6 May
The Moral Problem of Asymmetrical Forgiveness
The spiritual fate of Osama bin Laden continues to intrigue me. None of us will ever know the conversation God/or the Heavenly Court would have with this twisted and demented human being. Maybe it would go something like, “Osama, you got it all wrong!” If I believed in the doctrine of reincarnation ( I have never arrived at a conclusion, yea or nay), I would imagine that God would incarnate this soul in a life where he experienced the hardship of discrimination and abuse . . . However, the Christian response to this ethereal meeting offers much fodder for discussion-especially since it is so diametrically different from the Jewish perspective.
One fellow blogger, Jonathan Marx raises a couple of interesting questions that I would like to focus on for the next few minutes:
Is Gandhi in heaven right now because he was good enough?
Is Osama bin Laden in hell right now because he was too evil?
The above author contends that just because a person is a “good” human being like Gandhi, does not necessarily mean or even suggest that he is automatically a given that he is going to Heaven.
He explains, “Christianity teaches that there is no one so far gone that cannot be forgiven—even Bin Laden. Here’s why. Christianity teaches that even when we are dead in our sins that God can make us alive with Christ. How does he do this? God “forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross” (Col. 2:13-14). Think of it. Jesus’ death on the cross was sufficient to pay the penalty for every sin ever committed (cf. 1 John 2:2).”
This has often been called, “the scandal of the cross,” or “the theology-of-the-cross” (Theologia Crucis) is a term that was originally coined by the theologian Martin Luther, who felt that the cross is the only source of knowledge concerning who God is and how God saves. It is contrasted with the theology of glory (theologia gloriae), which places greater emphasis on human abilities and human reason (Wikepedia).
As I mentioned to Professor Marvin Wilson, author of the book “Our Father Abraham: The Jewish Roots of Christianity”, if one follows the logic of this type of statement, all anyone has to do is simply declare “Jesus saves” and poof! One is instantly saved. Yet, despite all the theological rhetoric that stresses Jesus’s unconditional forgiveness of anyone, but the fact remains that Hell is a place of torment—not just for a momentary period of time, but for all eternity. Why can’t the miserable souls of Hell simply say, “I believe in Jesus!” and be immediately “saved”? Why have Hell altogether? For the serious Christian, you cannot have a God who forgives unconditionally, while toasting those who do not believe in an eternal barbecue. It simply doesn’t work. Moreover, if the God of justice is to have any meaning at all, then shouldn’t there be ultimate consequences for wicked behavior? Why have a world based on justice at all when forgiveness can be granted so easily?
Rabbinic tradition has long taught that anyone who acts compassionately toward the cruel will in the end act cruelly toward the compassionate. For all the carte-blanche forgiveness granted to the mass murderers and genocidal maniacs, the Christian track record toward the non-believers of their communities has been dreadful.
For nearly two millennium, the traditional Christian world has maintained that all non-believers are condemned, Gandhi and the Jews, or for that matter—all decent non-Christian people are not so fortunate. Pelagius argued with Augustine and rejected the belief that Jesus was necessary for personal salvation. Pelagius felt that according to Augustine, the countless number of people who never heard of Jesus are condemned to eternal damnation for having dared to reject the divinity of the Savior since “ Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
So based upon Augustinian theology, Buddha, Gandhi and Moses, sorry all you Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and whoever—you are out of luck-but all you miserable mass murderers are welcome to Hotel Salvation. All you have to say is “I accept Jesus . . .” What is wrong with this picture?! As my son observed, “What incentive is there for anyone one to act like a decent or moral human being, if all one has to say is ‘Jesus save me!’?” Sorry, this type of thinking is wrongheaded.
It seems to me that much of the New Testament reflects more the spiritual ideology of Paul more than the actual spiritual teachings of Jesus, or for that matter, James his brother. The Book of James stresses the primacy of deeds in a manner that is very reminiscent of the early tradition found in the rabbinic traditions of the 1st century.
Listen to what James says:
“Anyone who listens to the Word, but takes no action is like someone who looks at his own features in a mirror—once he has seen what he looks like, he promptly forgets what he looked like. But the one who peers into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres, and is not a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, such a one shall be blessed in what he does” (NT James 1:23-25).
“For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead” (James 2:26).
The best passage comes from James 2:17-26.
So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Indeed someone might say, “You have faith and I have works.” Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works. You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble. Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by the works. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called “the friend of God.” See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by a different route? For just as a body without a spirit is dead; so too, is faith without works also dead.[1]
I have little doubt that James would say that any evil person like Hitler or bin Laden were irredeemable sinners-unworthy of God’s forgiveness.
