Dr. Gushee, I'm distressed, and the Word says God too is distressed (Isaiah 63:9). But it also says in that same passage that God became Israel's enemy and fought against them because they rebelled against God and grieved Holy Spirit. Is this experience we're in an exercise of God's sovereignty, justice, and omnipotence? Is God giving people the "king" they, like Israel, asked for, instead of honoring God as their King?
I do not know how to think about God's sovereignty. Paul says in Romans that God puts leaders in power. Is this an exercise of sovereignty by God's hand? If it is, this is a very distressing aspect of the theology by which I've lived the past 55 years.
What posture do I take before God as someone affected by the actions of this "king" when I didn't seek him or his craven exploits for power? I assume there were people within the nation of Israel who also suffered even though they hadn't rebelled.
How do I reframe who God is, when I was taught God to be omni everything: omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent? Do I need to? Today's meditation seems to suggest there is more to God I cannot know, but whose justice I can trust. Thank you for your encouragement to think.
Dr. Gushee, I'm distressed, and the Word says God too is distressed (Isaiah 63:9). But it also says in that same passage that God became Israel's enemy and fought against them because they rebelled against God and grieved Holy Spirit. Is this experience we're in an exercise of God's sovereignty, justice, and omnipotence? Is God giving people the "king" they, like Israel, asked for, instead of honoring God as their King?
I do not know how to think about God's sovereignty. Paul says in Romans that God puts leaders in power. Is this an exercise of sovereignty by God's hand? If it is, this is a very distressing aspect of the theology by which I've lived the past 55 years.
What posture do I take before God as someone affected by the actions of this "king" when I didn't seek him or his craven exploits for power? I assume there were people within the nation of Israel who also suffered even though they hadn't rebelled.
How do I reframe who God is, when I was taught God to be omni everything: omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent? Do I need to? Today's meditation seems to suggest there is more to God I cannot know, but whose justice I can trust. Thank you for your encouragement to think.
Thank you for taking the lead in post evangelicalism. I pray thoughtful evangelical churches will cross over...in the name of justice and love.
Keep talking…
We need this
Thank you, David, for such thought provoking commentary! I look forward to your book!
La Vonne
Liked and restacked, and shared on FB, David.