RE: On non-belief and the existence of God
August 12, 2014 at 1:47 pm
(This post was last modified: August 12, 2014 at 1:51 pm by Michael.)
Hi F2R
If I'm understanding you correctly, you are suggesting that people could essentially be damned out of ignorance. I'd like to challenge that view a little. If we look at how John the Evangelist describes Jesus's response to the Jews who were rejecting them he says (John 5:22), "If I [Jesus] had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.". So ignorance, it appears, would have been an excuse. If we look at the context of Jesus's teachings about people not believing in him, we find that we're not talking about abstract people in any place and time, but people who had heard him speak, seen him heal, and still reject him. The context, which is a growing tension between Jesus and the leading Jews, is Jesus showing them what the Kingdom of heaven is like, and them saying 'no, we don't want that'. Likewise in the parable of the sheep and goats the people who inherit the Kingdom did not recognise the King, but had embraced the values of the King (feeding the poor, caring for the sick, etc), so accepting the King (Jesus) could mean accepting his values, even when they did not recognise the King. The people who were destined to be excluded were those who had rejected the values of the King.
Paul echoes these thoughts in his letter to the Romans, when he essentially says that the conscience judges those who have not had the revelation of any particular law: "When Gentiles, who do not possess the law, do instinctively what the law requires, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, to which their own conscience also bears witness; and their conflicting thoughts will accuse or perhaps excuse them on the day when, according to my gospel, God, through Jesus Christ, will judge the secret thoughts of all."
If you have three minutes to spare, I find this a thoughtful short video from Tom Wright.
If I'm understanding you correctly, you are suggesting that people could essentially be damned out of ignorance. I'd like to challenge that view a little. If we look at how John the Evangelist describes Jesus's response to the Jews who were rejecting them he says (John 5:22), "If I [Jesus] had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.". So ignorance, it appears, would have been an excuse. If we look at the context of Jesus's teachings about people not believing in him, we find that we're not talking about abstract people in any place and time, but people who had heard him speak, seen him heal, and still reject him. The context, which is a growing tension between Jesus and the leading Jews, is Jesus showing them what the Kingdom of heaven is like, and them saying 'no, we don't want that'. Likewise in the parable of the sheep and goats the people who inherit the Kingdom did not recognise the King, but had embraced the values of the King (feeding the poor, caring for the sick, etc), so accepting the King (Jesus) could mean accepting his values, even when they did not recognise the King. The people who were destined to be excluded were those who had rejected the values of the King.
Paul echoes these thoughts in his letter to the Romans, when he essentially says that the conscience judges those who have not had the revelation of any particular law: "When Gentiles, who do not possess the law, do instinctively what the law requires, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, to which their own conscience also bears witness; and their conflicting thoughts will accuse or perhaps excuse them on the day when, according to my gospel, God, through Jesus Christ, will judge the secret thoughts of all."
If you have three minutes to spare, I find this a thoughtful short video from Tom Wright.
