Perhaps one of the most practical, yet most overlooked, theological questions is simply, "Why does God not reveal Himself to us?" That is to say, why does God seem to work behind the scenes and away from our inquisitive eyes? I believe that at least part of the answer to this question is shared by part of the answer to the Problem of Evil.
The Proud Man and the Loving God
CS Lewis, in his book, 'The Problem of Pain', goes over the fall of man and says, I feel very accurately, that the first sin man committed was to take his eyes off of God and put them on himself. In other words, Adam put himself above God, thereby distorting the natural order of creation (at least to an extent). CS Lewis tells us in the same book that pain is God's "megaphone" to rouse a dead world. God allows, at least some, suffering for the purpose of showing us that something isn't quite right with the world. It is a way in which he is able to take our eyes off of ourselves long enough to cast them upon Him. So in other words, pain is a sort of humility that occurs. It makes us realize that we are not perfect, and that the world around us is also lacking. Lets not forget that the men and women in the Bible who were closest to God were the ones who seemed to suffer most. Yet, I would dare say that they gladly chose their suffering, because in their suffering they found God. Blessed are those who mourn...
How Faith Ties In
Since man has become a rather proud beast, he has come to find himself to be very clever. It forgets that the high sciences it has aspired to are like pre-school lessons for God. Science is simply the study of how God's creation works. A study which we have yet to finish!! Yet, even though man is far inferior to God, we are still proud. So how does God humble us? Through pain He shows us that the world isn't what it should be (or once was...), and through faith He shows us that we are not as smart as we would like to believe. In other words, Faith knocks us down and causes us to look up and see God. However, just as it is the case with pain, faith can also push people away. Some people suffer and they respond by building walls and shutting out not only the world, but God. With faith, some people hear about this almighty God who is invisible, and they laugh at the idea. Others, as Kierkegaard points out, are offended by the idea that we are told we must believe in a man who claimed to be God. So we see that both suffering and faith, which are excellent tools for producing the good, may also cause some people to further separate themselves from God. That is one of the miracles of free will, that you can choose to respond to the world as you wish to. God will honor your response, even if it means being separated from Him for all of eternity....the doors of Hell are, as CS Lewis says, locked from the inside.
In Closing
I hope that this has been of help to you. I do not claim to have given all the possible answers to these two theological problems. I have simply shared with you CS Lewis' ideas coupled with my own insight.
God bless and Jesus loves you!!
-Jon
No comments:
Post a Comment