Part two in our series: Bound and Determined to be Free.
Although it will be argued that the notion of the bound will, the belief that human beings are fundamentally powerless before God, is a wholesome and comforting doctrine, like with the law and gospel, the diagnosis proceeds the cure. In this case, as much as we would want it otherwise, our first problem is with God himself.
In The Limits of the Coded World, David Egginton writes:
Indeed, Luther considered his book, On The Bondage of the Will, his most important work, and Calvin’s insistence on the absolute sovereignty of God is well known; nevertheless, few contemporary churches, even those who are self-consciously protestant, would fall under the condemnations of Trent, because while major Christian churches can’t agree on a common creedal confession, most can all rally around the one truth that we know to be self-evident: whatever is wrong with the world, God is not to blame. The answers to who is to blame, however, and how God fits into that situation are many and varied. Some will try and mumble something about God’s permissive vs. perfect will on their way out the door, others will say that God chooses to self-limit so as to protect our freedom, while others say that God is not all-knowing but really on our side, sort of like a really cool older cousin who might buy us beer if we behave.
Why does God need such apologies? This does not seem like the God of the Bible, the one who thundered to Job out of the whirlwind, ““Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?,” or the one who said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:19). It is this very God before whom the Apostle Paul was laid low in Romans chapter 11, when he, quoting this verse from Exodus, writes:
What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
When it comes to questions of human autonomy vs. God’s sovereignty, the obvious and scriptural answer—that God (as gods are wont to do) does whatever he wants—is too offensive and terrible to comprehend, so we devise ways of getting God off the hook, to absolve him/it/her/them of whatever is bad and attribute only the good. The problem with this is that in our attempts to absolve God do not actually help with our problem. Is it actually better that our God is either too powerless or too disinterested to help out? While we gain an apologetic to the mystery of theodicy--how can a good God allow evil and suffering–we lose any concept of a God worthy of the designation and are left with only a weak, ephemeral projection of our ever-fleeting hopes in the face of stark realities. Like bleedings and hair-implantation, sometimes the cure is worse than the disease.
What Kant saw clearly is the essence of the Gospel, the folly that is the proclamation of the Cross, because it is not a key that unlocks the mystery of human suffering and evil nor is it the pattern of life we are to model, it is the death of God in the world, by the world for the world. That God chose to reveal himself in this way is an offensive affront to our ideas of justice, our sense of morality and, in short, our beliefs about God.
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!or who has been his counselor?”
“Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”
COMMENTS
6 responses to “Bound and Determined, Part Two: God on the Hook”
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Damn…there it is!
The two best sentences in Mockingbird history in one post!
"God is not sitting the sideline hoping and cheering for us to 'make a decision for Christ;' he has made the decision in Christ and came to seek and save the lost."
and
"Like bleedings and hair-implantation, sometimes the cure is worse than the disease."
Wonderful, wonderful and true post, JDK.
what Jacob and Nick said
Thank you, JD. A brilliant post. I really needed it.
Love this! Let me read it 10 or 1,000 more times and I'll hopefully be able to share it coherently with others! Powerful and true stuff. It reminds of a recent post "The Gospel (Christianity) is true first, helpful second."
Mighty powerful, Jady. I'd never thought it through quite like that… Reminded me (tangentially) of a C.S. Lewis passage I read yesterday:
"The ancient man approached God (or even the gods) as the accused person approaches his judge. For the modern man the roles are reversed. He is the judge: God is in the dock. He is quite a kindly judge: if God should have a reasonable defence for being the god who permits war, poverty and disease, he is ready to listen to it. The trial may even end in God’s acquittal. But the important thing is that Man is on the Bench and God in the Dock."