God is Loving. He is also just. How can God have mercy if he doesn't have wrath? If he doesn't have perfect wrath, than he can't have perfect mercy either.
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Hell hath no fury like a deity scorned!
Love that yin and yang! So in order to have perfect goodness, he must also be perfectly evil!!!
Love those omnipotent debates -- Can God microwave a burrito so hot he can't eat it? (We know the rock one because God only has the strength of a unicorn)
Can God commit an atrocity so unbelievably evil he can't condone it?
(he went close in his fictitious flood - back in those days he used to repent his actions a lot)
Somehow I never considered "wrath" to be an essential element of justice. I considered justice to be, you know, a fair assessment, rather than an act of rage.
If you were to assault me with a gun and I were to intentionally just break your wrist instead of crushing your trachea, that would be mercy. And there would be no wrath. Merely me getting rid of a threat.
Now please, Chris, rebuttal my rebuttal. And do try to bullshit as much as possible.
So every convicted felon is only guilty of not flaunting his 'good' side?
Man #1: that sure was a fair trial!
Man #2: yeah, but to make up for it, we executed a woman for jaywalking.
Can't have one without the other, eh chris? god damn you're fu**ing stupid.
Can God commit an atrocity so unbelievably evil he can't condone it?
(he went close in his fictitious flood - back in those days he used to repent his actions a lot)
In the Sumerian version from which the Genesis account cribs, it was Enlil (lord of storms) who was willing to let the flood drown all life and Enki (lord of the deeps, the hacker god) who got Utnapishtim (the ur-Noah) to preserve some worshippers and sacrificable animals.
"God is Loving."
I defy you to prove that assertion. No, it is not proof just because it says that in the Bible.
"He is also just."
Here again, prove it. I contend that it cannot be proven from any unbiased examination of the facts.
"How can God have mercy if he doesn't have wrath?"
By being merciful. One does not need to be cruel to prove oneself to be kind.
"If he doesn't have perfect wrath, than he can't have perfect mercy either."
If he has any wrath at all, he is not perfectly merciful.
xMinionX: "If he's truly an omnipotent God, then the word "can't" should not apply to him."
That's one of the conundrums associated with the idea of omnipotence. If there is nothing "God" can't do, then he has to be capable of everything; both "perfect wrath" and "perfect mercy."
Yes, he's all-loving and just as well as wrathful and evil. And if God's so perfect and omnipotent surely he can be loving without being wrathful?
Why not have a world without evil? Who cares if there would be no relative good, there'd be no evil.
(It would explain the unpredictable fits of rage for no apparent reason)
No, the self hormone treatment would explain that...
"How can God have mercy if he doesn't have wrath?"
Maybe because anger is one of the seven deadly sins?
Oh, that's right, my bad, the Christian God is one of those "do as I say, not as I do" deities. Isn't there a shorter word for that?
How did we get from loving and just, to God having mercy? Shouldn't we first establish that God has mercy, before we state that as he has mercy he also has wrath. And what has wrath to do with mercy?
Does God have anger management issues? Shouldn't he seek help for that? It seems like the OT God did have those issues, but the NT God, in form of Jesus, was much more calm and serene. Therapy did him good.
Perfect mercy would entail never applying his perfect wrath. Loosing wrath upon someone is not merciful, it's vengeful. A vengeful, jealous, angry god does not have perfect mercy.
Guess what the bible says he is?
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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