Another well-written article. I would even add John 9:1-7 as yet another example of the core premise. It is definitely presumptuous (in the extreme) to assume that God intervened in this specific instance.
But this article almost argues too much. There are examples in John 7 and Luke 4 (among others) where it appears that some divine protection is at play for Jesus himself (and his disciples... at least prior to his resurrection). And the life of Jesus himself is itself a massive intervention into our world (John 3:16 passage where Jesus proclaims God sent him). Just because God chooses to let life play out doesn't mean He can't step in at any given moment.
I think that the story of Jesus informs the question of why God doesn't intervene to end pain & suffering. The agonizing death of Jesus (punctuated by his crying out "why have you forsaken me?") is a partial answer to this question, namely that Jesus' life, death and resurrection is intended to show us that, though we will all experience pain and suffering, even to the point of despairing of God because He won't intervene, there is a basis for a faith that death is not our final destiny.
Thinking too deeply about theological things makes me woozy, but I do adhere to a simple concept on this weighty issue: God's ability to intervene to prevent harm from happening is tempered by His having created us with free wills to choose our own fates and by His everlasting love and support to cope. The analogy is parenthood - as a parent, it is within my power to intervene incessantly to prevent my child from being harmed by anything, but I don't do so because my child will be better off if s/he experiences life to the fullest and with the knowledge s/he can count on my support to help get through the hard parts.
I say you can't have it both ways. If God doesn't interfere because we have free will, then he doesn't interfere. If he does, then we don't actually have free will. Then we sometimes have free will? I always laugh when I see NFL players (or name the sport) putting up their one finger, thanking God for letting them get a touchdown. Meanwhile, there are people starving mere blocks away from the multi-million dollar stadium. And don't forget about the 50,000 children that die from preventable disease and starvation each day. God must have a wicked sense of humour.
This was a really thoughful piece. I think what those excerpts of Jesus of Nazareth's purported words illustrates is that a staggering amount of the content that he produced is apocryphal. A great deal of his stories don't seem to be intended to be consumed in a literal way. It may be my specific perspective of Christianity from a comparative religion point of view, but his stories and parables often make much more sense as ways of relating underlying messages to folks by invoking ideas and stories that they'd have been familiar with. It feels more philosophical, in that way. Not as much religious or dogmatic.
And regarding Donald Trump; I'm not particularly convinced that he has changed. His rhetoric feels largely the same. He still scapegoats immigrants, minorities, and the LGBTQ community. He still pushes the idea that the Democratic party is actively bringing undocumented immigrants into the country to replace white Christians. He still makes insane statements suggests that countries are sending people here (unlikely) and that those people are from prisons and mental institutions (even more unlikely). Each of these things he keeps saying suggests that he still doesn't see that his rhetoric and ideas might result in the same kind of violence that befell him. That suggests, to me, a lack of empathy. What is curious is that the crux of the Jesus movement could, arguably, be the idea of empathy. A near death experience doesn't seem to have brought him any closer to that.
I don't know if it was divine intervention or not. I do know many Christians believe sometimes God reminds us of his presence. The great preacher John Wesley (basically the founder of Methodist and Wesleyan protestant congregations, but not directly) was rescued from a fire when he was five, his mother is reported to have said "is he not a brand plucked from the burning"?
Sometimes it is something that helps people cope. When my (now deceased) wife was pregnant, she was diagnosed with cancer (just a routine pre-natal checkup was how it was discovered). She felt that baby inside her had a purpose, and she never considered anything but bringing him full term. For two years we felt he was an early warning, giving her a better chance to survive the cancer. Although the treatment failed, and she died less than a month later.
Her son is now a man, and has done a lot of good in this world. He's not famous or anything like that, but he has enriched the lives of so many people. There's a part of me that believes (that faith term) his life has a purpose.
Why didn't my wife live? I'll never know. But it doesn't mean her life wasn't without meaning. She touched so many lives, in so many ways.
Did God intervene? I'll never know, but the idea of it gives me comfort.
