The "Left Hand of God"

[patrick457]

Goats, meanwhile, were seen as shameful and were associated with women, femininity, weakness, lasciviousness, noise, and the indoors of the home. The Greeks associated them with the unrestrained, free nature-like deities such as the satyrs, Pan and Dionysus. They were seen as lascivious because, well, goats tolerate sexual access of other males to females in their domains. When two goats fight over a doe, the winner will cover her first and then later step aside and allow the loser to do the same. Males back then applied the goat imagery to husbands who were weak-willed and ‘allowed’ other men to commit adultery with their wives. Sometimes, the symbolism of goats were applied to women, due to that (rather unjust) stereotype that women are untrustworthy, unprincipled and the weakest links that could cause shame for their families (this in a culture that emphasized the group more than the individual). Because they are seen as the most vulnerable attacks on family honor, they must always be under the watchful eye of their father, brother or husband.

But whenever the Son of Man may come in His glory, and all the angels with Him, at that time He shall sit upon a throne of His glory, and gathered together before Him will be all the nations, and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the young-goats, and He shall indeed set the sheep on His right and the young-goats on the left.

The sheep, men’s animals, are set on the place of authority, the Son of Man’s right (the reason why we say that Jesus sits on "the right hand of the Father," have terms like ‘right-hand man’ and associate the word ‘right’ with positive things), while the goats, the women’s animals and the source of milk and cheese for the family, are on the ‘shameful’ left side (the left direction having negative connotations throughout most of history, as the word ‘sinister’ - which comes from the Latin word for ‘left’ - testifies). Those assigned on the right side, to the sheep gathering, are those who practiced ‘hospitality’, which in the ancient Mediterranean was extended mainly by men and only to total strangers - kindness to relatives being classified in a different category - while those on the left were those who failed to practice it.

At that time, the King will say to those on His right hand, “Come, the blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom that has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world! For was I hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you gathered me in; naked, and you clothed me; I was weak, and you looked after me; in prison I was, and you came to me.”
At that time the righteous shall answer Him, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and we fed, or thirsting and we gave to drink; and when did we see you a stranger and we received, or naked and we clothed; and when did we see you weak or in prison, and we came to you?” And the King answering shall say to them, “Amen, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of these, my brothers - the least - to me you did it.”

 

[Paul_theApostle]

From an Eastern Orthodox source-

In the icon of the Last Judgment we see Our Lord Jesus Christ seated on a throne. On His right we see His friends, the blessed men and women who lived by His love. On His left we see His enemies, all those who passed their life hating Him, even if they appeared to be pious and reverent. And there, in the midst of the two, springing from Christ’s throne, we see a river of fire coming toward us. What is this river of fire? Is it an instrument of torture? Is it an energy of vengeance coming out from God in order to vanquish His enemies?

No, nothing of the sort. This river of fire is the river which “came out from Eden to water the paradise” of old (Gen. 2:10). It is the river of the grace of God which irrigated God’s saints from the beginning. In a word, it is the out-pouring of God’s love for His creatures. Love is fire. Anyone who loves knows this. God is Love, so God is Fire. And fire consumes all those who are not fire themselves, and renders bright and shining all those who are fire themselves (Heb. 12:29).

 

[Hakathriel]

Thank you Patrick for the cited lengthy and informative material. Most of it I already knew, but it is good introductory material for newcomers.

The material on sheep vs. goats is interesting, for sure, but tangential to conundrum at hand. No offense!

The cited material actually substantiates my basic line of thinking and “argument” here, viz., there is indeed a distinct theological and metaphysical meaning attached to the language of “Left” and “Right” as employed in Holy Scripture…and the ultra-esoteric *“theologico-angelico-metaphysical” *inquiry into “Who or What sits at the Left Hand of God?”

Paul the Apostle,

Your post is highly fascinating and I can tell you have a bit of a mystical streak.

God’s Love is Fire: the Fire of Supernatural, Invisible Anguish and Infinity of Stark Black Voidness and Soul-Crushing Separatism from the Ontologic Source for the God-Despisers and God-Alienated; and the Fire of Warm, Oceanic, Beatific Love for the God-Fearing and Godly-Minded.

