In a recent blog, Jay wrote, "this is gonna happen because God says so, and He is true to His word." I'm not entirely sure how Jay intends this assertion to be understood, but behind statements of this kind lie a long and heated theological/philosophical debate. The question is:
1) do things happen SIMPLY because God says so, so that tomorrow if God says "The ten commandments are out. From now on, adultery and coveting are what's good," then from that point on, "that's what's gonna happen?"
This is what Calvinists/Reformed folk say, because they have a voluntaristic understanding of who God is. That is, they emphasize God's will --in Latin, voluntas-- in order to assert His total sovereignty over all creation. Two centuries ago Jonathan Edwards rhapsodized about God's arbitrary will, and people like Van Til and Dooyeweerd do it today.
These are the people who like to sing "My God is so great, so strong and so mighty there's NOTHING my God cannot do." Presumably, then, God could lie, and cease being holy, if he wanted/willed to. It's just that he hasn't chosen to. But there's nothing to prevent him from doing so; otherwise He wouldn't be sovereign.
These folk would agree that God is "true to his word" insofar as his word is completely an expression of his will (voluntas.) If and when His will changes, then that word will be what is true, good, real. Who are we, mere creatures, to limit God, muchless to question His will?
2) or does God say things should happen out of more than just His will; that is, because they will be expressions of Who He is in his entirety? This would open up a place for "Logos," which (or better, Who!) is not merely God's will, but reflects a deeper Order, a reflection of His Mind. (cf. John 1)
Thus, things happen because of who God is, and what He says/wills is in perfect congruence with His entire being. God could never say "From this point on, I am suspending the Ten Commandments" because to do so would violate Who He is. Our Reformed brothers and sisters see this as a limitation of God's freedom and sovereignty; but folks like C.S. Lewis, Alvin Plantinga and Ronald Nash do not.
Like them, I cringe everytime I hear the children's chorus, because in scripture God Himself tells us that there are some things He CANNOT do: he can't lie ( Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29 and Titus 1:2); he can't not exist (Exodus 3:13-14) he can't not be holy (Lev. 11:4-45; Ps.99:3,5; Is. 45:11, etc; 1 Peter 1:15-16etc. ). If this diminishes his sovereignty, then so be it. Why would we want a God who could contradict himself? (cf. James 1:17; Malachi 3:6)
Yet for many people, in a postmodern world, where Will trumps Mind and where there are many Eastern influences, contradiction is taken to be a sign of great spiritual depth. These are the heirs of Tertullian and Kierkegaard, who cry "I believe because it is absurd." They aren't talking about paradoxes--where things seem contradictory, but way down actually aren't. They are talking about real contradictions: where A is not A; where, for the same thing, in the same place at the same time, it both has and doesn't have some property.
Here's a paradox: "Jesus is fully God and fully Human."
Here's a contradiction: "Jesus is the Son of God and He is not the Son of God."
The bottom line here is that just as the Enlightenment erred in overemphasizing God's Mind, the Reformed/Calvinists err in overemphasizing God's Will. In the Lord, both His Mind and Will are perfectly integrated--so perfectly aligned that when He speaks, things come into being. He is true to his Word because He Himself is Truth. He doesn't choose what will be true, or good, or real: He is the Truth. (John 14:6). He is Good. (Luke 18:19). He is the ultimate source, ground and goal of reality: (Acts 17:28; Rev. 1:8, 21:6, and 22:13). That, to me, is what real sovereignty looks like.
4 comments:
Yep, these are deep waters...but that's what this blog is about : )
You're absolutely right, Jay, in pointing out the difficulty in writing a catchy little song to express these ideas! But I don't think it's impossible. Instead of editing it in terms of the exceptions ("except NOT be holy, NOT exist, etc.") that line about "anything" could be changed to be more biblical--celebrating some of the awesome, powerful things God HAS done and continues to do. For example:
"My God is so great, so strong and so mighty...
1) He's able to save even ME!"
2) He died but He rose from the grave!"
3) He beats death, the devil and sin!"
4) In Him we live, move and exist!"
That way there wouldn't be the "bait and switch" factor to trip people up when they come to the point of asking the question about why an all-powerful God created a world with evil in it. (Granted, not everyone will come to that point...but for those who do, it can be a real crisis of faith.) If "there's nothing my God cannot do," then it seems they are entitled to ask, "why couldn't He have created free beings which never sinned?"
The answer has to be either:
A) Some appeal to blind faith, often unfortunately sounding like "puny human, who are you to ask such questions? Don't expect to ever reason about God, just believe."
B) Some acknowledgement that
"There are some things God CAN'T do...like create a free human being who is never free to sin."
It just seems to me that we could avoid the "bait and switch" if we never went down that deadend about "anything" in the first place.
But as always, your milage may vary. ; ) Thanks for your perspective.
Yeah, there's no escaping it, is there. Sigh. I'm sure we'll keep singing it on and on...but someday if I ever get these kids in Sunday school or Confirmation or Intro to Philosophy class, I'm going to straighten them out! ; )
Ok, I guess this makes sense, but one thing I am wondering:
~I'm using "Good" here to refer to Who he is, as Beth talked about earlier. (He can't do "Evil" because he's "Good")~
1. Has God always just been "Good" and there's nothing he can do about it?
2.Did God (or does God) choose to be "Good" and cannot break that simply because, by being good, he would never want to do Evil? In this way, he technically has the power to do Evil, but it is still literally impossible because it would mean not being Good, and he has chosen to be Good.
If #1 is true, does that take away from his power? Could he -technically- wish he wasn't stuck being good? Of course, that would be a contradiction (or at least a paradox...hmmm) because he's good and wouldn't want to do evil, but it would be like someone wishing they were born the oppopsite gender, or at least wishing they could experience it. It's different dealing with good vs. evil because they are incompatible - opposites - but it's kind of the same idea, I think...God not ever having control over who he is.
I guess it probably doesn't really matter...and maybe I'm missing something really obvious. But those are just random, disjointed thoughts.
Hi Author,
I just happen to run across this while looking for something else. It's such a breath of fresh air to see others seeking out and finding truth as you have in this post. This is great for everyone to hear because we have a lot of people believing things that are not anywhere in the bible and what people really need is truth. One thing to add when you said "if this diminishes his sovereignty so be it". Actually to be sovereign means to be "free from influence". God is sovereign, He is free from influence... until He speaks. Once He says something He is bound by His word; that's why we can trust Him. He said "I put my word above name." In the Hebrew the name of a thing is the same as the thing itself. So when He said I put my word above name, He was saying I put my word above myself- He was saying once He speaks He is bound by His own word. This is an awesome truth! God is sovereign until He speaks. How many times did He say He would do something but because of His covenant... or because of His promise to David... That's why God doesn't talk to much.. because if He ever says something- He has to do it. So we read His word to find His promises and then line up with them and we can see the kingdom of God manifest in our lives! -Nathan (www.byeveryword.org)
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