Throughout the Bible, we are reminded that God is sovereign and that His Will shall be done. I don't know about you, but when I saw DJT walking into the RNC the other day, he looked like a changed man - deeply moved. Did God use that event to bring the former president and others to salvation? You can count me in on that, for sure! Also - I'm convinced that when we go to Heaven, we'll have all of our questions answered and we'll see the glory of God's actions, working all things for the good (Romans 8:26-28). Note that it's "All" things, not just "some" things...
My next book is dedicated to the minister who married my wife and I. He had an unusually hard life that ended badly. The dedication reads, “someday all questions will be answered.”
I look forward to your next book...! I'm a big fan of all of your writings. Speaking of which - I'm guessing that we're about 2 weeks away from the first TMQ missive for the new season about to start!
Trump had the pulpit and could have hit a homerun. By saying the right things he could have changed the temperature and the temperament of this country, not to mention guaranteeing a landslide victory. But he dropped the ball. Predictable allowing for his character. He will go back to spewing his usual vitriol. Its just who he is.
From his look of a changed man, do you think he will stop lying through his teeth? Or will he now stop mocking when political opponents are attacked (thinking of Pelosi’s husband here)? Does he appear changed enough to actually try to UNITE the country instead of divide by getting “rid of the rats”? Did he have the look of someone that would no longer tolerate a march on the capitol to hang Pence?
Lincoln did not convert to Christianity till late 1862. Almost immediately he issued the Emancipation proclamation. Wouldn’t it be interesting if this proves a conversion experience for Trump?
Jay, this tugs at my heart. Gregg
Another well-written article. I would even add John 9:1-7 as yet another example of the core premise. It is definitely presumptuous (in the extreme) to assume that God intervened in this specific instance.
But this article almost argues too much. There are examples in John 7 and Luke 4 (among others) where it appears that some divine protection is at play for Jesus himself (and his disciples... at least prior to his resurrection). And the life of Jesus himself is itself a massive intervention into our world (John 3:16 passage where Jesus proclaims God sent him). Just because God chooses to let life play out doesn't mean He can't step in at any given moment.
I think that the story of Jesus informs the question of why God doesn't intervene to end pain & suffering. The agonizing death of Jesus (punctuated by his crying out "why have you forsaken me?") is a partial answer to this question, namely that Jesus' life, death and resurrection is intended to show us that, though we will all experience pain and suffering, even to the point of despairing of God because He won't intervene, there is a basis for a faith that death is not our final destiny.
Thinking too deeply about theological things makes me woozy, but I do adhere to a simple concept on this weighty issue: God's ability to intervene to prevent harm from happening is tempered by His having created us with free wills to choose our own fates and by His everlasting love and support to cope. The analogy is parenthood - as a parent, it is within my power to intervene incessantly to prevent my child from being harmed by anything, but I don't do so because my child will be better off if s/he experiences life to the fullest and with the knowledge s/he can count on my support to help get through the hard parts.
I say you can't have it both ways. If God doesn't interfere because we have free will, then he doesn't interfere. If he does, then we don't actually have free will. Then we sometimes have free will? I always laugh when I see NFL players (or name the sport) putting up their one finger, thanking God for letting them get a touchdown. Meanwhile, there are people starving mere blocks away from the multi-million dollar stadium. And don't forget about the 50,000 children that die from preventable disease and starvation each day. God must have a wicked sense of humour.
I'm sure the man upstairs enjoys the occasional dirty limerick.
This was a really thoughful piece. I think what those excerpts of Jesus of Nazareth's purported words illustrates is that a staggering amount of the content that he produced is apocryphal. A great deal of his stories don't seem to be intended to be consumed in a literal way. It may be my specific perspective of Christianity from a comparative religion point of view, but his stories and parables often make much more sense as ways of relating underlying messages to folks by invoking ideas and stories that they'd have been familiar with. It feels more philosophical, in that way. Not as much religious or dogmatic.
