Psacramento
As you object to my use of the words 'Undeserved kindness,' let's have it your way and call it 'unmerited favor.'
How, pray, does this alter the content of my post?
God so LOVED the world.........................................WHY? How could He?
by Terry 63 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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PSacramento
I wonder where Man's Potential Good was in God's estimation when the Great Flood came?
A fundamentalist would probaly tell you how God's grace came through Jesus and was "not applicable" in Noahs' time.
( I am not a fundmentalist and if I am wrong, I apologise).
For myself, I know that flood account to be one of the fanciful stories of the OT and as such, I take it for what it is, a story.
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PSacramento
Psacramento
As you object to my use of the words 'Undeserved kindness,' let's have it your way and call it 'unmerited favor.'
How, pray, does this alter the content of my post?
The whole of your post? I think you made a few points, no?
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Terry
GRACE is nuts as an explanation of God saving mankind.
That is why it is "amazing"!
Man either deserves to be villified as a wretch or he doesn't.
If man deserves villification it violates God's own standard to overlook sin in man.
Why punish man ever? If God is to become arbitrary, capricious and whimsical after thousands of years of allowing death, destruction and divine wrath---on what basis does "grace" suddenly deal a wild deuce?
Invoking Justice at this point becomes a condemnation of God's handling of man's sinfulness either way.
At least Predestination makes theoretical sense (while making god a monster.) According to Calvin, before creating man, Jehovah determined ahead of time who would be created for destruction (ultimately) and who would be let off the hook (saved). Man's "choosing" or actions or inclinations would have nothing whatever to do with it.
Think of it this way. It is too much to expect that man could lift himself up to acceptance of God's standards if man is a despicable blight and utterly wretched with sin. (After all, why would man's intellect and emotional capacity escape such demonic rebelliousness?)
GRACE has become more of a transcendant uber-semiotic glitch in language which, for its very vagueness, is utterly useful because of its pristine non-communicativeness.
The handiness of Grace is, indeed, amazing! It purports to explain while nullifying rational thought altogether!
Grace is an anti-concept and George Orwell would smile in envy.
Grace is not rational. Grace is not just. Grace is a gimmick--a plot device to get the authors of god stories out of a jam when they painted themselves into a corner. A door suddenly appears (where this is none) and a miraculous escape is possible.
Silent films and movie serials were replete with such devices.
One week the train runs over the tied up damsel in distress. The next week in Chapter 2 there is a sudden shift in perspective as the damsel's pet dog chews the knots loose and pulls her to safety!
Ahhhh, Grace, just the maguffin for bad writers.