Posts
In my Christian History and Theology Class, we are wrestling with the Theologies of a classic (Augustinian/Calvinist) view of God's sovereignty and an "Open" view that gives room for free will.
I am going to have to say that I am leaning towards the "openness" perspective at this point. My reasons for this are many, but I am going to share my most personal reasons.
My father was diagnosed in March of 1999 with stage 4b esophageal cancer. Over the course of the following year my father slowly and painfully wasted away and died in March of 2000. In July of 1999 my then fiancee's father was diagnosed with cancer who also slowly and painfully wasted away and died in August of 2000. I cannot believe that a good God wanted two of his faithful servants to suffer in that extreme and cause that degree of pain and horror to rule the lives of their families. Such a God would be evil. If Augustine and Calvin were correct, then I am happy that Jesus suffered and died so that God could at least get a taste of the pain He so freely deals out.
The question to me is an essential character of God issue, and to say that "If God does it, it is good." merely sidesteps the issue of the morality revealed to us. While goodness can seem relative at times, there is a progression and direction towards wholeness and well being of all that is the common element. This evasion is not a valid argument if God's actions go against the direction that we see goodness is working towards.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
most of the time, I think Calvinist stuff is from the mooon. The closed mirco-manager God is scary and punitive.
Reconciling a loving God and tragedy is far from easy. I guess I don't think sovereignty means social control or causing/allowing everything to happen. I think God is sovereign because the universe exists and the earth keeps spinning and orbiting around the sun kind of stuff.
I like that you are talking less about your own entitlement (bad stuff is not supposed to happen to you or those you love) and more about looking for God to work in the obvious and less obvious places. I think about the man born blind and Jesus (John 9)...even suffering is an opportunity for God's love and healing to shine through.
Hey Gil,
Larry from Facebook.
I just want to say that we need to have reverence on the one hand, and a respectful disagreement on the other, when it comes to the classical understanding of the character of God.
See, the classics believed in a God that was unchanging and predestined people for a specific purpose. Augustine even struggled with the concept of predestination; but Calvin took it to the extreme - Total depravity is one such extreme.
But remember especially for Augustine's time, believing that God was unchanging was critical to all who believed. Only things that were tangible are corrupt, and only things that are corrupt can change for good or for ill. To believe that God can change opens the possibility that God can do ill things.
Applying that to a contemporary understanding of God might appeal to some people. Look at the world we are in now, always changing for the worse in the mess we find ourselves- financial, global - it's everywhere. People are desperate for something constant and steadfast.
That is not to say I agree with believing God is unchanging. I believe that God progresses and works through humankind to fulfill the coming of the kingdom. Listen, God took a huge risk sending Jesus into our world, the physical world, so that we may have a renewed relationship with God - and show people that there is more to life than just the tangible. For me, God doesn't know or determine everything that happens in the future. I believe God knows all the possibilities that are before us, and that God acts and re-acts to our choices in life. It is a much more open, freeing, and interactive view of God.
In 2006 my Grandfather - the man who was my role model - passed away from colon cancer. Just three months later, my Uncle passed away from the same exact condition. He was my second role model. In 3 months time, I lost two family members close and dear to me. It was not God's will; it was not an unexplained coincidence. Part of the misery of our humanness is that we do not live forever, and that we only live here to help give others hope, meaning, and real purpose in their lives that only God can offer.
At least that is my whole view on the issue. Glad to share with you.
Actually, I see the sovereignty of God and human free-will as a paradox that we must hold in tension. How they work together I have no idea, but both exist simultaneously.
The unchanging God is actually one of the four fences of Chalcedon that I struggle with. How can God be unchanging and grieve? How can the unchanging God die?
Post a Comment