In terms of God punishing sin. I don't disagree that there other models we can consider where God wouldn't need to punish for sin (such as if there were no fall for instance), and that the reasons why God might need to do things as Christians believe he did (sending His Son to die in our place) are not fully explained. I don't claim that the gospel does not contain mysteries (when thought of most favorably). I don't claim that I have all the answers - but what I do have (but am probably incapable of completely communicating) are sufficient answers to questions that Christianity seems very reasonable to me. I know that issues like the atonement and the nature of sin are things that Christians (and other theists) have thought about for thousands of years, that there are multitude of books and papers on the subjects, looking at them from different angles. I could say "but God is like this..." or "well that's only an analogy, which is deficient because...". I freely admit that I do not have the background to provide detailed answers to the nature of the atonement or sin, but there are things out there that you could read.
In a sense God doesn't explain the mechanics of everything - the revelation given in the Bible is limited, it doesn't answer all the questions that theologians and well informed lay people have. However if it did answer those questions I suspect that behind those answers would be even grander questions. Unless the nature of God is like the supposed Grand Unified Theory there might be an infinite series of ever more complex questions required.
I agree with the guy in the video, that if God were to deal with evil in the way that people suggest we would find ourselves as targets of the heavenly artillery barrage. God clearly could solve the problem of evil in other ways, but those other ways have other consequences. God could have prevented evil by not giving man free will - but in doing so we would have been unable to love him, which is something he desires. Also I have to say I think having free will is higher in some sense than being an automaton, I prefer having free will, although I can't provide a clever philosophical justification for it.
The point is that God has got a plan for dealing with evil, and it's a whole lot more nuanced than the "why doesn't God just stop all evil now" strategy that people suggest. His plan takes account of the freedom which God has provided to us at incredible cost to Himself, it is a plan where He takes the punishment we deserve, and all we have to do to receive that redemption is to choose to accept it and follow Him.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2008-08-24 11:26 pm (UTC)In a sense God doesn't explain the mechanics of everything - the revelation given in the Bible is limited, it doesn't answer all the questions that theologians and well informed lay people have. However if it did answer those questions I suspect that behind those answers would be even grander questions. Unless the nature of God is like the supposed Grand Unified Theory there might be an infinite series of ever more complex questions required.
I agree with the guy in the video, that if God were to deal with evil in the way that people suggest we would find ourselves as targets of the heavenly artillery barrage. God clearly could solve the problem of evil in other ways, but those other ways have other consequences. God could have prevented evil by not giving man free will - but in doing so we would have been unable to love him, which is something he desires. Also I have to say I think having free will is higher in some sense than being an automaton, I prefer having free will, although I can't provide a clever philosophical justification for it.
The point is that God has got a plan for dealing with evil, and it's a whole lot more nuanced than the "why doesn't God just stop all evil now" strategy that people suggest. His plan takes account of the freedom which God has provided to us at incredible cost to Himself, it is a plan where He takes the punishment we deserve, and all we have to do to receive that redemption is to choose to accept it and follow Him.