The Problem of Pain - The Epicurean Paradox

Wikipedia describes the Epicurean Paradox (attributed to the Greek Philosopher Epicurus, 341-270 BC) as follows:

• If God knows everything and has unlimited power, then He has knowledge of all evil and has the power to put an end to it. But if He does not end it, He is not completely benevolent.
• If God has unlimited power and is completely good, then He has the power to extinguish evil and wants to extinguish it. But if He does not do it, its knowledge of evil is limited, so He is not allknowing.
• If God is all-knowing and totally good, then He knows of all the evil that exists and wants to change it. But if He does not, it must be because He is not capable of changing it, so He is not omnipotent.

This seemingly logical trilemma is based on a fallacious assumption, to wit, that God operates with the same limitations in logical space that we do. But the Bible makes it clear that God exists in a transcendent, eternal dimension that we cannot understand. He is outside of time, and His infinite access to every person, event, and location enable Him to make decisions and take actions for the best possible outcome from His eternal perspective. Our definition of benevolent is earthly.

In practical terms, when we look at suffering and ask God to intervene, and He doesn’t, we rule out lack of knowledge because we told Him about it. What does this mean? There are at least three possibilities:

• It is the result of a decision or decisions that people have made. If God were to trump every bad or evil decision made by people by overriding its results, that would effectively eliminate free will from humans. Reaping what we and others sow may seem cruel, but that is how God intends humankind to learn and grow. If others inflict suffering on someone, the human race is responsible for mitigating it as best they can and bringing justice. For example, World War II and the Nuremberg trials.
• God may intend that His children (us!) learn and grow through suffering. This not a school that we normally want to enroll in, but God from His transcendent perspective knows when it is the best way for us to learn, things like compassion, patience, character, and faith. We can look at the suffering of Job, and see that he seriously questioned God’s character. His ‘comforters’ bought into the legalistic school that Job was reaping what he sowed. Job knew he hadn’t sowed the seeds of everything that happened, so it was unfair. In the end, God spoke to Job out of the whirlwind and revealed both His transcendence and Job’s innocence. The rest of Job’s life hints at what he had learned.(Job 42:13-17) 
• A third possibility is that God simply wants to deepen a person’s relationship with Him, sometimes  called intimacy with Christ. When we are in great pain, it opens our hearts to turn to the Lord more fully, because the pain blocks our mental functioning from being distracted. Of course painkillers can weaken or nullify this pathway, but sometimes God sovereignly chooses it for us.

There are likely other paradigms fully consistent with God’s perfect love and omnipotence, based on His transcendent sovereignty. We need the recognition that we possess none of these ourselves, to be humble enough to hear His voice in the storm so that we can receive what He has planned for us.

Romans 9-10 God’s Sovereignty, Divine Election, and the Declaration of Faith

Romans 9

Romans 9:1-5 Paul might have been perceived as loving his enemies in the spirit of Matthew 5:44 because of all the grief that the Jews had caused him, but instead his love for them is that of a grieving relative for family members whose lives have gone off the track.

Romans 9:8 refers back to 4:18-22

Romans 9:11 God’s purpose(s) in divine election remain sovereignly inscrutable to us. He is transcendent. 

Romans 9:15-24 How do we reconcile God’s sovereign choices with either ‘the just shall live by faith’ (chapters 3-4) or life in the Spirit (chapter 8)? It is that we care about this! Jesus offers redemption, but we have to receive it (and Him).

Romans 9:19-24 Paul answers questions with rhetorical questions about God’s sovereign actions. Who are we to resist God’s will, or talk back to Him? (Job 42:2-6)  Cannot the potter make whatever He pleases out of the clay? (Genesis 2:7) How do we respond to His long-suffering mercy?

Romans 9:30-33 Paul asks two more questions as food for thought, and gives answers. What shall we say to God saving gentiles? Why did Israel not get saved by their works of the Law? (See Matthew 23)

 

This chapter is sprinkled with about a dozen Old Testament quotes. There are two major themes that the Old Testament reveals about the coming of Jesus: the essence of faith in God is acting on what He has said; God’s sovereignty is revealed in our faith choices in response to Jesus - we can choose but God’s sovereignty cannot be manipulated by us.

