Sunday, January 21, 2007
The Pain of God: How does an Almighty God get hurt?
This first time my interest was pricked with this topic was when I encountered Jurgen Moltmann's writings. But even more so throughout my graduate studies, especially in my study of Genesis. At first, the idea of God hurting might not seem all that tricky, certainly as Christians we understand the pain that Jesus went through and we know that God is not a stranger to pain. But the question still remains, how can an all powerful, all knowing entity get hurt. The two ideas seem incongruent. Either God could be strong enough to overcome the pain or He could foresee the problem and stop it before it starts. Yet we see time and time again that God is hurt. The most explicit example (and I am sure there are many) is Genesis 6:6, where it not only states that God regretted that He made humanity, but also that His heart was filled with pain.
So what does this mean? It doesn't make too much sense that God regretted (repented, was sorry for, or however you choose to translate the Hebrew verb) any of His actions. A sovereign God would have been prepared for problems like this, how could he allow his heart to be filled with pain? Here in lies one of God's great mysteries and beauties. God creating us in His image (however you choose to understand that...) connected himself to humanity in such a way that He allowed Himself to be vulnerable. The absolute transcendence of God was eliminated in His awesome act of immanence. No longer was God unaffected by events and entities around Him; He entered Himself into something so precious and unique that forced Him to become susceptible. This precious and unique thing is relationship.
Some of us don't think of God as a risk taker, but that is exactly what He did with us. He risked the possibility of being hurt for the possibility of sharing a deep intimate relationship with His creation. Unfortunately, in Genesis 6 it looks like God risked everything and lost. I can't imagine what God felt like in that moment. But one thing comes to me that tells me His pain was exceedingly great. Its the truth that those whom you love can hurt you the most. This I know is true. It's one thing if some boyscout standing at your door selling cookies says "I hate you!" because you didn't buy anything, but it is another story when it is someone from your family, close friend, or spouse. I believe the pain we feel in these types of situations are just the tip of the iceberg compared to depths of God's emotions and pains. To feel utterly rejected by every part of your creation of whom you desperately love and opened yourself to. No wonder why God regretted His act of creation.
Thankfully it did not end there, God, in His infinite wisdom and understanding, created a way in which His creation could enter into a loving relationship with Him, a relationship that would come invulnerable to the pain He felt that day. Because all that pain was pent up for another day, when a carpenter was nailed to some wood and bore the pain of God.
Comments:
<< Home
If any of you out there are interested, I have posted an article by Jurgen Moltmann about the Crucified God, in this article he talks more thoroughly of the implications of what a suffering God means.
nice thoughts Velmer! It's good to see you are alive and kicking. I just got back from Africa (Senegal & Mali) It was incredible. I am still trying to process it all.
Hows life for you?
Hows life for you?
JV-
Hey. I was so glad to hear from you on my blog that I had to visit yours. I have been off for awhile too, so it is good to see someone else has returned. The pain of God has always puzzled me deeply. In some ways it bothered me because I always thought it was foolish for God, who didn't need to ever hurt, to put himself in a vulnerable position. Yet, that is the essence of Christianity being foolishness to the world.
The thing that I love the most about God is that in all things, he is still the boss. He chose to be vulnerable to hurtful beings. This doesn't diminish God's power, it heightens it. For a being who knows all things to enter into relationships that are inevitably going to cause him pain, he must be all-powerful as well. The most difficult pain I ever experience is not physical, but relational. What a God!
One thing that still bothers me, though, is how God relates to time. This is an important issue for this subject because God must experience pain. Yet, if God is outside of time, what does that pain look like? How can one experience pain or happiness except eternally? What do you think?
Hey. I was so glad to hear from you on my blog that I had to visit yours. I have been off for awhile too, so it is good to see someone else has returned. The pain of God has always puzzled me deeply. In some ways it bothered me because I always thought it was foolish for God, who didn't need to ever hurt, to put himself in a vulnerable position. Yet, that is the essence of Christianity being foolishness to the world.
The thing that I love the most about God is that in all things, he is still the boss. He chose to be vulnerable to hurtful beings. This doesn't diminish God's power, it heightens it. For a being who knows all things to enter into relationships that are inevitably going to cause him pain, he must be all-powerful as well. The most difficult pain I ever experience is not physical, but relational. What a God!
