Monday, April 14, 2008

Why ask the question, "Does God ever hate humans?"

I had a friend ask me where i was going with my last post and I didn't quite know how to articulate my thoughts. Then my professor asked the question:

If God's justice is loving justice, and hell is the ultimate expression of God's justice, what is loving about hell?

and I answered
My dilemma is whether God sees the people that he sends to hell as confused lost souls or as enemies of God. If God ultimately chooses to send them to hell because they have chosen to be the antithesis of God and/or want nothing to do with God, such as Satan, then the loving God is respecting that person's will and although he hurts for his creation, he justly and respectfully gives him what he has ultimately chosen.

If God is sending confused and unjustly deceived people to hell that Satan has deceived then something still sits wrong. it is like God ultimately still feels sad for them and Satan has won on some lever... or something along those lines.

But i feel like the second idea is how most people approach the idea of God sending people to hell... as Him sending deceived confused people to hell who don't deserve it rather than people who have fairly and justly chosen their destination.

This all comes back to trusting God as being Just and loving and trusting Him to treat everyone accordingly without showing favoritism.

Is it a choice of rebellion or a misunderstanding?

that is my main question and although it may not seem important, it seems like the difference in my head of whether
God is doing what he truly believes to be true in sending people to hell or
whether he is hurt and almost torn from his true wishes by the choices of man & Satan

the difference between God's complete responsibility for Heaven and Hell and
Satan and man having the power to make the need for hell against God's wishes.

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