• Romans 9:7 quotes Genesis 21:12; children of faith are God’s children, not necessarily the physical descendants of saints. Those raised in the household of faith have the advantage of a godly upbringing, but they must choose for themselves.
• Romans 9:9 quotes Genesis 18:10 & 14 - in between which Sarah laughed; Sarah’s laughter did not nullify God’s promise to give Abraham a child by her. He delivers what He promises on His timetable, not ours. He is not constrained to our understanding of reality.
• Romans 9:12-13 quotes Genesis 25:23 and Malachi 1:2-3. Some might interpret this as saying Esau never had a chance, because God’s mind was made up before he and Jacob were born. But from God’s eternal perspective, outside of time, He knew that Esau would despise his birthright, the first-born’s privilege of being God’s advocate to others, but choose instead to grasp the heel of his brother and to focus on worldly things.
• Romans 9:15 quotes Exodus 33:19; God’s mercy and compassion on some is not unjust. He transcendently knows and does what is best, based on His merciful heart. If we have free will to accept or reject His love, how much more does He have freedom to show mercy to whom He will?
• Romans 9:17 quotes Exodus 9:16; Pharaoh similarly was given the opportunity to know God as Moses did, growing up in the same household, surrounded by Hebrews, and could have joined in displaying God’s power as Joseph’s Pharaoh had, but instead chose paranoia and domination, which God foreknew from an eternal perspective.
• Romans 9:20-21 refers to Isaiah’s discussion of God as a potter (Isaiah 29:16, 45:9). This alludes to God’s sovereignty over all the He has created. What can a character in a play say to the playwright who wrote the script to question why it is written a certain way?
• Romans 9:25-26 quotes Hosea 2:23 and 1:10. Although God called the Jews His chosen people, He now chooses to do the same for gentiles who will respond to Jesus’ invitation. Being called is not the same as being chosen; although God loves them all, they must reciprocate to be included, both Jews and gentiles.
• Romans 9:27-28 quotes Isaiah 10:22-23, where he prophesied that although Israel might prosper numerically, the day will come when only a fraction of them will remain His, and that separation will happen quickly and irreversibly. That day was when the gospel was preached to them, and only a few received Jesus.
• Romans 9:29 quotes Isaiah 1:9, repeating the theme  of 9:27-28.
• Romans 9:33 quotes Isaiah 8:14 & 28:16. Jesus is a stumbling stone to the Jews who think that having the Law and the Prophets means they have God figured out and are blind to what is in front of them (Jesus). But He will protect and defend those who recognize and receive Him.

Romans 10

Romans 10:4-5 The purpose of the Law was to bring right living to believers, which it could not do; Jesus did. This is the sense in which He is the consummation of the Law. Paul cites Leviticus 18:5 as to the purpose of the the Law - living it. 

Romans 10:6-8 Paul cites Deuteronomy 30:12-14 to make a parallel to Christ. Just as the Law is not far from them, so Jesus, the incarnate Word of God (John 1:1), is near us. We can read the Law any time we have a Bible in our hands, we don’t have to hunt for it, and so with Jesus.  It was not so in the times of Josiah (2 Kings 22). But even in Paul’s time, before the printing press, the Torah was in every synagogue. How much more is Jesus in every person’s life all the time.

Romans 10:9-10 Our verbal confession of faith is important both for us and for those around us. Heart-belief  results in justification (legal right-standing), and mouth-confession results in salvation (rescue, an action by God). 

Romans 10:11 is a bit of a mystery. The Scripture Paul apparently quotes Isaiah 28:16, but that verse doesn’t seem to quite match his quote of it. In Isaiah, talking about the precious cornerstone He will lay in Zion, the sovereign Lord says, “the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic”, or maybe “…shall not hurry.” How does this relate to shame? But Paul’s point is that Jesus provides the covering for our exposed sin before God, so that we will not be ashamed to be with Him. 

Romans 10:13 Quoting Joel 2:32, Paul simply says whoever calls on the Lord by name will be saved. 

Romans 10:14-15 The purpose of life, and the purpose of the church, is to declare the gospel, the good news of Jesus. Beyond purpose, it makes our feet beautiful. In John 13:4-17, Jesus washed the disciple’ feet in anticipation of their taking His message to the whole world. His point was that service to others is the kingdom lifestyle. 

Romans 10:16 quotes Isaiah 53:1 which is the lead-in to Isaiah’s famous messianic prophecy, and supports Paul’s famous statement that faith come from hearing the declaration of the word concerning Christ. Paul does not, in this passage, review the fulfillment of particulars of Isaiah’s prophecy in Christ, because Paul’s point is related to the impetus for preaching the gospel. But …

