I must admit I've developed a general principal (which has been thrown out of the window in atreic's journal!) in these LJ discussions that once we hit 50 comments and the comments get hidden it is time to shut up.
Anyway, it's good to hear that you do think wrongdoing should be punished. I would say that there are people who would disagree, who I was evidently incorrectly grouping you with. (Was recently discussing justice with a doctor who was of the opinion that in was unjust to imprison Harrold Shipman, this was just pandering to our irrational human emotional desire to punish. Rather that removing his medical licence was all justice required as this would prevent further crimes as he showed no risks of harming people other than his patients.)
1) What are we guilty of? Rejecting God. The person who created us and sustains us. What limit would you put on the punishment for such a crime? If God is of "infinite" worth, an "infinite" punishment would be proportionate. What other punishment would you put on this? (I'm slightly cautious about the use of the word "infinite" as to me it implicitly implies some sort of scale we are measuring these things on, which I'm not entirely convinced is helpful)
2) How are we found guilty? (I think this has the more interesting answer). We are judged on the basis of how we respond to the revealed will of God. Clearly not everyone has the same degree of knowledge of God's will, this will be taken into account. Someone like yourself who has had the privelege of hearing God's word taught will be judged more harshly than someone who hasn't. But even he who has never heard God's word still has God revealing his law to them through their consciences (I'm thinking Romans 2) which gives them ideas of right and wrong. So when the person who has never heard anything else from God does what their conscience tells them is wrong they are still rejecting God's will. So on the basis can be found guilty.
Do you think this is a fair basis to judge people without any other revelation? What their own consciences tell them is right and wrong (which they use to judge other people in this world)?
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timeasmymeasure
Re: This year's CICCU Main Event - DIRECTION
Date: 2005-02-19 10:32 am (UTC)Anyway, it's good to hear that you do think wrongdoing should be punished. I would say that there are people who would disagree, who I was evidently incorrectly grouping you with. (Was recently discussing justice with a doctor who was of the opinion that in was unjust to imprison Harrold Shipman, this was just pandering to our irrational human emotional desire to punish. Rather that removing his medical licence was all justice required as this would prevent further crimes as he showed no risks of harming people other than his patients.)
1) What are we guilty of? Rejecting God. The person who created us and sustains us. What limit would you put on the punishment for such a crime? If God is of "infinite" worth, an "infinite" punishment would be proportionate. What other punishment would you put on this? (I'm slightly cautious about the use of the word "infinite" as to me it implicitly implies some sort of scale we are measuring these things on, which I'm not entirely convinced is helpful)
2) How are we found guilty? (I think this has the more interesting answer). We are judged on the basis of how we respond to the revealed will of God. Clearly not everyone has the same degree of knowledge of God's will, this will be taken into account. Someone like yourself who has had the privelege of hearing God's word taught will be judged more harshly than someone who hasn't. But even he who has never heard God's word still has God revealing his law to them through their consciences (I'm thinking Romans 2) which gives them ideas of right and wrong. So when the person who has never heard anything else from God does what their conscience tells them is wrong they are still rejecting God's will. So on the basis can be found guilty.
Do you think this is a fair basis to judge people without any other revelation? What their own consciences tell them is right and wrong (which they use to judge other people in this world)?