[awareness]

According to George MacDonald, God’s attributes are not at odds with each other, but indistinguishable. In my book, I explain how the prevalent doctrine of postmortem judgement is not formed around God’s immutable and mutually inclusive attributes. Rather it reforms his attributes around its conception of justice.

Jonathan Edwards, the author of Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, formed his sermon around the prevalent perception of God’s justice. From that presuppositions onwards, he attempted to evangelize the uncommitted with the most unChrist-like tactic that I have ever seen. Today, Christians carry on with similar evangelistic schemes, but few have carried out their belief in the doctrine of Endless Conscious Torments (ECT) as far as Jonathan Edwards. Many who believe similarly admit that his sermon is difficult to read/hear, all the while affirming that he “told it like it is.”

Did he? If so, why do so few follow in his footsteps? I would wager that many who condone his tactics have not read his sermon in full, if at all. About a month ago, I finally decided to read his sermon. By the time I was finished, my stomach was in knots and my soul was in anguish; not because I feared for the eternal fate of anyone’s soul, but because of the horrendous image that he painted of the Lover of mine. Needless to say, I did not sleep well that night.

“There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God, I mean his sovereign pleasure, his arbitrary will, restrained by no obligation, hindered by no manner of difficulty, any more than if nothing else but God’s mere will had in the least degree, or in any respect whatsoever, any hand in the preservation of wicked men one moment.”

That may not seem like much on the surface, but as the sermon progresses he increasingly mentions the “arbitrary” will of God and associates it with his pleasure. Scripture plainly states that God does not find pleasure in the death of the wicked. [citation needed] Yet, Edwards’ sermon repeatedly states just the opposite- that God finds GREAT pleasure in their demise and even more pleasure in the following:

“The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyed than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten-thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment. It is to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell the last night; that you was suffered to awake again in this world, after you closed your eyes to sleep. And there is no other reason to be given why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God’s hand has held you up. There is no other reason to be given why you have not gone to hell, since you have sat here in the house of God, provoking his pure eyes by your sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn worship. Yea, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you do not this very moment drop down into hell."

Had to repeat all that Jonathan Edwards crap. Edwards needed Prozac. That would maybe have taken the fire out of his brimstone. And maybe he would have got a peek at God's love attribute.

Look, I get why we resort to God's justice attribute, and consider it His highest attribute. There's no other way to explain all of the stomach turning atrocities attributed to God in the OT and book of Revelation in the NT.

It's not enough, for most out here, for me to say that God's Love is His highest and most ultimate attribute. But I think I've got Biblical support for it. Just 1st John will do it: "God is love." It doesn't say God is justice. It says God is love. And then there's Paul's testimony in 1st Corinth 13.

And as much as I love a good fire and brimstone sermon, as much as anybody, and prolly do deserve it, I don't think even as a human I could tell my son I love you and then kill him.

A real God, not the one we find in the Bible, but a real one, if such a one exists, would have as his highest attribute Love. And love would trump justice hands down. Who could resist such a love?

A little Prozac and Jonathan Edwards would have been fine. Then he would have put his obvious great oratory skills toward preaching about God's love.