• Isaiah 53:2 Jesus’ appearance must have been unremarkable because those who rejected His message saw only a troublemaker or false prophet, not God incarnate.
• Isaiah 53:3 In the garden of Gethsemane, the Jewish priests and guards bound Jesus, then took Him to stand trial before the Sanhedrin and Pontius Pilate. Peter denied Him three times. 
• Isaiah 53:4-6 During His scourging and on the cross, Jesus suffered for our sufferings, paid the price for our sins, and the crowds jeered and cheered. 
• Isaiah 53:6-7 Jesus was the good Shepherd and gave His life for us, His sheep. YHWH supernaturally allowed our sins to be placed on Him, so that He could atone for them Although Jesus was the good Shepard, He took the role of a sheep, to be sheared and slaughtered.
• Isaiah 53:8 The people of Jesus’ time saw Him die. We know He went to Sheol to rescue those who had died in faith because their transgressions were paid for.
• Isaiah 53:9 Jesus was crucified between two thieves, and Joseph of Arimathea took His body and buried it in his tomb, not knowing Jesus only needed to borrow it for three days, because He was innocent.
• Isaiah 53:10 YHWH was pleased with Jesus’ offering of Himself, raised Him from the dead, and gave Him all believers as His inheritance. They would become His bride.
• Isaiah 53:11 Jesus paid the penalty for sins of many, many people, a vast multitude, providing them the legal status of justification.
• Isaiah 53:12 summarizes the plan of redemption and its outcome.

Romans 10:18 Paul quotes Psalm 19:4 that the heavens declare God’s truth to the entire world. It is hard to see how the plan of salvation is declared in the stars, but some say that the constellation names show a picture-book rendering of the gospel.  Perhaps the virgin (Virgo) provides the pathway for the Lion (Leo) of the Tribe of Judah to satisfy the requirements of the scales of justice (Libra). These are all preceded by twins of human and divine origin, Castor and Pollux (a.k.a. Gemini).

Romans 10:19 Paul quotes from the song of Moses, to show that it was prophesied that Israel would be jealous of the gospel going to the gentiles. (Deuteronomy 32:21)

Romans 10:20-21 quotes Isaiah 65:1-2 to reinforce that because of God’s disappointment with Israel’s response to Christ, and their overall lack of obedience to Him, He would reveal Himself to the gentiles. 

Romans 7-8 The Cancer of Sin and Life in the Spirit

Romans 7

Romans 7:1 Paul takes a different perspective than Jesus did in the beatitudes.  In Matthew 5:3-10 Jesus talks about the happiness and blessedness of those who have certain attitudes and behaviors. Paul looks at the Law as having jurisdiction over us as long as we live. (We will see that his perspective changes on chapter 8.) Jesus went on to to explain that the Law would not be done away with, but must be met to enter the kingdom of heaven. How did Jesus reconcile these? The same way Paul does in Romans 8. Paul repeated this statement in Galatians 5:1.

Romans 7:2-5 Paul did not discuss divorce, but simply used the prohibition of adultery while married as an illustration (a metaphor) of our sin when we are under the Law. Jesus said words about divorce and adultery that closely parallel what Paul said. (Matthew 5:27-32) The difference is that Jesus was illustrating purity of heart and actually talking about lust, while Paul is making an analogy to a legal distinction and trying to illustrate a difficult theological truth. 

Romans 7:6 There is no shortcut or magic deliverance from sin, only death to the flesh so the life of the spirit is released. Consider modern treatments for cancer, which usually involve combinations of one or more of surgery, chemotherapy, and/or radiation. Cancer is found in tumors, but residual cells that may have been released by tumors that are removed surgically can create new tumors. Radiation and chemo kill these rogue cells, but also kill a lot of healthy cells as well, to make sure that all of the cancerous cells are dead. Cancer cells infiltrate healthy tissue in their insidious campaign to reproduce and spread. The parallel to sin is obvious. The healthy cells lack any ability to eliminate invading cancer cells. The penalty of death is paid by these otherwise healthy cells.

Romans 7:7-9 Coveting was the tenth command given to Moses. (Exodus 20:17) It is the only commandment that is internal, not an action. Perhaps that is what makes it so insidious.

Romans 7:10-13 The commands were intended to bring life by helping us as humans to live full lives. In the sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned that no one can serve two masters, about storing up treasures on earth, and how earthly treasures’ effect on our hearts. (Matthew 6:19-24) 

Romans 7:14 Paul echoes Jesus’ words that whoever commits sin is the slave of sin. (John 8:34)

Romans 7:15-25 The internal struggle that everyone faces is to do what is good, even though we know deep down that it is right and want to do it. We can try to exercise self-control, or blame “the law of sin” inside us. In our right minds, we want to be rescued. Paul is deluded in his mind if he thinks it is master over his nature, but his mind is also able to discern righteousness and sin, and also desires to do what is right. They can’t all be correct at the same time. There is some comfort in knowing that even Paul had this struggle. Most likely, the truth is that our sin nature is not just part of our mind, but is an infection in the heart.

