; this thing that bewilders the intellect utterly quiets the heart."
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