Discussion»Statements»Rosie's Corner» Unconditional Love. An Answermug pal just wrote "Even God doesn't have unconditional love. If He did there wouldn't be Hell". COMMENTS?
That person is sadly mistaken. God DOES have unconditional love. However, He does NOT have unlimited patience. (big difference) Love does NOT negate punishment for disobedience (even by humans standards). "Eternal punishment is for those who steadfastly refuse to obey. A loving parent tells their child, "don't play in the freeway". But if the child goes ahead and plays in the freeway and is killed by a car, it wasn't because their parent didn't love them. It was because they didn't listen to their parent.
We have a failure to communicate m'dear. It happens and it is no one's fault. My perception/understanding of "unconditional love" and yours are not the same. For me "unconditional love" would include unconditional patience. I honestly don't understand your examples Shuhak. They don't make any sense to me. No disrespect to you but you know I always say what I think. Sometimes folks try very patiently to explain things to me and I still don't get it. Apologies to you for my limited ability. I don't see it the way you do. Doesn't matter does it? Thank you for your reply and Happy Wednesday!Q :)
Hi tom. As I explained to Shuhak my understanding of "unconditional love" would include unconditional patience. I don't see how one can be unlimited while the other has conditions. Unconditional means without conditions. Also how does logic have anything to do with an emotion such as love? Once again I'm stymied and do not share your view. It's OK though isn't it? We can disagree and still be agreeable. I hope I'm being agreeable here. I doubt seriously that GOD unconditionally loves the Hitlers of the world or the Assads or the Putins or the Trumps. Logical consequences notwithstanding love is love and logic is logic. How and where do they meet? I'm gonna ask. Thank you for your reply and Happy Wednesday! :)
CS Lewis wrote in The Abolition of Man that they cannot meet in in "men without chests."
“Men Without Chests” is the curious title of the first chapter of C.S. Lewis’ Abolition of Man. In the book, Lewis explains that the “The Chest” is one of the “indispensable liaison officers between cerebral man and visceral man. It may even be said that it is by this middle element that man is man: for by his intellect he is mere spirit and by his appetite mere animal.” Without “Chests” we are unable to have confidence that we can grasp objective reality and objective truth.
The result of such chest-less education, as Lewis warns, is a dystopian future. “We make men without chests and expect from them virtue and enterprise,” says Lewis. “We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst.”
And where were you when He made the world?---Judging God's actions by man's understanding(?) of human language is the "gold standard" for bovine excrement.
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. So until such time as any deity actually presents such extraordinary evidence, no deity should expect rational people to believe it exists. Let alone get its deific-panties in a wad over people refusing to believe in it.
But for those who DO believe the Bible: Reading the Old Testament ... God sees Man as toys to play with as He wishes. He has no problem playing favorites, to the total exclusion of others. In fact; He has no problem telling His favorites to kill others, for nothing more than land. And if they refuse to kill others for land, He punishes them.
If that is "unconditional love" ... then Hitler must have REALLY loved the Jews.
Hi Walt. I'm surprised by a couple of the replies but we all see things differently and there's nothing wrong with that. When I read your words on the other thread (the basis of this question of course) something just clicked. They made sense. I can only go by what makes sense to me even if it doesn't make sense to others. I can't pretend to understand what I don't no matter how patiently people try to have me understand where they are coming from. What makes sense to me may not make sense to others. That's life. Thank you for your reply. I'm gonna ask if emotion and logic are compatible. Happy Wednesday! :)
Shuhak 