The Bible is full of things we could label as paradox. Some people like to call them contradictions but one of our articles of faith is that the Bible does not contradict itself. So how do you work out such things as,
Foreknowledge and free willI have borrowed a term from psychology, gestalt, and applied it to my view of the Bible in its teachings. What I mean by that is the endeavor to take the entire voice of scripture and apply it to any bit of theology, philosophy, or behavior if it comes up. Often that requires digging deeper and thinking longer. It is probably impossible to take everything into consideration but my belief is that these things can be worked out.
Jesus being fully man and fully God.
The Trinity
And what got me going on this, how can God be just and loving at the same time?
Take what got me started. I was thinking in terms of the difference between Yahweh and the Bible and Allah in the Quran. Both would be considered to have the attribute of justice. Both would have the attribute of mercy. Those two attributes do not go well together because they are juxtaposition. In the Quran all the works this out because Allah is sovereign, he is above any constraints or correction, and because of that he can do whatever he wants. Thus he will send some to paradise and condemn others. You won’t really know until you arrive.
Yahweh takes a different approach. Being a just God, He must punish sin. All human beings are sinners and deserve punishment. Being a loving God, He wants to forgive, but He must do this in compliance with His justice. His answer is to pay the price for sin Himself. This is where Jesus coming to earth, living as a human being, suffering, death on the cross and shedding the blood of forgiveness is the solution. Thus the debt of sin is paid and both justice and love are fulfilled.
Of course, sometimes you have to resort to, “I don’t know”, or “It’s a mystery”. For the first it may be that a little more thinking, and studying will give us an answer. For the second, there may be an answer someday, but we are not spiritually, mentally or physically in any condition to embrace it at this point.
Keep thinking, asking questions, thinking some more and pray a lot.
homo unius libri
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Comments are welcome. Feel free to agree or disagree but keep it clean, courteous and short. I heard some shorthand on a podcast: TLDR, Too long, didn't read.