E
Eucharisted
Guest
God, who is Spirit, has no emotions, since emotions belong to rational creatures, but He dose have wrath. Wrath is not anger as we believe, where God hates us and wishes us death, but is anger at evil - the metaphysical, the physical, and the moral. God, who is Justice Itself, is justly angry at every evil and justly wills our salvation from every evil, even the ones we might commit, because, being Mercy Itself, He wills our greater good, even our consummation. So one can see that God’s Justice and Mercy do not conflict but cooperate, and this is true because God is both Justice and Mercy, as I said, and He is simple, one. He cannot be against Himself, or else He would not be God, so He dose nothing He dose not will. Hence, He is not angry at His creations or creatures but is angry at the evil that has been unleashed, even by us.
In Scriptures we read that God is angry at His enemies, and we assume it means God hates the enemies of Israel. Yet, Jesus Christ, who is the Revelation of the Father, comes not only to correct man’s understanding of the Messiah but also of God, and so He shows us that, far from hating man, God loves him, even to the point of death. We were once enemies of God, and even while enemies, Jesus died for us. If God hates us just as He hates evil, He would spare nothing to destroy us. Some even believe this is true, yet it is not founded in Scripture or Tradition. But what is founded in Scripture and Tradition is this truth: when we read God hates someone, it dose not mean He hates the person but what the person dose. This actually sounds like a twisting of clear words, as if I am taking what is obvious and obscuring it so as to make an image of God that is not true, yet, if one studies the theology of Judaism, one will come to understand that, firstly, the Scriptures is the words of God, and so it is God who interprets His Word, and, secondly, because it is God who interprets, we must read the Scriptures not according to our understanding but according to the meaning which God has given them, and for this, we need the Spirit, who alone can interpret the Scriptures for us, just as He alone can make our minds like the Mind of Christ.
Elsewhere in Scripture we read of two judgments: the particular and the catholic or general, otherwise known as the first and the last. Man has come to believe that these two judgments are to be feared, as if the imaginary god who hates man will unleash hell upon him at the last minute and laugh at his terrible suffering like a mad masochist. But this is not true, and even the error of Adam and Eve show this, how they hid in fear from God. Certainly God judged them, yet He likewise promise them salvation. If He is such a wrathful god, why did He promise - and fulfill - redemption? So our understanding of judgment is obscured by the effect of original sin. Judgment is a fruit of justice and mercy, though we usually only associate it with justice. It is a fruit of justice because judgment is the execution of a just sentence on a criminal. It is a fruit of mercy because judgment is the execution of a just reward on a hero. So judgment is both from justice and mercy. The Divine Judgment is three things: first, the retribution of a man at the end of his earthly life; second, the temporal punishment he receives for his sins (as opposed to the eternal punishment which awaits reprobates); and third, the temporal reward he receives for his love (as opposed to the eternal reward which awaits saints). Most think only of the first, as it is most popular, and fewer think of the second, as it is considered a doctrine of the Catholic Church, and even less think of the third, as the humble dare not call themselves worthy of reward (and rightly so!).
You might be wondering, “Why do we call God’s anger at evil ‘wrath’? Why do we call His just execution ‘judgment’?” It is because wrath means, precisely, great anger, terrible hatred, and God, who is Thrice-Holy, cannot stand even the least sin, let alone the least suffering or the lowest demon (and the demons have incurred His wrath on themselves by their rebellion against Him). It is because judgment means, precisely, an authorative sentence, a sentence of a judge or king, and God, who is Great, is the Judge of all and the King of kings. So when the soul hears about the wrath of God, he can rest assured God hates evil, not him, and when he hears about the judgment of God, he can rest assured God is just and merciful, not hateful or cruel like some men.
