After reading Aslan the Terrible, I have been wrestling with God’s “terrible” side on a weekly basis. I agree with much of what Lewis said in the article, but where I struggle is why does God send people to hell?
In Romans 9 it says this,
“11Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God's purpose in election might stand: 12not by works but by him who calls—she was told, "The older will serve the younger." 13Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."
14What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." 16It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. 17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." 18Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
19One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?" 20But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' 21Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?”
We talk a lot about why does God cause natural disasters and pain in the world, but I feel my question is why does God create people for hell? I understand that God wants to use pain to help us grow, and I can confidently say that every time I look back on my life to see how I have matured, pain has been right there with me. I look back on my life, and I am thankful for the times God tested and tried me so I could become stronger and grow into the person He has created me to be so I can fulfill my purpose for His kingdom. And I think most people who live their life for Jesus Christ feel very similar.
But what about those God makes for hell? What about the people who have no choice in belonging to Jesus Christ? How can the loving God who sent His son to save all of humanity purposely make his creation for the one who is of complete evil? How is God winning the battle of good versus evil when He is giving people up to the devil himself? I understand that if God hardens one person’s heart that maybe many other people will be brought to Christ through that person, but shouldn’t that person be rewarded then, too? I don’t see Satan giving up people who are for God, if anything; he is attacking them in every way he knows how. After reading this passage, I can’t help but feel that pain is so much better than eternal damnation. I would rather have natural disasters and hurt for seventy years than not have a decision in spending eternity with the God of the universe. Reading the article, Aslan the terrible, I believe that they needed to include a characteristic of God that I truly see as terrible.
My sinful nature wants to resent God for this passage and this characteristic that Paul shares with us, but the end of the passage is very humbling. I am God’s creation so who am I to say what God should and shouldn’t do? And I can’t help but be completely humbled that God has chosen me to follow Him and bring others to Him, but I know that I will forever wrestle with this one “terrible” characteristic of the God I serve.
I was a D-group leader last year and we settled on doing a topical theological study. The topic was Calvanism vs. Armeniansim. I think both of these lines of thinking are facinating. Both of these theologies offer different explanations to Brittany's question.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I think should keep us humble, like Brittany said at the end of her post is this:
God owes us nothing.
If somebody does get into heaven, its not going to be out of dessert. If they could, then it would be very unfair that some were "condemned" to hell. But if people were only allowed in through the grace of God, our questioning of the loving God sounds rediculous.
It's an interesting question whether God owes us anything or not. I'm sympathetic to the idea that God cannot owe us anything, because he is so much greater than we are that he cannot be obliged to us. But some might say that he owes us something precisely because he promised us something. If that were the case, God would owe us something only because he had chosen to promise it to us, not because we independently deserve it. Hmmmm....
ReplyDeleteThe person who's wondering how a loving God could send people to hell isn't really questioning God's authority, I think. Rather, she's questioning the opinions of those who maintain that God sends people to hell. God has the authority to send us all to hell, or to send anyone he wants to hell, she might say, and if she believed that Scripture unequivocally taught a Calvinist position, she'd accept it. But she doesn't believe that Scripture is so clear on this matter. Anyway, the key point here, for me, is that someone can question claims someone else makes about God without being accused of questioning God himself. People do question God himself, of course, as the Psalmist does at times. But not all of those with questions are doing so.
This passage from Romans is one of the key texts a Calvinist will appeal to in supporting his position. Yet there are passages that an Arminian will look to as well. This is a tricky business. Even in Romans, it's interesting to read all of Chapter 9 to see that Paul's key point is not that God will damn whomever he wants, but rather that God will save whomever he wants. In fact, some people read Romans 5:15-21 as a text that supports universal salvation, especially vs. 18. Now, that doesn't mean they're right to do so, but here are three points that are probably familiar to you: (1) interpreting a single biblical passage is often a tricky business, (2) we should not decide what to believe on the basis of a single passage, and (3) any theological position faces passages that it cannot easily accommodate.
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