Substantiating further my theory on the nontrivial theological meaning of “Left” and “Right” in Christian-Catholic spiritual metaphysics, you indicate the portrayal of “God’s enemies” on the Left portion, significantly and weightily for my argument.

Theological trivia? Hardly. Christ is the right arm of God; and if there is a being or hypostasis associated with the other hand, figuratively but meaningfully, there is no harm and no little edification in attempting to uncover the facts of the matter…

Now just because a theological investigation is “unpopular” or “esoteric” does not epistemically invalidate the validity of the query, no matter how “obscure” or “inaccessible”…

 

[PJM]

[QUOrightly sits at the Right Hand of God (Matthew 22.44), metaphorically-symbolistically, then naturally the question arises: Who sits at the “Left Hand of God”?

Are there any specific scriptural sources on this issue?

I have heard everything from “the Holy Spirit” to “Satan as God’s Shadow-Avenger” and “Gabriel as Angelic Dispenser of God’s Punishment”… Is there anything remotely resembling a remotely “official” position?

Thanks in advance. Sincerely, a Catholic seeker
[/QUOTE]

Here’s the KEY to correcting understanding of this issue. John.4:23-24 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."

What does this mean and how does it relate to your question and ANSWER IT?

God is Spirit, meaning “non-physical”. God is “One” and TRIUNE made of of three spiritual “persons” Father [Creator], Son [Redeemer] and Holy Spirit [Sanctifier]. Now Jesus has a unique aspect added to the Godhead, in that Jesus alone has TWO complete [both perfect] natures. One as part of the Triune Godhead; and another as a complete human person.

What we must never forget or put aside is that God is [only] ONE. So in a theological sense God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are ONE and the same entity, so there is ONE throne shared by One God shared as Co-equal and co-eternal Godhead.

The language is figurative and not literal, for human comprehension, not God’s need.

What survives death is OUR “Spiritual” likeness of God. Our minds, intellects, FREEWILL are forever connected to our souls. And it is these spiritual elements of humanity that “live forever”.

The REAL theological question is where do the physical bodies of Enoch [Gen. 5:22-24] and Elijah 2 Kings 2:8-14] and Mary [defined Dogma], and the Resurrected and Glorified Body of Jesus reside? And where will ALL of humanity exist at the Final Judgment when we are reunited with out too “glorified and perfected bodies”?

God Bless,
Pat

God Bless,
PatTE]=Hakathriel;8355988]A theological problem that has tormented me… If Jesus

 

[Spirithound]

Um, the Fathers of the Church and other sacred theologians didn’t think it was beneath them as a meaningless triviality to discuss with dignity the manifold theological, spiritual, and ethical-philosophical meanings and significances of the symbolic scriptural language employing descriptions of God’s “left and right hands”…

I don’t think it’s beneath me, nor do I seek to denigrate it. I simply point out that in English, we do not make any sort of deal over who sits at a person’s left hand. This suggests to me that there is no symbolic value to sitting at God the Father’s left hand.

 

[Paul_theApostle]

Thank you Patrick for the cited lengthy and informative material. Most of it I already knew, but it is good introductory material for newcomers.

The material on sheep vs. goats is interesting, for sure, but tangential to conundrum at hand. No offense!

The cited material actually substantiates my basic line of thinking and “argument” here, viz., there is indeed a distinct theological and metaphysical meaning attached to the language of “Left” and “Right” as employed in Holy Scripture…and the ultra-esoteric *“theologico-angelico-metaphysical” *inquiry into “Who or What sits at the Left Hand of God?”

Paul the Apostle,

Your post is highly fascinating and I can tell you have a bit of a mystical streak.

God’s Love is Fire: the Fire of Supernatural, Invisible Anguish and Infinity of Stark Black Voidness and Soul-Crushing Separatism from the Ontologic Source for the God-Despisers and God-Alienated; and the Fire of Warm, Oceanic, Beatific Love for the God-Fearing and Godly-Minded.

Substantiating further my theory on the nontrivial theological meaning of “Left” and “Right” in Christian-Catholic spiritual metaphysics, you indicate the portrayal of “God’s enemies” on the Left portion, significantly and weightily for my argument.