Yet some, looking through Scriptures for contradicting verses, point to this and to that and say, “See, he is lying! God is evil!” But they forget through whom God wrote: man! And man is not only imperfect but has an imperfect understanding of God, though God, through the ages, reveals Himself to him, culminating in the coming of Jesus Christ. So we must understand that the Scriptures are God’s words written down through men, whom He chose to write through, and the revelation of God to man is made evident in the sacred pages, so, there is no reason to use God’s words against God but all the more reason to humbly study the Scriptures and come to the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, the Living Revelation of the Father.
In Scriptures we read that God is angry at His enemies, and we assume it means God hates the enemies of Israel. Yet, Jesus Christ, who is the Revelation of the Father, comes not only to correct man’s understanding of the Messiah but also of God, and so He shows us that, far from hating man, God loves him, even to the point of death. We were once enemies of God, and even while enemies, Jesus died for us. If God hates us just as He hates evil, He would spare nothing to destroy us. Some even believe this is true, yet it is not founded in Scripture or Tradition. But what is founded in Scripture and Tradition is this truth: when we read God hates someone, it dose not mean He hates the person but what the person dose. This actually sounds like a twisting of clear words, as if I am taking what is obvious and obscuring it so as to make an image of God that is not true, yet, if one studies the theology of Judaism, one will come to understand that, firstly, the Scriptures is the words of God, and so it is God who interprets His Word, and, secondly, because it is God who interprets, we must read the Scriptures not according to our understanding but according to the meaning which God has given them, and for this, we need the Spirit, who alone can interpret the Scriptures for us, just as He alone can make our minds like the Mind of Christ.
Elsewhere in Scripture we read of two judgments: the particular and the catholic or general, otherwise known as the first and the last. Man has come to believe that these two judgments are to be feared, as if the imaginary god who hates man will unleash hell upon him at the last minute and laugh at his terrible suffering like a mad masochist. But this is not true, and even the error of Adam and Eve show this, how they hid in fear from God. Certainly God judged them, yet He likewise promise them salvation. If He is such a wrathful god, why did He promise - and fulfill - redemption? So our understanding of judgment is obscured by the effect of original sin. Judgment is a fruit of justice and mercy, though we usually only associate it with justice. It is a fruit of justice because judgment is the execution of a just sentence on a criminal. It is a fruit of mercy because judgment is the execution of a just reward on a hero. So judgment is both from justice and mercy. The Divine Judgment is three things: first, the retribution of a man at the end of his earthly life; second, the temporal punishment he receives for his sins (as opposed to the eternal punishment which awaits reprobates); and third, the temporal reward he receives for his love (as opposed to the eternal reward which awaits saints). Most think only of the first, as it is most popular, and fewer think of the second, as it is considered a doctrine of the Catholic Church, and even less think of the third, as the humble dare not call themselves worthy of reward (and rightly so!).
You might be wondering, “Why do we call God’s anger at evil ‘wrath’? Why do we call His just execution ‘judgment’?” It is because wrath means, precisely, great anger, terrible hatred, and God, who is Thrice-Holy, cannot stand even the least sin, let alone the least suffering or the lowest demon (and the demons have incurred His wrath on themselves by their rebellion against Him). It is because judgment means, precisely, an authorative sentence, a sentence of a judge or king, and God, who is Great, is the Judge of all and the King of kings. So when the soul hears about the wrath of God, he can rest assured God hates evil, not him, and when he hears about the judgment of God, he can rest assured God is just and merciful, not hateful or cruel like some men.
Yet some, looking through Scriptures for contradicting verses, point to this and to that and say, “See, he is lying! God is evil!” But they forget through whom God wrote: man! And man is not only imperfect but has an imperfect understanding of God, though God, through the ages, reveals Himself to him, culminating in the coming of Jesus Christ. So we must understand that the Scriptures are God’s words written down through men, whom He chose to write through, and the revelation of God to man is made evident in the sacred pages, so, there is no reason to use God’s words against God but all the more reason to humbly study the Scriptures and come to the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, the Living Revelation of the Father.