Customer Reviews

The Enigma about Divine Love and the Creation of Evil: The Lost Belief Among Early Christians about a God of Total Compassion

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Ray Embry says that in our society, if a man went through a village and systematically killed people, it would be very difficult for him to prove himself to be good and loving, yet Jehovah committed this exact atrocity in Egypt and Canaan, and yet there are many who claim he is both "good" and "loving". Embry continues, confrontingly;

"With such an inconsistent application of words, the distinctions between good and evil become unclear. We can say: The devil is evil because he might hurt people. What are we saying if we claim: Jehovah is good, even though he hurt people? Until we insist on more consistency in our use of language, we remain susceptible to a system of governance that subtly blurs semantic distinctions until in the end evil is being called good. ...and it is possible that we might wind up holding up as our highest ideal a murderer if we fall victim to the subtle trick of switching definitions." (p 49)

Shocking words, yet so vital that we hear this message in the world we know today! The book contains a beautiful message about a God of pure love - no punishments, no snakes, no storms, tsunamis or earthquakes; just pure compassion! Rather, it is humankind which projects its revengefulness and sinfulness onto God and onto the NT, which is not the true picture of God himself.

My only complaint is that the text could have been worded and worked in a tighter way, but it still gets 5 stars for its message and uniqueness.