Paradox in God

I mentioned the idea of paradox yesterday, and I would like to develop that idea a little bit more today.  Particularly I would like to develop the idea of paradox and how it relates to our conception of God, how it can, in fact, be informative for us as we think about God.  In looking at how we can understand more about God as we understand paradoxes, we will need to touch on a classic idea of Christian apologetics.  The idea I want to look at is the definition of God.  As we examine the definition of God, I hope that we will understand the value of recognizing that there is a paradox present in our formulation of God, and how that paradox is resolved through our relationship with Christ.

Okay, when dealing with any paradox, or any apologetic, you have to be a little familiar with some of the basic rules of logic.  But, you also have to be familiar with the definitions of some of the terms you may encounter.  For instance, while the term "apologetic" is becoming more widely understood these days, many people still think of an apology as merely saying, "Sorry!" for something.  When we discuss an apology in terms of apologetics though we do not mean you are asking for forgiveness, instead the term means you are setting up a logical defense for a position.  So, what I want to examine is an apology (a rational defense) for the normal Christian understanding of God.

But, what is the normal Christian understanding of God, and why would it need a defense?  Well, the normal understanding of God, as espoused by Christians throughout history, is that God is present everywhere, knows everything (including all possibilities and potential situations), is capable of doing any which he may desire, and is totally good, along with these attributes God is also totally holy (that is morally pure, separate from creation, and sufficient in himself).  In addition to these points though, as matters of derivation, because God is holy he is also just, punishing perfectly for any breach of the moral law (because he cannot stand any impurity in his presence).  Because he is all powerful he is capable of enforcing any punishment he might set out, and because he is all knowing there is no breach of morality of which God is unaware.

It is in this area that some people have argued there is a necessary contradiction: because God is holy he must be totally just, or else his holiness is compromised.  But because God is all good he must be merciful because mercy is recognized as a good trait, particularly when those who are weaker humbly petition for mercy from a higher authority.  Yet, if God is merciful he cannot be just, because when mercy is practiced justice necessarily abrogated by the act of mercy.  So there exists a contradiction in the way Christians think of God: he cannot be both totally just and full of mercy (merciful) at the same time.

This is the beauty of theology.  When we understand the doctrines of the faith and we begin to think about them logically we can understand how they are connected, where they conflict, and whether or not there may be some means of reconciliation available to us.  In this case we are faced with what would have remained an apparent paradox to the observant Jew in the time of the prophets.  God had commanded sacrifices to be performed constantly, he required ritual cleanliness before any could approach his thrown, but, at the same time, the prophets rebuked the people when they came before God with their sacrifices, because the people themselves were not pure. (Jeremiah 7)

What then could there be for a solution?  We see in Psalm 32 that David extols the blessed state of the man who has been forgiven of his sins.  And in 2 Samuel 12:13 we read that God had put away David's sin, as soon as he confessed.  Yet, how could there be forgiveness for David without the appropriate sacrifice of a sin offering?  How could God so quickly forgive David his iniquity when David had not yet performed the required rites incumbent upon him?

Every day two lambs were to be offered at the temple, and every day a bull was to be offered as a sin offering for the people of God. (Exodus 29)  Yet, Hebrews makes clear that despite these offers being given day after day, the offerings were never able to cleanse the people from their sins. (Hebrews 10:1-4)  An observant Jew would have been aware of this, recognizing that because God is totally just the blood of a bull cannot cleanse a man, and indeed it was not the blood at all that cleansed, but it was the faith of a man to come before God and ask for forgiveness.  Throughout Scripture whenever men responded to God in faith, confessing Sin, humbly going to God and asking for forgiveness, God always has responded with mercy.  But, on what basis could there be mercy, would this not conflict with his just and holy nature?

Christian apologetics can rightfully answer this question where no other religion can.  In no other religion is there a satisfactory answer for how to resolve the paradox of God's justice and his mercy.  If men strive by dint of great works to earn a place before God, they will always fail because no good work done now can erase the actions done in the past.  If men say, "We know that God is a good God and capable of forgiving us," but they have nothing by which God may grant them such forgiveness, then they have a system that, at best, will not be logically sound.  Whether by works or by simple hope, there is no way that anyone can argue that they have a holy God who is both just and merciful, because their God will necessarily be off balance in one direction or the other.

Some get around this by rejecting the idea of a holy God.  That is, people think that God would not demand perfection, because no man can be perfect.  Such a god tolerates some sin in his presence, or maybe he tolerates all sin, if you are a Universalist, but he might require some people to do some kind of post-death activity to get cleaned up enough to be with him for eternity.  This god is a puny and pathetic god, a god who is not just, who is not holy, and who is incapable of cleansing those who would stand before him.  There is no reason to serve this god, because it doesn't matter what you do, as long as you exist, eventually you could find a way to stand before him.  This god, if we want to be strictly logical, is irrelevant to life, because he makes the sun to rise upon the innocent and the guilty, and when they die they all get to see his face as well.

But, the Christian God, he punishes to the full extent of his ability.  He is totally holy, he proclaims that he will judge every disobedient person with fire and vengeance. (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9)  There is nothing to laugh at in regards to his justice and power, and there is great reason to serve him and to obey his words.  The true God, the only Father of Lights, his holiness is not diminished by his mercy.  We have much to rejoice at because of this, because that holiness which now prevents us from drawing too near to him will one day be the holiness we will partake of in full!

But, how can God be both just and merciful?  Our answer is the cross of the Lord, Jesus Christ.  Because God is a just and righteous God, he demanded full payment for every sin.  But, because God is a merciful and kind God, he provided a payment for us who could not satisfy the debt ourselves.  Instead of sentencing all men to eternal separation from his holy presence, God placed his judgment upon his Son, so that Christ proclaimed on the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  Because God allowed his Son to die on the cross, because God chose to place the judgment due us on the lamb he provided, he preserved both his justice and his mercy.

There is a paradox in the Christian understanding of God, but it is a paradox that drives us to Christ.  Our theology does not take us away from the glory of God, but leads us back to give God even more glory.  We do not need to fear logic, but in examining logic, even when it claims a contradiction in our faith, we can acknowledge that our God is so great that he has saved us through a paradox of his own character, a paradox that makes him greater than any human conception of God could be.  To this God, the only perfect and wonderful maker and savior of all men be the glory.  Let us rejoice that in paradoxes God reveals himself, otherwise we would have only the promise of judgment and fear, instead of a hope for life and joy.