Letter of the Week - Open for interpretation: answering hard questions about God and religion
Dear Leigh Cooney,
Thank you for your letter and questions. There is a lot there and I'll try to do justice to your questions. One way to begin to look at these important questions is to consider, What if there is no god? If there isn't, then all of the suffering you mention in your letter is without meaning. It has no purpose. It cannot be made to serve a greater good. There is no recourse for those who die under torture, those who die while falsely accused by the courts, or those who experience any of the multitude of traumas and mutilations caused by terror attacks, epidemics, war, famine, and so on. Once the lights go out on the planet for the last time, there will be no answer to the cries of those who perished in concentration camps, hospitals and the houses of torture in Columbia and Iraq. It is true that we humans who lived beyond the point of their deaths can make some good come of their suffering, but that has no impact on the experience of the persons who endure suffering and die in the midst of it.
Also, your questions reflect an understanding of God, not of just any god, but the god described in the Christian (and Jewish) Bible. Your questions do not assume the kind of god(s) described by Hinduism, Buddhism, or Islam for example. You mention things found in the Bible. The god you refer to is one who we expect is both very powerful and very compassionate. If he were not all powerful, we could not expect him to be capable of making the changes your letter implies he should consider. If he is not loving, he would not have any responsibility to help us, as you clearly imply he does.
You raise five questions. I can only make a start at addressing them, but here's my best shot for now. To your first one: “ How does God choose who will die?” Here I think of the words of John Polkinghorne, Cambridge physicist and Anglican theologian. In many respects, “God let's the world be what it is.”
Nevertheless, are there times when, as you ask, God makes a special choice to spare some people (temporarily) from death? I have known many Dutch survivors of World War Two. Many regard their survival as, in part, an answer to prayer. It is not hard to find Christian believers who see their survival through a dangerous situation as an act of God's care. On the other hand, it is also not hard to find believers who pray to survive, say cancer, but realize they will not live. My experience with such people is that they then find strength and comfort knowing that both in life and in death, God is with them.
Your second question is, “What is it about Africans and third world countries that God hates so much?” You mean, I think, Why are some groups of the world prone to so much suffering while others are not? Does God have it in for them? I don't think there is any Christian who would say that he has a stronger grudge against people some people groups than for others. In fact, what you find in the global Christian community is the belief that God's compassion is to be lavished promiscuously on all the people of the planet. This is the primary driver behind organizations such as World Vision, Charles Colson's Prison Fellowship, the world mission and development projects of hundreds of churches, Ark Aid in London, Compassion Canada, and Habitat for Humanity, to name but a tiny number of Christian helping organizations. Key people I know in the research battle against AIDS and in the human genome project are Christians who believe God has called them to do the good they are gifted to do. One can think of the many relief programs created by Catholics (maybe even by some of the Irish Catholics you mention). By and large, they extend help whether or not those who receive it express any interest in joining the Christian community.
The world does have a lot of human suffering in it, most of it, arguably, caused by we humans ourselves. Nevertheless, God's response to human suffering is not silence. You and I, Christian believers or not, are called by him to address the suffering we all share in. Some of us become doctors, others political scientists. Some peace activists and others agricultural development staff. This call from God for all people to show compassion is part of what defines us as human beings.
Third, you raise the question about the infant children of Christians — and the many adults who have not heard about Jesus Christ before they die — going to purgatory. You also mention the doctrine of original sin as a possible basis for being sent to purgatory. By this, I believe you are referring to the idea that since all humans are born tainted by the propensity to sin when they grow up, they are all worthy of punishment in the life to come — infants or not, aware of the Christian understanding of sin or not. I'm not sure if this idea stands up well. There are some perspectives that can be helpful. For one, God is fair.
Second, even if all human beings, no matter how young, have the propensity to sin, and this is offensive to God, that in itself doesn't condemn them to actually be punished. It is actual sins that bring condemnation, not the propensity or temptation to sin, as I understand it. I don't think that the two infants I have helped bury are being punished. Saddam Hussein, on the other hand, should take stock of how God may view him.
Third, in the Christian Bible, there are strong clues that God deals with people, partly on the basis of what they know. In other words, I don't want to assume that people who don't have a clue about God or Jesus when they die are beyond his care and love.
