God's Problem by Bart Ehrman continues with more of the same in chapter three -- More Sin and More Wrath: The Dominance of the Classical View of Suffering. Here he continues to pound the idea that the classical view of suffering is the main view in Scripture
The Agreements I have with this chapter are few but here they are:
1. That suffering is the result of disobedience to God is a dominate view of Scripture -- I don't deny this. It is not the only one but the fact remains it is quite common for a Biblical writer to point to God's wrath for disobedience as a reason for suffering.
2. In the Old Testament law, religion is primarily about worship of God properly. I am a little non protestant here in that I feel works do play some role in salvation (not to merit it, but to show it). Everything Moses writes does indicate -- don't do things wrong do them right in the right way.
3. I too have questions about Isaiah 53 in relationship to the Messiah and Jesus. The prophet Isaiah does call this suffering servant Israel. Christians have universally said this is Christ but in the original context this would not have been considered. This make Isaiah 53 more complicated that it first appears.
4. That God eternally punishing people in hell is a problem that seems to contradict the love of God. Of all the problems related to evil this is still the one that bothers me the most and one I still struggle with. Bart deals with this at length in later chapters so I will hold off for now.
Next: Disagreements with Chapter Three
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I too used to struggle with the idea of God sending people to Hell for an eternity, until I realized every decision we make has an eternal consequence. Not just for us, but for every person our lives entwine with, and the people those lives entwine with, and so on.
ReplyDeleteI believe, since we are eternal beings, our choices and how they effect others are also eternal. One sin that I choose could cause someone else to sin, and their sin causes someone else to sin...and the chain continues.
A good example of this is demonstrated in families. When one father chooses to abuse his child, the effects of this is not only felt in the child's life, but often throughout hundreds of generations. I believe our lives are more closely linked with the lives of others than we realize.
I agree that sin can have long term affects that are eternal but Bart does not seem to see this. My largest problem with his reasoning is that he continues to put his finger on God's chest but never on humanity's.
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