Why I Believe – A Pause to Respond to Comments 2

Greetings Dear Reader,

I wanted to pick up on the second round of comments made by Patrick Sharp about God and his nature.  I think that Paul Copan address the seeming problems with God’s nature in his book Is God A Moral Monster: Making Sense of the Old Testament God far better than I could.  What I will respond to is that God does speak of love as the prime mover in his approach to us. 

I think that this also leads us back to the question of sovereignty.  Most systematic theologies make it clear that God is sovereign and perfect in his attributes.  I realize that it is impossible to “prove” that God is any of these things.  Again I think it is one of the required quandaries of faith. 

If we approach this conversation from inside faith then it is easy to see the logic of it.   If we approach it from outside then it makes little sense to us.  Since God requires faith to approach him it is much simpler to reason our way away from him than towards him.  C.S. Lewis comments on this clearly when he explains that we see things differently from the inside that we do from the outside. 

I think that in trying to harmonize the Old and New Testaments we have to look carefully at Patrick’s note with and addendum.  Patrick writes:

“The only truly great example that exists in The Bible is the story of Jesus. He flies in the face of the eye for an eye ideology that exists throughout the Hebrew Bible. Jesus begs those that will listen to neglect vengeance and embrace mercy. He strives with religious leaders to denounce their holiness and accept that all men are equal in the eyes of God. He teaches that the end of days will bring about justice, peace, and that compassion should and will rule all. “

Jesus makes it clear that he did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill it.  I would differ that Jesus is the “only” good example of this but I would say he is the best example of it.  I think that Job is clearly favored by God for his faith and following.  Jesus affirmed the Old Testament and used it to show us he was God’s next step in completing our redemption. 

When we study the life of Christ we see someone who embraced the law and sought to show the imbalance that had become part of the abuse of the law.  When Christ challenges the Pharisees he points out that they must not neglect the weightier matters of the law.  In simple language the requirements of being a Christ follower have little spiritual voice if the follower does not embrace the social voice as well.

Even in the Old Testament it was clear that those in need were to be cared for by those without apparent need.  The stranger in the land was to be treated with care and kindness.  I think that part of the reason for Jesus commenting so heavily on the social aspect of the law was because the religious leaders had strayed so far from it.  I think that this so closely parallels the political division in America.  No matter how much religious truth one has they have no voice if they do not embrace the social aspects of the Gospel with equal fervor. 

Faith in God is only reasonable when both things are in balance.  Following Christ involves both.  Embrace the law without the social gospel and God loses his compassion in the eyes of those in need.  This leads to a very dangerous and God hating world.  Embrace the social gospel without the law of a just and holy God and one cannot help but lose the morality that a society needs to remain healthy.  Jesus very clearly embraced both and asked us to follow him is the same manner.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."