The fourth issue you raise is why God “hates” women and why women can't be priests, popes and so forth. You suggest that it is something in the biblical creation story that creates hatred against women. The creation story teaches that women (and men) are created “in the image of God.” This seriously cripples any attempt to create fundamental hatred against women. I think you must be referring to the biblical story of the fall into sin, where it is the woman, Eve, who is first persuaded by a serpent (symbolizing evil or the devil) to disobey God. However, in the story itself it is clear that when the man, Adam, tries to pass the buck and blame the woman for the beginning of sin, God does not allow him to get away with this. He too is forced to take responsibility for sin and bears his own punishment for it.
As for the exclusion of women from certain roles in the church, my own understanding is that such exclusion is poorly founded (I am not a Catholic but a Protestant Christian). In many Christian (non-Catholic) communities, such as the Pentecostal and Reformed, barriers to women have not be existed or else have been removed.
Finally, you ask about hatred of gays. There is a lot in this question. So, a couple of quick things. In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah that you mention, the raping of the two daughters is not condoned. It is an example of the sorry state into which the family of Lot has fallen. As the story unfolds, the women as well as the men are meant to be rescued.
You also mention the condemnation of homosexuality in the Bible book of Leviticus and the severe punishments prescribed for it. You mention that there are a number of things condemned in Leviticus which make no sense for modern people. Your argument is that if these other laws, such as the one against eating shellfish, are taken seriously, then all people, including homosexuals are “going to hell.”
Your argument is correct. However, your premise that all these commands are of equal weight isn't. The Christian (and Jewish) understanding of the Bible is that it is meant to be interpreted. There are passages which continue to be of prime importance for all people and times, and others which are now of very little importance (Leviticus was written 3,000 years ago). So, I hope this understanding can open the way for better discussion of the passages you mention.
Finally, I have never experienced a Christian community that hates gays. When I was studying to be a pastor, one of my biblical studies professors was gay. So was a friend who also became a pastor. Both were celibate. And they were respected.
Take care and have a good summer.
Michael Veenema.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
Thank you for your letter and questions. There is a lot there and I'll try to do justice to your questions. One way to begin to look at these important questions is to consider, What if there is no god? If there isn't, then all of the suffering you mention in your letter is without meaning. It has no purpose. It cannot be made to serve a greater good. There is no recourse for those who die under torture, those who die while falsely accused by the courts, or those who experience any of the multitude of traumas and mutilations caused by terror attacks, epidemics, war, famine, and so on. Once the lights go out on the planet for the last time, there will be no answer to the cries of those who perished in concentration camps, hospitals and the houses of torture in Columbia and Iraq. It is true that we humans who lived beyond the point of their deaths can make some good come of their suffering, but that has no impact on the experience of the persons who endure suffering and die in the midst of it.
Also, your questions reflect an understanding of God, not of just any god, but the god described in the Christian (and Jewish) Bible. Your questions do not assume the kind of god(s) described by Hinduism, Buddhism, or Islam for example. You mention things found in the Bible. The god you refer to is one who we expect is both very powerful and very compassionate. If he were not all powerful, we could not expect him to be capable of making the changes your letter implies he should consider. If he is not loving, he would not have any responsibility to help us, as you clearly imply he does.
You raise five questions. I can only make a start at addressing them, but here's my best shot for now. To your first one: “ How does God choose who will die?” Here I think of the words of John Polkinghorne, Cambridge physicist and Anglican theologian. In many respects, “God let's the world be what it is.”
Nevertheless, are there times when, as you ask, God makes a special choice to spare some people (temporarily) from death? I have known many Dutch survivors of World War Two. Many regard their survival as, in part, an answer to prayer. It is not hard to find Christian believers who see their survival through a dangerous situation as an act of God's care. On the other hand, it is also not hard to find believers who pray to survive, say cancer, but realize they will not live. My experience with such people is that they then find strength and comfort knowing that both in life and in death, God is with them.
