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Kill a man and you're a murderer, kill many and you're a conqueror, kill them all and you're a god.
Jean Rostand
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Many Christians, attempting to harmonize their image of a loving God with the concept of Hell, are fond of telling us that God does not send anyone to Hell at all. They teach that anyone who goes to Hell has sent themselves there in spite of all God's efforts to save them.
So what does the following statement mean?
And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you of whom you shall fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yea, I say to you, fear Him. (Luke 12:4-5)
Yes friends, the very Bible that tells you of God's love also tells you that you should fear the One who has the authority to cast into Hell. You don't go there of your own accord, beloved. You are cast. Thrown. Dumped. Propelled. By Him.
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First, let's agree that the Bible tells us that God is omnipotent.
Job 42:2 I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.
Genesis 18:14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.
Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Next, let us agree that the Bible also tells us that there are some things that God cannot do.
Hebrews 6:18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.
James 1:13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.
The typical argument made in an attempt to remove any apparent inconsistency here is to say that God can do anything as long as it does not go against his nature. In other words, God, by nature, is always truthful, and therefore it is impossible for him to lie. And so on.
However, cannot the very same rationalization be used to excuse our own inability to do things? It is impossible for me to fly without technological assistance. But that is because flying is not in my nature. I cannot survive without oxygen, for doing so is not in my nature.
So God is not really omnipotent. He is merely more potent than I.
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He said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me." (Gen 22:12)
Those three unfortunate, from the point of view of the fundamentalist Christian, words, "Now I know."
Some backstory:
The fundamentalist, or anyone really who believes that the Bible is the inerrant, literal word of God, begins with the premise that A: God exists, leading to B: surely he would have communicated with us, therefore C: the Bible is clearly that communication, so D: surely a creator would have the power to give us an inerrant communication in spite of human frailty.
Having established by such unassailable logic that the Bible is inerrant, it follows that it can have no real contradictions, and therefore any apparent contradictions must be explained away.
Well, here's a doozy.
The Bible describes a deity who is omniscient. He knows everything. He knows perfectly the hearts and minds of men.
The case of Abraham then. After God tests him, after Abraham passes God's test, God says to him, "Now I know..." As in, I didn't know before now. I may have thought, speculated, surmised, but I did not know. I had to test you in this horrible way in order to bring certainty to my mind.
And this is not the only example of such a contradiction. Here's another:
And the LORD said, "The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. "I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know." (Gen 18:20-21)
So, the Lord heard rumors, apparently, about what was going on in Sodom and its sinful sister city, Gomorrah. But he did not know for himself if these rumors were true. He had to "go down and see." If the rumors were false, he assures us, "I will know."
With Abraham, he had to test. With Sodom, he had to personally visit and investigate. Not very omniscient of him, is it?
The inerrant, no-contradictions-allowed crowd will explain all of these problematic passages thus: "Not as if there were any thing concerning which God is in doubt; but he is pleased thus to express himself after the manner of men" (Wesley).
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You know how it is when a spouse or significant other complains about your behavior. They (and you) often exaggerate. You always do x, you never do y. I've asked you a quadrillion times, you never listen. Like that.
OK, that's human. That's what it feels like when we're upset. But would you expect a perfect, self-contained deity to do the same? Take a look...
as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE." "THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING," "THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS"; "WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS"; "THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN." "THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES." (Rom 3:10-18)
Come on, surely god is overstating.
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Rom 5:19 For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.
According to the Bible, he does. This doctrine is called the agency of Adam. A brief explanation may be in order:
The Bible tells us that "all have sinned" (Rom. 3:23). It is a pillar of Christian teaching that every last human being has or will succumb to temptation and sin. Now, if something is 100% certain in the entire human population, past, present and future, one cannot say that individuals within the population have any choice in the matter. In essence, you cannot not sin. You do not have the power not to sin.
But this was not always the case. In Adam's case, he did have a choice. He did have the power not to sin. As we all know, the dweeb chose to sin.
Now, since Adam chose to sin, he and the rest of humanity lost that power. That's right. You and I and everyone else became sinners.
So if you feel that it is unfair of God to punish you for doing what you have no possibility of avoiding, you must understand that Adam was your representative, your agent. And as any watcher of Judge Judy knows, you are liable for the actions of your agent.
For example, if you hire a tree guy to take down the pine tree in your front yard, and said tree guy messes up the operation and brings said tree down upon your neighbor's new Jag, well, you are responsible. (Of course you can sue the tree guy, but the neighbor will come after you.) Because the tree guy was acting as your agent.
But, you say, I hired the tree guy! I never asked Adam to represent me! Well, that's too bad, because God chose Adam to represent you. Doesn't matter what you wanted. It's just the way it is.
How do you feel about that? Once again we come to the might makes right argument, the one that shuts us up but good. As Paul said (and I paraphrase): Who the hell are you to talk back to God?
But many Christians will then say, yes, but God also made Jesus your agent. He didn't sin, and you can switch reps and be a non-sinner. Potentially. Only if you do everything he says.
So, Adam you got whether you want him or not. To get Jesus, you'll have to do some major sucking up.
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