The backbreaker

[athrock]

Well, He COULD have said "abracadabra", but He didn't. And you're right, God COULD just say, "abracadabra" and forgive us all (thereby demonstrating perfect mercy), but He won't because God is also "Perfect Justice", and perfect justice demands payment for our sins against an all-Holy God.

How to handle this? Well, at the cross, perfect Mercy and perfect Justice meet. We are forgiven and God's justice is satisfied. We could not pay the price, so God paid it for us, and He did do willingly.

It seems odd that this bothers you for some reason.

Does perfect justice include murdering David's son?

God did not murder David's son. This has been explained at length in this thread.

However, perfect justice may demand that someone die. Jesus died for this reason, for example. David's sin sin (like all sin) required both eternal and temporal punishment. God forgave David's eternal punishment, but the temporal (in time) punishment was the death of the child. However, my contention is that while David (and Bathsheba) suffered as a result of the child's death, the child may have actually been spared a life of suffering.

Indeed. The bishops erred in thinking that homosexuality could be "cured" (this began in the 50's when less was understood), and they lacked the courage to out these gay priests by turning them over to the police. This was a huge mistake. Finally, I also think that Satan played a hand in this by infiltrating the Church with bishops who were/are sympathetic to the homosexual agenda. I am not alone in this belief.

They erred in protecting criminals.  Stop shifting the focus.

Yes, they did, and I have said so. However, the fact that they made a mistake in judgement does not automatically make them complicit in the crimes themselves. They simply handled the situation badly. Folks who want to continue crucifying the Bishops and the Catholic Church as a whole are guilty of unforgiveness.

You make a good point. The scandal compounds the problem dramatically. However, we have to stay clear that the sins of individual priests and bishops does not diminish the authority of the Church itself. Jesus told his disciples to obey the teachings of the Jewish leaders (to whom God had given legitimate authority), but he also warned them not to DO what those leaders did because "they do not practice what they preach." Jesus understood that our human leaders will always fall short of the perfection we'd like for them to have. After all, they are, like all of us, only human.

Yet God appoints the pope.

Indeed. Thank you for noticing. Most folks in this forum deny that God even exists...much less interacts with us in such a tangible manner. As you point out, God works with the clay to make the best pots possible. They are far from perfect, however.

No disputes in doctrine. Meanwhile I proved that the crucifixion was pointless.

Um...no...you simply clarified that you don't understand why God would choose the Cross v. any other approach He might have chosen.