One thing that still bothers me, though, is how God relates to time. This is an important issue for this subject because God must experience pain. Yet, if God is outside of time, what does that pain look like? How can one experience pain or happiness except eternally? What do you think?
Yes that is bothersome, understanding that God is indeed subjected to pain automatically brings in his relationship then to time. Concluding that God is vulnerable to pain and therefore he also subjected to time is I admit problematic. Also if we say that God is vulnerable to pain and yet not subjected to time this too brings problems.
The first problem is trying to understand how an eternal God can be related to time. The second problem is the fact that we cant say anything about something that isn't related to time because we have absolutely no idea what that is like or how to even talk about it.
Like Moltmann has suggested, the pain of God must be understood in trinitarian understanding. So I am guessing that his relationship to time is also. That is, even though, I may suggest, the Father is eternal and out of time; certainly the Son is subjected to time and Holy Spirit perhaps some mediator of time???? I don't know but it's a start... Perhaps in such construction or some other one that is much better but similar, one could suggest a contradiction and still be accurate to say that God is outside of time and yet still in it. I am not sure if that messes too much with orthodox theories of Trinity but I thought I would throw it out there (and then again Moltmann really isn't orthodox either)... Reactions? Qualms? Complaints?
The first problem is trying to understand how an eternal God can be related to time. The second problem is the fact that we cant say anything about something that isn't related to time because we have absolutely no idea what that is like or how to even talk about it.
Like Moltmann has suggested, the pain of God must be understood in trinitarian understanding. So I am guessing that his relationship to time is also. That is, even though, I may suggest, the Father is eternal and out of time; certainly the Son is subjected to time and Holy Spirit perhaps some mediator of time???? I don't know but it's a start... Perhaps in such construction or some other one that is much better but similar, one could suggest a contradiction and still be accurate to say that God is outside of time and yet still in it. I am not sure if that messes too much with orthodox theories of Trinity but I thought I would throw it out there (and then again Moltmann really isn't orthodox either)... Reactions? Qualms? Complaints?
JV-
I think ultimately it is too big of a question to answer, and I didn't mean to get philosophical on you either. I do like where you were going with the relationship of the Trinity, though. It is just a lot to wrap your head around.
You know what really bothers me, though? It is so hard for me to mentally reconcile God's eternal qualities (his omni's) with my frail existence. My life is seriously so up and down sometimes, and it is just way too easy to think of God as this timeless orb that has some strange understanding of my pain. I know Christ was in time, but how is he now, sitting at the right hand of God?
When I think that God experiences pain, a part of that makes me glad. That sounds so sick, but there is something real about relationships with shared hurt. To think that when I do somthing stupid God feels pain about it makes me think there is real love there, not just abstract love. It makes me think the "agape" we so often talk about is much more than just the "I will save you if you're drowning" attitude. Maybe God loves me enough to be pained when I am not living to my potential.
I hope I am not a heretic for all this.
I think ultimately it is too big of a question to answer, and I didn't mean to get philosophical on you either. I do like where you were going with the relationship of the Trinity, though. It is just a lot to wrap your head around.
You know what really bothers me, though? It is so hard for me to mentally reconcile God's eternal qualities (his omni's) with my frail existence. My life is seriously so up and down sometimes, and it is just way too easy to think of God as this timeless orb that has some strange understanding of my pain. I know Christ was in time, but how is he now, sitting at the right hand of God?
When I think that God experiences pain, a part of that makes me glad. That sounds so sick, but there is something real about relationships with shared hurt. To think that when I do somthing stupid God feels pain about it makes me think there is real love there, not just abstract love. It makes me think the "agape" we so often talk about is much more than just the "I will save you if you're drowning" attitude. Maybe God loves me enough to be pained when I am not living to my potential.
I hope I am not a heretic for all this.
No you're not a heretic in fact a God who feels pain on account of our actions is one that is sympathetic. If he was removed from such experiences God would be apathetic and unable to relate with us on such basic levels such as suffering, which plagues all of human existence. But a true relationship shares in both joys and sorrows. Like the proverb I once heard: Joy shared is double joy and sorrow shared is half sorrow.
God's eternality and 'omni' abilities make this subject very difficult to wrap one's brain around. The greatness of God perhaps brings about greater pain, which in turn bring us greater sympathy.
Post a Comment
God's eternality and 'omni' abilities make this subject very difficult to wrap one's brain around. The greatness of God perhaps brings about greater pain, which in turn bring us greater sympathy.
<< Home