Interestingly enough, Martin Luther found the Book of James and its attitude that a man’s salvation is determined by deeds and NOT by faith to be contrary to the Pauline doctrine that promises salvation to all who merely believe—regardless how sinful an individual may be. Luther wrote in 1542 that he had been accustomed to interpreting James according the rest of scripture, but since some did not accept his interpretation of this passage, he simply said, “Then I shall make rubble of it. I almost feel like throwing Jimmy (i.e., the book of James) into the stove, as the priest in Kalenberg did” (quote in Althaus 81, f.n.31). Luther wrote in 1543, “His [James’] authority is not great enough to cause me to abandon the doctrine of faith and to deviate from the authority of the other apostles and the entire Scripture” (quoted in Althaus 81). Once Luther remarked that he would give his doctor’s beret to anyone who could reconcile James and Paul (Bainton 259).[2]
Make no mistake about it, if anyone understood Jesus—it was probably his brother James, who personally interacted with him throughout his life. The same cannot be said of Paul. The asymmetric faith advocated in the Gospels was profoundly shaped by the Paul and his school of disciples, who ultimately distorted Jesus’s original teachings concerning the centrality of loving deeds over faith.
So where does that leave Osama bin Laden, Adolph Hitler and the legions of other demonic personalities that we have come to know through history? You can be sure of one thing: They are in a place where the sun does not shine . . . And now you know, the rest of the story . . .
[1] James 2:17-26.
[2] Cited from http://www.lessonsonline.info/LutherandJames.htm
Posted by rey on 06.05.11 at 1:00 am
“Rabbinic tradition has long taught that anyone who acts compassionately toward the cruel will in the end act cruelly toward the compassionate.”
And I’ve always thought this too, without being acquainted with rabbinic tradition.
“For all the carte-blanche forgiveness granted to the mass murderers and genocidal maniacs, the Christian track record toward the non-believers of their communities has been dreadful.”
Well, it is based on Paul’s teachings. And Paul began as a murderer. And for support of his views he quotes another murderer, who wrote “Blessed is the man to whom righteousness is imputed without works.” I mean, of course, David, who murdered Bathsheba’s husband. The prophets and Jesus, and James, who never murdered anyone do not agree with David and Paul who did. This is a case of wicked men’s theology versus the theology of the righteous. Wicked and totally guilty, vile men, like David and Paul, wanted a theology that would let them off scott free, the righteous be damned. But good men like the prophets and Jesus and James went the other way, good men being justified and wicked men being damned. Of course the wicked will always agree with David and Paul. Birds of a feather flock together. And of course the righteous will agree with Jesus and James.
Posted by Yochanan Lavie on 06.05.11 at 1:00 am
There is a great book about James written by a controversial Jewish scholar. I forgot his name, but it was a great book. It argued that James preserved the real teachings, and that he and Jesus were both loyal Jews and not schismatics.
Posted by admin on 06.05.11 at 1:00 am
Here is an interesting article on how even the United States spies on its friendly allies. BTW, Pollard spied for Israel and historically, the information he provided Israel enabled her to bomb the Iraqi nuclear reactor. The US was obliged by an agreement to disclose this information, but chose not to. The State Department has been inhabited by Arabists for decades. Even Casper Weinberger, who led the campaign to try Pollard for treason, admitted Pollard has served enough time and should be released.
=======
http://real-agenda.com/2010/11/15/u-s-conducting-spying-against-friendly-countries/
The United States found itself embroiled in a major spy scandal. As many as five countries caught the Americans illegally spying on their citizens.
Nobody would think it was strange if we were talking about the citizens of Russia, China, Iran, Syria and Venezuela. With these five countries, everything is clear: U.S. officials constantly refer to them as those presenting threats to the national security. But this time the U.S. was caught by quite friendly countries of Northern Europe – Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden.
The scandal erupted earlier this month. On November 3, Norwegian television channel TV2 released a report which stated that over ten years, a group of Americans have been doing surveillance on 15 to 20 Norwegian subjects – mostly participants of various kinds of rallies. Potential terrorists and other undesirable persons were photographed, and the information was sent to Washington.
The report stated that the purpose of the surveillance was supposedly to prevent terrorist attacks against U.S. embassies. Nordic Governments were not informed of such actions.
The spokesman of the U.S. State Department, Philip Crowley, on November 11 said that the Norwegian authorities have been notified about a covert operation. “We are implementing the program throughout the world and are vigilant against people who can keep track of our embassies, as we understand that our diplomatic missions are a potential target,” he explained.
However, the Scandinavians were not satisfied with this comment. A representative of the American embassy was called to the Norwegian Foreign Ministry for an explanation, but no clear answers were provided. It turns out that the surveillance was conducted without the knowledge of the Norwegian authorities.