Theological trivia? Hardly. Christ is the right arm of God; and if there is a being or hypostasis associated with the other hand, figuratively but meaningfully, there is no harm and no little edification in attempting to uncover the facts of the matter…

Now just because a theological investigation is “unpopular” or “esoteric” does not epistemically invalidate the validity of the query, no matter how “obscure” or “inaccessible”…

I dont believe any questions by posters are ‘unimportant’ or ‘dumb’ whatever,there is always something to learn,i have asked questions which i thought were so silly or impossible to answer ,but ive always learnt something new from the replies and knowledge of others,asking about the Right and Left sides of God is certainly no dumb question.

I know that in the Orthodox Church they believe God is love and that he pours out his love upon everybodyWhen people die and God calls them to the next life ,God will still pour out his love to them ,but Gods love for them will be a Tormenting Fire,they will not be able to respond well to Gods love because they didnt love God while on Earth,so His love will burn and torment them.

Like it says in the Gospel ,he puts these tormented sinners on his left while the blessed are recieved on his right.

Although Jesus did say to James and John that they cant sit on the right and left of God,but it is prepared by God who will sit there,so i dont know if perhaps God will put some Blessed person on his left?

ask some Priests or theologians who have studied theology maybe

 

[Robert_Sock]

Has anybody considered the Kabbalah?

 

[Paul_theApostle]

Has anybody considered the Kabbalah?

Does Jesus sit on Gods right side in the Kabbalah?

 

[Joe_Kelley]

…
Although Jesus did say to James and John that they cant sit on the right and left of God,but it is prepared by God who will sit there,so i dont know if perhaps God will put some Blessed person on his left?..

I saw speculation someplace that Jesus entered into His Kingdom on the Cross. The two thieves were on His right and on His Left.

 

[Paul_theApostle]

I saw speculation someplace that Jesus entered into His Kingdom on the Cross. The two thieves were on His right and on His Left.

hahaha

 

[DL82]

Around about the time of Christ, there were several competing ideas in Jewish thought about how God, who is completely Other than His creation, can communicate with created things.

One of those theories, advanced by Philo was that God speaks through His Word. This is the symbolism which John takes up in his Gospel (in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God…). This is the way Christians have always understood this particular issue.

Another theory which circulated at the time, which was taken up by the Manicheans and other Gnostic theories, and perhaps by the Kabbalah (I don’t know much about this), was the idea that God gave Himself a ‘shadow side’ in order to communicate with creation, which explains why so much of the Divine intervention in the Old Testament is destructive. This approach is probably where you get the idea that somehow Lucifer or another ‘avenging angel’ is at God’s left hand. This approach is contrary to Christian teaching, as James 1:17 clearly states that with God there is no shadow due to change.

That is my take on this question.

 

[Hakathriel]

Around about the time of Christ, there were several competing ideas in Jewish thought about how God, who is completely Other than His creation, can communicate with created things.

One of those theories, advanced by Philo was that God speaks through His Word. This is the symbolism which John takes up in his Gospel (in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God…). This is the way Christians have always understood this particular issue.

Another theory which circulated at the time, which was taken up by the Manicheans and other Gnostic theories, and perhaps by the Kabbalah (I don’t know much about this), was the idea that God gave Himself a ‘shadow side’ in order to communicate with creation, which explains why so much of the Divine intervention in the Old Testament is destructive. This approach is probably where you get the idea that somehow Lucifer or another ‘avenging angel’ is at God’s left hand. This approach is contrary to Christian teaching, as James 1:17 clearly states that with God there is no shadow due to change.

That is my take on this question.

Thanks, but actually, No, I am neither hereticized nor infected with Manichean cosmology.

In case you didn’t know, the Hebrew word, ha-satan, “Satan” signifies “accuser; prosecutor”; and Satan was at one time just this–a member of God’s heavenly court and the Seraphic executor of His vengeance to man…

If this constitutes Manichean heresy, then the Old Testament is Manichean and so am I, I suppose…

I am temporarily done with this subject, anyhow, unless another individual with obscure theological interests comes along…