The absence of God in Christianity Christians rarely assert that hell is a place where people get burned alive. It’s become de riguer for Christians to instead say that hell is “the absence of God.” We all heard that a million times; Christians, especially of the emergent/leftist/progressive persuasion, seem to like to say it. The idea is that existing outside of the presence of God is a kinder, gentler fate than is having one’s mortal body burned alive. Christians believe that God informs and sustains all of life. You permanently remove from life the substance, intention, and infinite expressions of God and you’ve got yourself an existence so horrible none of us can even begin to imagine it. A place where God is absent is a place where everyone is striped of love and the possibility of it. In such a world no one can be trusted; everyone, overtly or otherwise, is reduced to a craven animal. All is chaos: there are no patterns of behavior, of properties, of time, of light. Christian life, life in general, is an exercise in living with the presence and absence of God. Christians believe that by recognizing that there is a sense of God’s absence is evidence of God’s presence. Mother Teresa herself struggled with life and ministry. In letters kept after her death, her doubts and struggled confided to spiritual directors and confessors tell a story of a lifelong struggle with a sense of God’s presence and the certainties of faith. What amazes me is that a woman of such faith and dedication to the people would struggle with this, so how on earth wouldn’t each and every single Christian? Christianity’s promises of the present presence and apprehension of God are not simple. In many ways, it seems that neither scripture nor recorded experience gives a coherent, teachable view of the subject. Perhaps the world absent of God would mean complete and total isolation, dark, cold, soundless world. Here on earth, after, all, if you really want to punish and create suffering, you put a person in prison and even worse to go to solitary confinement. Is that the absence of God? Christianity’s thought process that is ridiculous to me that no matter what if you aren’t saved by “Jesus” you are maximally punished forever…..What happened to forgiveness and redemption even if you don’t accept Jesus as your savior and you just simply are in this world? The assurance of God’s presence and the certainties of answered questions are not the same thing. I find more rational certainty in the resurrection than I do existential experience of the presence of Jesus. Spiritual experience takes the shape of incarnation itself, with God inhabiting a fallen world where human beings have become insensitive, fearful, and callous to the glory of God. If the fall is true, then none of us are “in tune” with the presence of God, and particular theologies of God’s presence may let us down, hugely. The existence of evil in the world has been a major stumbling block for many, both Christians and non-Christians. How can a God who is good create evil? If God did create evil, then he cannot be entirely good. If God didn’t create evil, then he didn’t create everything. Christians believe that God is absolute good. They also believe that God created everything. With these two premises mentioned, non-Christians can refute these two beliefs, and not only justify their unbelief, but weaken the belief of those presenting the Christian faith to them. Christians that do accept these two premises become disconnect from God or find themselves within the absence of God, as these two premises strike at the very root of Christianity. In conclusion, with the absence or presence of God, there are rational beliefs that allow Christianity to validate and justify their belief in how come a person experiences the absence of God and the presence of God. By being able to validate and express this to people Christianity had grown to be the primary religion around the world. Some research and opinions are that Christianity is declining in interest. I am not absolutely sure of that because I didn’t research that too far. It seems though by justifying the two there would be a lot of questions. I know that I have a few.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Jul 2013 22:01:19 +0000
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