And regarding Donald Trump; I'm not particularly convinced that he has changed. His rhetoric feels largely the same. He still scapegoats immigrants, minorities, and the LGBTQ community. He still pushes the idea that the Democratic party is actively bringing undocumented immigrants into the country to replace white Christians. He still makes insane statements suggests that countries are sending people here (unlikely) and that those people are from prisons and mental institutions (even more unlikely). Each of these things he keeps saying suggests that he still doesn't see that his rhetoric and ideas might result in the same kind of violence that befell him. That suggests, to me, a lack of empathy. What is curious is that the crux of the Jesus movement could, arguably, be the idea of empathy. A near death experience doesn't seem to have brought him any closer to that.
I don't know if it was divine intervention or not. I do know many Christians believe sometimes God reminds us of his presence. The great preacher John Wesley (basically the founder of Methodist and Wesleyan protestant congregations, but not directly) was rescued from a fire when he was five, his mother is reported to have said "is he not a brand plucked from the burning"?
Sometimes it is something that helps people cope. When my (now deceased) wife was pregnant, she was diagnosed with cancer (just a routine pre-natal checkup was how it was discovered). She felt that baby inside her had a purpose, and she never considered anything but bringing him full term. For two years we felt he was an early warning, giving her a better chance to survive the cancer. Although the treatment failed, and she died less than a month later.
Her son is now a man, and has done a lot of good in this world. He's not famous or anything like that, but he has enriched the lives of so many people. There's a part of me that believes (that faith term) his life has a purpose.
Why didn't my wife live? I'll never know. But it doesn't mean her life wasn't without meaning. She touched so many lives, in so many ways.
Did God intervene? I'll never know, but the idea of it gives me comfort.
Was it "creeps" who tried to kill Hitler? Hindsight paints such people with a different brush. This story hasn't played out fully yet.
Thanks for the great context. Too much religion is bent to serve power. My take:
https://darwinsgongshow.com/2024/07/16/hallowed-be-thy-bootlicker/
As an agnostic, I really appreciate your explaining this with citations to the scriptures.
I take it from this and your prior posts that you reject Calvinist predestination.
https://x.com/thebabylonbee/status/1813362982979768749?s=46&t=wptG4fMy-lJ8XH4-YEXTuA
Throughout the Bible, we are reminded that God is sovereign and that His Will shall be done. I don't know about you, but when I saw DJT walking into the RNC the other day, he looked like a changed man - deeply moved. Did God use that event to bring the former president and others to salvation? You can count me in on that, for sure! Also - I'm convinced that when we go to Heaven, we'll have all of our questions answered and we'll see the glory of God's actions, working all things for the good (Romans 8:26-28). Note that it's "All" things, not just "some" things...
My next book is dedicated to the minister who married my wife and I. He had an unusually hard life that ended badly. The dedication reads, “someday all questions will be answered.”
I look forward to your next book...! I'm a big fan of all of your writings. Speaking of which - I'm guessing that we're about 2 weeks away from the first TMQ missive for the new season about to start!
Thanks for the kind words. Six weeks till new TMQ. Though…special Summer Blockbuster starting Friday
Trump had the pulpit and could have hit a homerun. By saying the right things he could have changed the temperature and the temperament of this country, not to mention guaranteeing a landslide victory. But he dropped the ball. Predictable allowing for his character. He will go back to spewing his usual vitriol. Its just who he is.
From his look of a changed man, do you think he will stop lying through his teeth? Or will he now stop mocking when political opponents are attacked (thinking of Pelosi’s husband here)? Does he appear changed enough to actually try to UNITE the country instead of divide by getting “rid of the rats”? Did he have the look of someone that would no longer tolerate a march on the capitol to hang Pence?
Here’s hoping…
Lincoln did not convert to Christianity till late 1862. Almost immediately he issued the Emancipation proclamation. Wouldn’t it be interesting if this proves a conversion experience for Trump?
Amit, how are things in Washington/New York City/Boston/LA?
I don't understand this comment. Why did you suggest that he is from DC, NYC, Boston, or LA? Was that supposed to be an insult?
Dunno. I’m in London. We just got rid of our corrupt lying govt for a party that tells the truth and doesn’t stoke up division.