What does Christianity look like when God no longer holds our fate in Her hands?
If God is to be considered a just God, S/he cannot let evil go unpunished — Preston
If God knew of an evil event and had the capacity to stop the event,
S/he would be morally obliged to stop the event. — Preston
Incorrect (and for a Christian as heretical as it is possible to be!) Even if we leave God out of it altogether the one simply does not follow from the other. — Barry Etheridge
Belief in God's omnibenevolence is an essential foundation in traditional Christianity; this can be seen in Scriptures such as Psalms 18:30: "As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him," and Ps.19:7: "The law of the Lord is good, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." This understanding is evident in the following statement by the First Vatican Council:
The Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church believes and acknowledges that there is one true and living God, Creator and Lord of Heaven and earth, almighty, eternal, immeasurable, incomprehensible, infinite in will, understanding and every perfection. Since He is one, singular, completely simple and unchangeable spiritual substance, He must be declared to be in reality and in essence, distinct from the world, supremely happy in Himself and from Himself, and inexpressibly loftier than anything besides Himself which either exists or can be imagined.[8]
The philosophical justification stems from God's aseity: the non-contingent, independent and self-sustained mode of existence that theologians ascribe to God. For if He was not morally perfect, that is, if God was merely a great being but nevertheless of finite benevolence, then his existence would involve an element of contingency, because one could always conceive of a being of greater benevolence.[9] Hence, omnibenevolence is a requisite of perfect being theology.[10] — Wiki on omnibenevolence
I am saying that the so-called 'problem of evil' is not one of them because as it is configured it simply does not apply to the Christian concept of God. — Barry Etheridge
Maybe, as some Radical, Death of God theologians are insisting, God is simply the depth-dimensions of reality, not a personal savior sky-god. I tend to like this idea, but it does away with a Biblical conception of God
Belief in God's omnibenevolence is an essential foundation in traditional Christianity; — Wiki on omnibenevolence
My own view would very much be all white if we're sticking with the metaphor, he says enigmatically! — Barry Etheridge
The doors of Hell are locked on the inside. I do not mean that the ghosts may not wish to come out of Hell, in the vague fashion wherein an envious man 'wishes' to be happy: but they certainly do not will even the first preliminary stages of that self-abandonment through which alone the soul can reach any good. They enjoy forever the horrible freedom they have demanded, and are therefore self-enslaved: just as the blessed, forever submitting to obedience, become through all eternity more and more free. — C S Lewis
But, apparently, they won't be aware of the fiery lake, everlasting destruction, eternal punishment, the fire which never goes out, the blazing furnace, the eternal fire. Scripture neglects to mention this, but no matter. — Ciceronianus the White
Mark 9:43: "If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out." — Ciceronianus the White
What I observed was that there are Christian philosophers who say that 'hell' or 'damnation' can be understood as the rejection of salvation, so, in some sense, those who suffer it have chosen that fate; it is a consequence of their actions. It parallels the doctrine of 'evil as the privation of the good', which is also associated with Augustine. — Wayfarer
The whole Sermon on Mount is best interpreted as a stand-up routine in my opinion
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