If it was limited to Norway, this episode could have been considered an isolated case. Yet, after the Norwegians, Denmark spoke about the surveillance of its citizens. Local newspaper Politiken wrote that all American embassies have groups of employees leading external surveillance of suspicious persons in order to address threats to the U.S. security. It has been suggested that Denmark was hardly an exception.
Former head of the Danish security service PET Jorgen Bonniksen said that he had never heard of such groups: “If this is true, then we have to deal with illegal intelligence operations in Denmark. On Danish territory such operations can be conducted by PET, and PET only,” he stressed.
The current head of PET, Jakob Scharf, made it clear: if illegal activity is determined, “of course, we will take action.” Justice Minister of Denmark Lars Barfoeda has been summoned for an explanation to the Folketing (parliament). The U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen, as well as in Oslo, provided no clear comments.
Followed by Norwegians and Danes, Swedes brought up the illegal activities of American agents. According to the Minister of Justice of Sweden Beatrice Ask, people connected with the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm have been spying on people on the Swedish territory since 2000. The Minister stated that it “is not yet known whether in this case Swedish law was violated.” She did not rule out that the objects of the surveillance actually might have been people who pose a threat to the U.S. security.
On his part, head of the local security police Anders Danielsson directly accused the U.S. of violating international norms. He said that the U.S. did not bother to inform the Swedish authorities of their intentions. “The Swedish security police (SÄPO) did not give the U.S. a permission to engage in activities that are contrary to Swedish law,” he said.
Representatives of the U.S. embassy were quick to say that “they have nothing to hide” and that they have notified the Swedish authorities about their actions. However, Sweden is the third country which had been “made aware.” Could the Scandinavian countries have entered into a conspiracy to defame the United States?
When we talk about three countries at once, it looks like a trend. Following its neighbors, Finland grew concerned as well. Local security police SUPO originally said it had not found anything illegal in the activities of the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki. However, they immediately proceeded to a more detailed verification. Apparently, the Finns also did not believe the assurances of the Americans.
Only the small Iceland with the population of 320 thousand with no army is lacking to complete the picture. On November 11 it was revealed that the islanders also have questions for the U.S. Local authorities immediately declared that they suspected members of the American Embassy in Reykjavik in espionage. The diplomatic mission is being verified.
This is a stunning picture. The U.S. did not even consider it necessary to inform its allies of its actions on their territory, as if they were colonies. In fact, Denmark, Iceland and Norway joined NATO and, consequently, they entered the circle of the closest allies of the U.S. Finland and Sweden are not members of the North Atlantic alliance, but are working with it very closely. That’s how Americans value their allies.
However, Washington seems to have confused Scandinavians with Poland, Lithuania and Romania. These countries have repeatedly been suspected of placing secret CIA prisons on their territories. The authorities of these states have been blindly following in the footsteps of American politics in the past two decades. This is not true about rich countries of Northern Europe. Given the national pride of the Scandinavians, they are unlikely to forgive the Americans the dismissive attitude.
Denmark is the only country that followed the U.S. without asking questions. Sweden and Finland harshly condemned the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Norway was among the first to withdraw its troops from Iraq, as well as (unlike Americans) has signed an agreement with Russia on the delimitation of the Arctic shelf. Even little Iceland allowed itself to contradict the States when it refused to extradite the late chess player Robert Fisher, who was facing a jail term at home.
Russia Today: Lessons to be learned from spy betrayal – Medvedev
The explanation of the incident with the need to combat terrorism, of course, can be taken into account. Radical Islamists are making themselves visible in Denmark and Sweden, as well as Norway and Finland. Yet, the United States could have informed the local security forces of their suspicions as these countries also have qualified staff. And as for surveillance of Icelanders – it is simply ridiculous. They have fewer than a hundred of Muslims, let alone Islamists.
The author of numerous books on the work of intelligence Alexander Kolpakidi commented on the behavior of the U.S. agents in the Nordic countries for Pravda.ru.
“There is nothing surprising here. U.S. intelligence services have always behaved that way around the globe. Virtually all countries of the world, including the members of European Union and NATO, have secret CIA tracking stations. This is not the first scandal of this kind. For example, several years ago, the Greek police found one of these stations having mistaken it for a terrorist base. When the attack began, “terrorists” opened a furious fire, killing a police officer.
Why is America conducting subversive activities in foreign territories, including, apparently friendly countries? This is because in an era of the global crisis, the U.S. changed its strategy. If before it had adhered to the concept of the “golden billion” according to which the good life was allowed to a limited group of countries, mainly Western countries, but now it has changed the strategy to the “golden million,” which implies that the good life is the exclusive privilege of the U.S. “.