Guest post from Arthur Yavelberg: Vengeance, Justice, Forgiveness, and Love

 

Romans 12:19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “Vengeance is mine, thus saith the Lord."

I see a lot of memes and comments to the effect that "God is love" and, while the OT is all about retributive justice, the NT is about forgiveness and loving our enemies. Biblical verses to the contrary are dismissed as "metaphors" or primitive human interjections.

At first I have my usual reactions. "How is it that Hell as a place of eternal punishment for sin appears many times in the NT but not at all in the OT?" There is also the typical "Isn't it awfully convenient for Scriptures we like to be taken literally while those we don't like should not?" Then there is the philosophical question of justice. "Shall not the Creator of all the world do justly?" (Gen. 18:26) Exactly what happens to justice in such forgiveness and love scenarios?

Today I did have a different thought, though. People are people...not God, but flawed human beings who may not always be able to meet such lofty standards as "loving our enemies." I remember a book--"The Sunflower," by Simon Wisenthal. A former Nazi prison guard is on his deathbed and he asks the Jewish protagonist for forgiveness for all the terrible things he did to Jews in one of the camps. Short story shorter: the protagonist listens sympathetically to the guard's remorse, but ultimately says something to the effect of "It is not for me to forgive you or not forgive you. You have to make your case to those poor souls you tortured."

I think there is some fundamental truth there. I looked up Romans 12, especially Paul's "Vengeance is mine, thus saith the Lord." Yes, the context is all about loving our enemies, but verse 19 recognizes the victim's need for vengeance--"justice" may be more to the point. I don't know that even God has the right to forgive that which victims will not. Put another way: it is like torturing the victim twice. First, there is the human victimizer who committed the crime. Second, and maybe worse, God seems to say to the victim that there is nothing s/he can do about that horrific injustice--despite every sinew in the body screaming for justice. Crucified on the Cross, Jesus may very well have been able to love and forgive his enemies no matter what. Still, as Alan Watts says, "It is impossible for us mere humans to live up to the standards of the Boss's Son."

However, there may be a way out--right there, on the Cross. If God or whomever can explain to the victim the meaning of "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do." then it may be possible to meet Paul's requirement that "Love must be sincere." After all, people do, in fact, commit evil out of ignorance or psychological pathology. If victimizers fully understood the nature of the Divine and how we all are One, they would never harm one another--much like no pickpocket picks his own pocket. Assuming there is a heaven where we will all have a better, broader perspective, maybe then we will all better understand--and then, maybe only then, be able to sincerely forgive.

Arthur is the author of A Theology for the Rest of Us by Arthur Yavelberg.

Book description:

If God exists and is good, why is there evil? Avoiding such questions underlies the spiritual emptiness and anxiety in today's world. A Theology for the Rest of Us explores how to approach the divine through Eastern and Western religious traditions without dogma, challenging readers to "be you lamps unto yourselves."

In a time of internecine wars and all kinds of abuse of authority and trust, too many good, thoughtful people are "voting with their feet" and turning away from organized religion. Popular "spirituality"-a sort of mysticism-lite articulated in memes-is often unsatisfying as well.

A Theology for the Rest of Us is a straightforward approach to the fundamental questions of religion and philosophy:

- Does God exist?

- Is there free will?

- What is 'evil'?

This book draws on the traditions of the East as well as the West-Taoism, Buddhism and Hinduism in addition to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam-to see what can make sense in today's world. Whether exploring the implications of 17th century Enlightenment philosophers, quantum physics, or the insights of writers such as Dostoyevsky and Alan Watts, the reader is offered a rational, coherent approach that can provide understanding and a basis for hope in a world where the spirit has been all but decimated by doubt and worse.

Most important, the reader is encouraged to sift through these sources and choose what resonates and what does not. As the Buddha taught so many years ago, the Prime Directive is "Be ye lamps unto yourselves." A Theology for the Rest of Us makes teachings accessible to those who have already begun their spiritual journeys, validating their questions and showing that reasonable answers are available.

RECOMMENDED by the US Review of Books

A Theology for the Rest of Us has earned the following awards:

Best Indie Book Award

International Impact Book Award

Literary Titan Silver Aware

American BookFest Best Books Award finalist

Want to know more about Arthur and his book? Click HERE for more posts and HERE for the book trailer.

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