I’m doing some research into paganism (much to my dislike…), and I was just wondering whether God still punishes pagans. Reading from their accounts and experiences, many of them seem quite happy! In the Old Testament, you read about God punishing those who worshiped false gods. I was wondering whether this still happens today: Whether God still punishes those who worship false gods. He seemed quite adamant with the Ancient Egyptians. Why has He gone reticent all of a sudden?
Here’s one way to see it, based on teachings.
God chose the Hebrew peoples because they cared to listen to Him, starting with Abraham on out.
The world and the peoples that grew were a very sinful lot–perhaps beyond repentance, perhaps there to help God’s chosen people to see that one behavior is wrong and another isn’t. God gave help to the Israelites when they were unjustly attacked or when they needed to attack, and seemed to abandon them when they behaved as their pagan neighbors did.
It’s not our place to determine what God’s plan was with the peoples that Israel conquered. To paraphrase Bill Cosby about being a father to his children: “I put you in this world. I can take you out.”
Why does God seem so quieted by the events of the New Testament? Consider the effect that the civilizations of the Jews had on the area. While the Jews’s transgressions left them without authoritative power, many of the civilizations that surrounded or governed them began to behave more like the Jews. While many still worshiped pagan gods, they also sought law and order and were not nearly as savage as pagans of generations past.
In short, the quieted
pagans were now ready, as the Jews were long before, to hear the true word of God. Likewise, the template of atonement and worship given to the Jews–the Covenant of Moses–was ready to be expanded and fulfilled with the coming of Christ. The entire world, thanks to the Jewish example, was ready for the full message of God and redemption.
I believe that God does not punish pagans as He may have in the past because the comparatively peaceful and civilized versions today are more open to the word of God than any other. In short, God has time to wait for these people to see the light.
