Still seems to violate the concept of free will, in spite of a lot of explaining.
Hi Sailor,
The whole area of free will is a mystery in itself. Because if we have free will, then what
does that leave to Divine Omnipotence? At man’s mercy. And if we state God’s complete
control, then where does that leave man’s free will? This is a theological head banger.
And then to add this bottomless black hole of a puzzle, throw in predestination.
The biggest misunderstanding that we sometimes have of ourselves, is that we really
cannot know everything(god). On occassions we must look down with bowed head
and simply say, “how geat thou art”. Only the Almighty can juggle so many ideas
at once without dropping any of them.
Your question is a fair question and it was asked in a simliar way centuries
ago when God was seen as hateful in the O.T. and loving in the N.T. If it is the
same God in both, then why the difference in behavior? Then your question,
why does He treat some with love and others with disdain?
Frankly I don’t know if there is just one answer. But the one that appeals to me the
most is looking at the whole salvation scene from beginning to end because I believe
that is what God is considering. He promised us a saviour, thru Abraham, thru David,
for all mankind. I think He is insureing that this will take place and anything that is
interferring with this must give way.
Now the question is, well why deal in such a harsh way?
Maybe in the divine mind he foresaw future events threatening the outcome of salvation
if certain people were left to themselves to do what they wanted. I do feel sure that
no human on this planet has any idea all the circumstancess which had to be considered
for success in the divine plan. And since He is all knowing of past, present, and future
events, then He has a very distinct advantage over us.
Now I admit, it would be nice to know all the “whys”. But since we are not previleged
here, we are previleged in knowing and trusting to his judgement and thereby pleasing
Him with our faith. This is what our father Abraham did when he was about to
kill his only son solely because God had asked him. And we know that God
was very pleased with his faith in Him, as he could have said “how mean God is”.
In all of this I suppose we will still look for answers for understanding our faith. And that
is good. But when the answers don’t come, then we must become other Abrahams,
or Egyptians.