Your second question is, “What is it about Africans and third world countries that God hates so much?” You mean, I think, Why are some groups of the world prone to so much suffering while others are not? Does God have it in for them? I don't think there is any Christian who would say that he has a stronger grudge against people some people groups than for others. In fact, what you find in the global Christian community is the belief that God's compassion is to be lavished promiscuously on all the people of the planet. This is the primary driver behind organizations such as World Vision, Charles Colson's Prison Fellowship, the world mission and development projects of hundreds of churches, Ark Aid in London, Compassion Canada, and Habitat for Humanity, to name but a tiny number of Christian helping organizations. Key people I know in the research battle against AIDS and in the human genome project are Christians who believe God has called them to do the good they are gifted to do. One can think of the many relief programs created by Catholics (maybe even by some of the Irish Catholics you mention). By and large, they extend help whether or not those who receive it express any interest in joining the Christian community.
The world does have a lot of human suffering in it, most of it, arguably, caused by we humans ourselves. Nevertheless, God's response to human suffering is not silence. You and I, Christian believers or not, are called by him to address the suffering we all share in. Some of us become doctors, others political scientists. Some peace activists and others agricultural development staff. This call from God for all people to show compassion is part of what defines us as human beings.
Third, you raise the question about the infant children of Christians — and the many adults who have not heard about Jesus Christ before they die — going to purgatory. You also mention the doctrine of original sin as a possible basis for being sent to purgatory. By this, I believe you are referring to the idea that since all humans are born tainted by the propensity to sin when they grow up, they are all worthy of punishment in the life to come — infants or not, aware of the Christian understanding of sin or not. I'm not sure if this idea stands up well. There are some perspectives that can be helpful. For one, God is fair.
Second, even if all human beings, no matter how young, have the propensity to sin, and this is offensive to God, that in itself doesn't condemn them to actually be punished. It is actual sins that bring condemnation, not the propensity or temptation to sin, as I understand it. I don't think that the two infants I have helped bury are being punished. Saddam Hussein, on the other hand, should take stock of how God may view him.
Third, in the Christian Bible, there are strong clues that God deals with people, partly on the basis of what they know. In other words, I don't want to assume that people who don't have a clue about God or Jesus when they die are beyond his care and love.
The fourth issue you raise is why God “hates” women and why women can't be priests, popes and so forth. You suggest that it is something in the biblical creation story that creates hatred against women. The creation story teaches that women (and men) are created “in the image of God.” This seriously cripples any attempt to create fundamental hatred against women. I think you must be referring to the biblical story of the fall into sin, where it is the woman, Eve, who is first persuaded by a serpent (symbolizing evil or the devil) to disobey God. However, in the story itself it is clear that when the man, Adam, tries to pass the buck and blame the woman for the beginning of sin, God does not allow him to get away with this. He too is forced to take responsibility for sin and bears his own punishment for it.
As for the exclusion of women from certain roles in the church, my own understanding is that such exclusion is poorly founded (I am not a Catholic but a Protestant Christian). In many Christian (non-Catholic) communities, such as the Pentecostal and Reformed, barriers to women have not be existed or else have been removed.
Finally, you ask about hatred of gays. There is a lot in this question. So, a couple of quick things. In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah that you mention, the raping of the two daughters is not condoned. It is an example of the sorry state into which the family of Lot has fallen. As the story unfolds, the women as well as the men are meant to be rescued.
You also mention the condemnation of homosexuality in the Bible book of Leviticus and the severe punishments prescribed for it. You mention that there are a number of things condemned in Leviticus which make no sense for modern people. Your argument is that if these other laws, such as the one against eating shellfish, are taken seriously, then all people, including homosexuals are “going to hell.”
Your argument is correct. However, your premise that all these commands are of equal weight isn't. The Christian (and Jewish) understanding of the Bible is that it is meant to be interpreted. There are passages which continue to be of prime importance for all people and times, and others which are now of very little importance (Leviticus was written 3,000 years ago). So, I hope this understanding can open the way for better discussion of the passages you mention.
Finally, I have never experienced a Christian community that hates gays. When I was studying to be a pastor, one of my biblical studies professors was gay. So was a friend who also became a pastor. Both were celibate. And they were respected.
Take care and have a good summer.
Michael Veenema.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
