Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: kk00+@andrew.cmu.edu (Kathleen P. Kowalski) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Nature of God (was Re: Could Jesus have sinned?) Message-ID: Date: 22 Jun 91 05:03:00 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 30 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu Jeff, would you not agree that one of the distinguishing characteristics of being human is the ability to make informed choices? And for every choice we make, the natural order of things dictates that there are consequences. As a christian, it is my belief that God gave humanity this ability because he didn't want "robots", but thinking, choosing beings. We should begin from the premise that we are "creations" of God, thus, we "belong" to Him. This concept of belonging is critical to understanding the christian's view of God. Getting back to choices, we believe that humnity before the "fall" was perfect in every way. We believe that the "fall" was a rejection of God's natural place in our lives, and that we chose instead to do things "our way". This is, of course, a simplified version of things, to be sure. Hell is not so much the product of a vengeful God saying "Love me - or else!", but it is the natural result of our choice. It is man separated from God. It sounds to me like you are thinking of hell in terms of a red-suited devil sitting among flames and coals. That is a bit silly, and it misses the point. (I do believe in a devil, by the way, but that's another subject). Hell is the absence of God, and in His absence, the corruption of all that we were created to be; it is the degradation of humanity. And the point that has yet to be made here is that no one has to suffer this. Would a vengeful God suffer the indignity of becoming a human infant, born among cow dung? He was despised by the very people he came to save, and paid the ultimate price for us - he gave his own life on a bloody cross in exchange for our debt. He saved us from the natural consequence of our own bad choice. There was no obligation for Him to do this. He freely chose to. Vengeful? No, I think of God as being loving without any limits. True, we have the freedom to embrace or reject that love. But being free always has a price. Kay