Romans 8

Romans 8:1-4 This is God’s answer to the dilemma posed in 7:21-25. It contrasts directly the Spirit of life as against the law of sin and death. God’s law is satisfied in those in Christ through the working of the Holy Spirit. Since most of our experience is with a lifestyle of sin and suffering, it seems to me that Paul is vision-casting here. This is what God’s ideal is for us, we could live this way if we live according to the Spirit, not the flesh. 

Romans 8:11 Jesus’ body was resurrected. We can have life now! The implication is that if the Holy Spirit dwells in us, as Jesus promised, then that Spirit is working in us to bring His life to us, even as we struggle to receive it because of the works of the flesh described in earlier chapters. God will ultimately have His way in the lives of those who choose Him.

There are many aspects of life in  the Spirit

• Romans 8:1  There is no condemnation.
• Romans 8:4  We will fully meet the Law’s requirements.
• Romans 8:6  We can have a mind of life and peace.
• Romans 8:10  Righteousness brings life.
• Romans 8:11-13  Life in mortal bodies in which fleshly misdeeds are put to death.
• Romans 8:14-17  We are children of God and His heirs.
• Romans 8:17-21  We share in Jesus’ sufferings and glory.
• Romans 8:23-27  The Holy Spirit prays through us without words. Perhaps a reference to glossolalia. (1 Corinthians 14:2) These prayers are in accordance with God’s will.
• Romans 8:28  God works all things for good.
• Romans 8:37-39  There is no separation from God.

Romans 8:18-23 Earth will become like heaven when God’s kingdom is established here. We are agents to bring this about through the Holy Spirit. The birth of the new creation is directly tied to our bodily redemption.

Romans 8:31-39 gives five questions, some rhetorical, and answers.

• Romans 8:31 (rhetorical) If God is for us, who can be against us?
• Romans 8:32 (rhetorical) Since God did not spare Jesus, in order to rescue us, how will He not give is all things?
• Romans 8:33 (rhetorical) Who brings charges against us (Gods elect)? God justifies us.
• Romans 8:34 Who condemns us? No one. Jesus intercedes for us.
• Romans 8:35-39 Who separates us from the love of Christ? In this list of troubles, beings, events, and aspects of the universe, nothing trumps the love of God in Jesus. Psalm 44:22 is quoted to demonstrate that trials and tribulations are nothing new, especially for those who fear God, but in the power of the Holy Spirit, we are overcomers of it all.

The rise and fall of everything … in this universe.

 

One universal pattern that we see in life is that nothing lasts forever. Whether it is people who are born, mature, age, and eventually pass away, or nations, or institutions, or even stars everything eventually come to an end. This can be attributed to the second law of thermodynamics, which simply states that in a closed system entropy always increases.   Entropy is a measure of the ability of energy to do useful work, lower entropy meaning more available capability; as useful work is done, entropy increases. (A comparable measure exists for information.) There is even something called the “heat death of the universe”, which is that future condition when matter and energy are uniformly distributed so that nothing ever changes, the ultimate outcome of the 2nd law of thermodynamics

Consider human lives. Our DNA defines our body structure from the inside, with the environment acting on the outside. As we age, our DNA degrades due to a variety of factors. As a result, our bodies also begin to decay beginning after early adulthood. Of course, environmental factors like smoking, alcohol consumption, environmental toxins, poor diet also contribute to bodily decay. The only thing that drives healthy development from conception to adulthood is the healthy DNA at birth, and healthy lifestyles thereafter.

The rise and fall of the Third Reich was documented by Shirer. The decline and fall of the Roman Empire was a series of books by Gibbon. The decline of the Spanish Empire is not nearly so often discussed, but it goes something like this. After defeating the Islamic invaders and ejecting them from the Iberian peninsula in 1492, Spain very quickly took on the task of exploring and conquering the New World that Columbus had just discovered. They discovered that the pagan religion of the natives in America practiced human sacrifice on a scale that apparently surpassed that of the ancient Canaanites.  This is documented in Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Conquest of Darkness by Warren Carroll. The Spanish took on the task of conquering the Aztec empire and evangelizing the people. This was completed in a very short time on historical scales, and coincided with the establishment of an empire covering more than half of Central and South America, and a good part of North America. Sadly, Spain drifted from this evangelical fervor to focus on collecting as much gold and silver as could be collected and shipped back to Spain. Secular history records factors that were efficient causes of Spain’s decline, such as debt default, hyperinflation, the collapse of domestic industry, and over-reliance on the  imports of precious metals from the new world. But the final cause was their turn from God to materialism. 

