"If we are to preserve the balance of scripture, our definition of God's anger must avoid opposite extremes. On one hand, there are those who see it as no different from sinful human anger. On the other, there are those who declare that the very notion of anger as a personal attribute or attitude of God must be abandoned. Human anger, although there is such a thing as righteous indignation, is mostly very unrighteous. It is an irrational and uncontrollable emotion, containing much vanity, animosity, malice and the desire for revenge. It should go without saying that God's anger is absolutely free of all such poisonous ingredients...The wrath of God then, is almost totally different than human anger. It does not mean that God loses his temper, flies into a rage, or is ever malicious, spiteful, or vindictive. The alternative to 'wrath' is not 'love' but 'neutrality' in the moral conflict. And God is not neutral. On the contrary, his wrath is his holy hostility to evil, his refusal to condone it or come to terms with it, his just judgment upon it. In general, the wrath of God is directed against evil alone. We get angry when our pride has been wounded; but there is no personal pique in the anger of God. Nothing arouses it except evil, and evil always does."
John R.W. Stott
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment