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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Does God hate some people? | Ps 5:5 | Hank | 124917 | ||
Angel, First of all, perhaps we could approach this paradox of God's hate/love attributes a little better if we consider semantics for a moment. Let's try using the word "abhor" in place of "hate." They mean essentially the same thing, but we are conditioned to think of "hate" as being the total absence of love, whereas "abhor," while it is still a very strong word, may allow in our thinking the concept that there is some possibility that love can coexist with abhorrence, even in the human mind. ..... Secondly, let's consider that God is transcendent, that His ways are not our ways nor His thoughts our thoughts. It is, as we've established, virtually impossible for us to imagine that a person can be hated, detested, loathed and yet be loved at the same time. I submit that human beings can't do it. But I am not foolish enough to presume that God can't. Yes, Angel, it's a knotty problem, that of trying to stretch our mind to the end of its tether in an effort to understand the mind of God. We can go so far and no farther. The Bible clearly talks about God's hatred of sin and sinners in, for example, Psalm 5. It clearly talks about the extent of His love in, for example, John 3:16. God in His holiness hates sin and sinner. God in His unfathomable mercy loves this fallen world so much that He gave His one and only Son that sinful man, believing in His Son, should not perish but have eternal life. It's a paradox that defies human comprehension. Words and our understanding of words are such inadequate things, such human and finite things, that they fall woefully short of serving us adequately in our efforts to understand each other and the world around us. How much more so in our efforts fully to comprehend the nature and the mind of Almighty God. This admittedly is a pale and paltry stab at trying to respond to your post in a meaningful way, but it is the best I can do. My mother, God rest her soul, was so very fond of saying when faced with tough questions about God and other spiritual matters she could not understand, "We'll understand it better by and by." Her son who, like her and like all mankind, sees in a mirror dimly. But like my mother, I too believe we'll understand it better by and by. --Hank | ||||||
2 | Does God hate some people? | Ps 5:5 | JCrichton | 124992 | ||
"paradox" Hi, Hank! You've hit center bull's eye! We (humanity) attempt to understand God with our finite abilities and we run into problems when we seek to express our thoughts... I've found that many times we (Christians) engage in squabbles that seem to go on forever... if only we wouldallow for a moment of reflection we would find that opposite parties have been engaged in a one-sided discourse... the rudimentary problem lies in the selection of our vocabulary: what is clear and comprehensible in our mind's eye, is not necessarily so to our audience! I believe that we both think that God can have immeasurable Love and Mercy while still holding sin as an absolute abomination and sinners as His Blood enemies. It is our limitations that forces us to become fixated in reasoning that God can only do one thing or another; in essence, we are divesting God of His Power and Authority. Your Mother, God Bless Her, seemed to be a humble person--she reasoned that she did not need to own all of the answers as God would provide them, in time. God Bless! Angel |
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