We could do a similar analysis of the decline of the British empire, but that is left as an exercise for the reader. (The London Missionary Society and the banker mindset portrayed in the Mary Poppins movie are clues.)

There is a hint of what is not subject to the second law. The origin of the universe. The source of the DNA that infants have at conception. The power that enabled Spain to quickly conquer so much territory and so many people. The power of God lies outside this universe and is not subject to this seemingly universal principle. It is related to the child’s question, if God created everything, who created God? Or Aristotle’s immovable mover. Some things are outside our comprehension. 

The real question is what the implications are for us. How we live. What we prioritize. The decisions we make. Our goals in life. Because it can end in decay and failure, or growth and success. Our choice to pursue God or man will ultimately determine the outcome. When our body inevitably decays, what will be our legacy? Have we left our children a heritage of faith and faithfulness? What have we left our society, that part of the world we have contact with? Material wealth, money, or human institutions that will crumble like crumbling ruins of the Roman Empire? What Jesus offers is eternal life. How can we share that? 

Part of our society has a greatness mindset, but what made America great? Was/is it John D  Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J P Morgan, Henry Ford, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg? George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, FDR? Martin Luther King, Jr., Thomas Paine, Susan B Anthony,  William Lloyd Garrison, Booker T. Washington, Jonathan Edwards, Billy Graham,  D. L. Moody,  Billy Sunday? What meets the test of lasting greatness?

 

Movie Review - Angel Studios Young David

The impact of leaders’ life choices on legitimacy.

The Angel Studios animated movie about young David is not a Hallmark movie. The Biblical basis of the movie is clear from beginning to end, but the key empowering trait of this movie is the character of David lived out in action. Sometimes intense action. The confrontation of the Israelites with the Philistines and the Amalekites includes not just tribal warfare, but also pagan worship that was their source of empowerment. Goliath, in particular, is shown in direct defiance of YHWH, screaming at Him in the heavens. King Saul’s mental illness is clearly portrayed as due to demonic influence, that David’s worship songs overcome when he sang. 

But this isn’t primarily about evil spirits or spiritual warfare - that is just the context for David’s character, his love for God, his influence on those around him, to show why he was the true and correct king of Israel. There are several songs that match the circumstances and needs of the situation at hand. He knows the names of his sheep. He confronts a lion to protect them. He is often challenged by both people and circumstances and is able to summon up his faith in God to meet the challenges. The movie makes evident to a young audience a lifestyle of walking with and serving God, that it is not easy because life is not easy, but that with God is worthwhile. The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, although the movie ends just as peace comes to Israel, but does not portray it in action, just its arrival.

One theme of the movie is that when government leaders do not do what is right, the people are divided. Some choose to follow the government, some choose to honor and serve God. The resulting social and cultural friction makes them vulnerable to outside threats. In the movie, the Philistines and the Amalekites are the threat. The Israelites become prey to strong and united evil. But these evil tribes become weak when God-honoring Israel is united in serving Him. And it is clear that the source of governmental strength or weakness is the righteousness or its lack in the king, as the  government surrounds and follows him. When the king sins, the consequences for the nation are division, unrest, and vulnerability. (The movie does not go this far, but we know from Scripture that later in David’s reign, it happened again.)

A philosophical rabbit-trail. Saul and David were both kings but the observations above apply equally to leaders or rulers regardless of how they came into power. We now have presidents and prime ministers and autocrats of various types who came into power by many different mechanisms. Elections (some rigged, some free and fair), political negotiations, revolutions, coups d’etat, and inherited (very rare these days). Saul was the peoples’ choice because he was tall and looked the part. David was chosen by God and had to prove himself while God was simultaneously training and preparing him, eventually acknowledged by the people. From whence does legitimate political power come? This movie does not directly address the divine right of kings, asserted during the 17th and 18th centuries, but speaks to legitimacy. A ruler who serves God wholeheartedly brings blessing to those he or she governs. When that ruler falls short, the people are impacted, and when they turn from God, the people they rule suffer. Regardless of their claimed doctrine - economic, social, political - their practice of righteousness, or lack thereof, is the litmus test of their reign. And it goes without further elaboration, this applies to leaders at all levels.

Returning to the movie, the graphics and the music are very well-done. The prophet Samuel is portrayed oddly, without a forehead; I haven’t figured out if this is significant. David’s mother sings a few songs to encourage him and to talk about the stuff of life, like God weaving a tapestry in your life that is made up of threads that are individually just thread. The animations are sometimes so lifelike the viewer might think they are photography. 

Overall, the movie is designed to appeal to and inspire young men ages ten and up, but it also lifts the spirits of adults as well.