This post covers a much more in depth question than any I have addressed before. Upon reading the scriptures for the first time, one can detect a different mood between the Old and New Testaments. To this I will agree that there are different themes as the Old focuses on God's Justice and the New centers around God's Love. What is key to remember here is that these two themes are not mutually exclusive. One cannot exist without the other for God is unchanging therefore encompassing both virtues eternally. The danger exists when we separate these themes and say that God is personified differently in the Old and New Testaments. This mindset has led to a number of heresies, one of which I will go into.
Marcion was a heretic in the Early Christian Church and the founder of Marcionism. His heresy was a Gnostic heresy which means that he claimed to have some secret knowledge that was only revealed to him. He was caught up in the dilemma mentioned earlier and could not reconcile Justice with Love, so he taught that there were Two Gods. The first was the Creator God who was Just or Righteous. His followers were those who were considered righteous in the Old Testament i.e. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The second was the Father of Christ who was the Loving and Good God. Marcion places this God above the Creator God. He also holds that Christ through his ministry abolished the Law and the Prophets who proclaimed the Creator God. First of all, this heresy, as is the case with all heresies, does not make sense. Second, it is inconsistent with the whole of Sacred Scripture and Apostolic Tradition. The Gospels all refute Marcionism, for in the Gospels Christ claims that the Creator of the Universe is his Father. Also, in the Sermon on the Mount Christ says that he has not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but rather to fulfill them. Marcion committed a fatal mistake by separating Justice and Love. That is something we just cannot do. For more information regarding Marcionism and the other Early Heresies, I recommend Irenaeus' Against Heresies. It is a very informative and well thought out work.
Was there ever a time in which God was without either Justice or Love. Of course not. This is evident in the Sacred Scriptures for we can see His Love in the Old and His Justice in the New. Throughout the Old Testament we see God punishing the wicked. This was Righteous Anger. The Wicked had it coming and essentially brought their punishments upon themselves as we see in the case Noah's son Ham who uncovered the nakedness of his father. It was at that moment when Ham's line was cursed. Note that the son of Ham was Canaan, the father of the people who would be conquered by the Israelites as they entered the Promised Land. All punishment is a result of Sin, but how many times did we also see God giving Humanity second chances in the Old Testament. God could have destroyed Mankind in the Flood but instead gave them a second chance through Noah. God could have destroyed the Israelites every time they turned away from him but instead gave them the Judges and the Prophets to bring them back. God could have destroyed Nineveh outright for their wickedness but instead sent the Prophet Jonah to preach repentance. All of God's punishments served a purpose which was to turn people back to what is Just and Good, Love. Did we also not see Christ angry in the New Testament as well? He turned over the tables of the salesmen in the temples and also cursed the fig tree when it did not bear fruit. These actions served the same purpose as Old Testament punishments. What is absolutely essential to remember is the Law of God. The Law and the Prophets can be summed up into two basic commandments. First, Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Second, Love your neighbor as yourself. God's Law is fulfilled through Love. Therefore those who are wicked are those who do not Love. To God, Justice and Love are linked. We must strive to view them in the same way.
You continue, Ryan, to amaze me with your knowledge of not only the Bible, but also early Christian writings. In my 16 years of Catholic education, I never heard the name, Marcion, mentioned.
ReplyDeleteThere's not much that I remember from my days learning Greek, but the word "gnostic" is one which I do. As I recall, the definition has something to do with enlightenment. I don't recall there being anything tying it to a private revelation.
No one claiming to be a Christian could possibly defend the two-God argument proposed by Marcion. We can lay that to rest very easily.
I fully understand that God is unchanging and unchangeable. Yet, you must allow that the way God is presented (NOT the way He is) is very different between the Old Testament and the New. I always viewed Jesus' angry outbursts as being more evident of his human nature than His Divine.
I see no problem with God's being all-loving and all-just. I do have to pause when I think of God as being angry. Justice does not require anger. Do you think that some good, Christian people might find some of the Old Testament punishments to be exceedingly harsh? Do you think that Ham's curse was because he saw his father naked or was it a punishment for mocking his father when he was drunk?
It is interesting that the fig tree and turning over the tables in the temple are mentioned only (as I recall) in Mark. There are many instances of happenings which are reported by only one of the Evangelists even when more than one was present. There are also occasions when events are reported differently among Gospels. What do you think about those reports? Is one more accurate than the others? When this happens, how do we know which one is the real deal?
I genuinely enjoy our exchanges, Ryan, and, truth be told, some of the things I write are my beliefs and others are simply to keep your mental juices stimulated. I will never, though, tell you which are which.
Have a truly blessed and joyous Christmas.
Sorry it took me so long to get back to your comment. This past week has been crazy with Christmas and my brother's wedding all falling around the same time. Now that it's all over I can relax and focus on our exchanges.
DeleteI think something we have to do for the sake of this issue is define the word anger. The problem with the languages of man is that they cannot fully explain the wonders of our Lord. Now, when we think of anger, we tend to define it as a person's reaction to being wronged. This form of anger cannot apply to God for he cannot be wronged because he is all-encompassing and can never be without anything. So when we think of the anger of God we must view it in a different context than how we view human anger. We call God "Father." It is a normal occurrence for a Father to be angry with his children when they do something wrong. When we sin, who do we harm? We do not harm the Father, for he cannot be harmed. We harm ourselves, and therefore bring judgement upon ourselves as well. The object of the Father's anger is not his Children. The object of his anger is the corruption of his children through sin. God's anger is a result of his love. If he did not love his children he would not be angry with sin.
Man's anger is a reflection of God's anger, since man is created in the very Image and Likeness of God. Anger is a part of Human Nature, but as a result of sin, it like so many other human traits has become disordered. Jesus however did not suffer from a disordered nature. He was both perfectly divine and perfectly human. Could we attribute Jesus' anger at the fig tree or at venders in the temple to his Humanity. Of course we can, But we must remember that Jesus had perfect human nature. His anger was the same as the anger of the Father. It was directed toward corruption.
Addressing the presentation of God it in the Scriptures, I can see how people would come to the conclusion that God is portrayed differently in the old and new testaments. This, however, is a false conclusion. If we hold that all scripture is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16) we must then also acknowledge that all scripture is true and and portrays God exactly as he is. Although not always evident on the surface, there are a vast number of connections between the Old and the New. I think most of them can be summed up with one word, Covenant. A covenant is a personal relationship between man and God. The Old Covenant was between God and the descendants of Abraham. How many times did we see Israel drop the ball and break the Covenant. A lot. God punished the Israelites for breaking the Covenants, but every punishment was designed to bring Israel back into Covenant. The same thing happens in the New Testament. The New Covenant is between God and all Humanity. Do we not all fall away at times. Are we not also always allowed to come back into covenant with God. I keep that connection in my mind when I study the scriptures so I can remember that God is the same throughout Scripture.
About Ham's curse, I can answer that pretty quickly. Ham sinned not when he saw his Father naked but when he exposed it. His brothers acted differently by covering up Noah's nakedness. For this they were blessed.
I acknowledge also that some Christians may view several of the Old Testament punishments to be exceedingly harsh. I see this though as a reflection of Christ's words to Peter when he said, "You are not thinking as God does, but as Human beings do." (Matthew 16:23) It is not for us to Judge what God does. We just have to trust what he does.
Also, as for the Gospel accounts, the cleansing of the temple is actually found in all three of the synoptic Gospels, and the cursing of the Fig tree is found in both Matthew and Mark. As for Reconciling the various Gospel accounts, that is an important issue that deserves it's own post, so I'll address that in the near future.
I look forward to hearing from you again soon.
Somewhere in the ether there is a brilliant response from me floating around. Unfortunately, I've lost it here! Arggghh! I'll try again either later or tomorrow. You know that anger we were discussing? Gulty!!
ReplyDeleteTake 2!
ReplyDeleteI hope that Christmas and the wedding were everything you'd hoped they'd be and that the memories will last you a LONG time.
I think that your comments on Divine anger are very interesting. Do you think that there's a better word to use? Some people, mostly Fundamentalist Protestants, view some natural disasters as being caused by the wrath of the Heavenly Father. How do you feel about that belief? I have a real problem because the events punish both the guilty and the just. The commonality is in everyone being human.
I have a Fundamentalist Christian friend with whom I sometimes discuss religious matters and Scripture. He feels that EVERY word in the Bible is literally true. When I raise questions, he often falls back upon a, "We don't know because He's God and we're not" argument. I can certainly understand the concept of Mysteries of the Faith, but only so far.
For my friend, it's a question of the inerrancy of the Bible. For him, it's important that God created the world in six 24-hour days. For me, it doesn't matter if it was six 24-hour periods or six separate "stages." I have no problem with Creation being guided by God, but I also have no problem believing that He could have used a "Big Bang" and evolution in the process. As I seem to recall, the inerrancy of the Bible is a fairly recent teaching. For people like my friend, it's important that the Bible be taken completely as "The Word of God" with no acknowledgement of the differences in translations and the possibility that "errors" may have crept into some passages. For me, the importance of the Scriptures is that they bring the readers closer to a more perfect relationship with God. What do you think? Is the inspiration in the word-by-word writing or in the overall message? For me, it's the message.
As you know, you are correct about the cleansing of the temple is mentioned in all of the synoptic Gospels. However, isn't the timing of the event different? I realize that I'm thinking as a human, but, if Jesus wanted a fig, He could have had as many figs as he wanted. The cursing of the tree makes little "human sense."
On Monday morning, weather permitting, I'll be leaving for a month in Mexico. Internet access there can be sketchy. If I don't respond to one of your posts quickly, there are two possibilities. I either have connectivity issues or I'm soaking up sunshine on the beach.
Hope that you have a great semester at school and that 2014 is one the best years ever for you. BTW -- What courses are you taking this semester? Just wondering?
Happy New Year, Ryan!