The tov-est people I know detest and despise injustices like racism and sexual abuses. They despise these acts for what the harm they do to people. The tov-est people I know, in other words, are ones in whom I see hatred as it should be. Apathy about heinous behaviors in our world indicates a deformed character that cares too much about itself. It is because I see hatred in tov people that I encounter moral fibers at their finest. Morally sensitive humans ought to hate evil and injustice.
“We can learn a divinely-shaped hatred for evil in prayer, in imprecations, and in pursuing justice in our world.” This really resonates after reading Cursing with God by Trevor Laurence. His discussion of how the imprecatory psalms align with loving and praying for one’s enemies is compelling. He writes, “One must love rightly in order to hate rightly, but there are times when one must hate truly in order to love fully.”
I'm not sure where David Lamb will take us in this book. What I can say is this: According to the apostle John, God is in very essence LOVE. That tells me that everything - EVERYTHING - that in any way does not "support" love must be destroyed. All those killings in the First Testament were in support of making love possible. God's essence is challenged by any of us in every action motivated by anything but real agape love. I don't think we've begun to grasp the meaning of Love as God intends it.
A fascinating subject. What do you think of God’s hate being hyperbolic in some of many of those passages, for literary purposes, drama, juxtaposition? Thanks
Thanks, I felt that is an important aspect, because something we know to happen quite often is the use of biblical metaphor to come to a literal conclusion, while taking literal phrases as metaphor, and shaping full thoughts and doctrines from them, mixed up as they are… hate is such a strong word/topic, thanks for that feedback
A question: What do we do with Paul's statement that we are not in contention against "flesh and blood" but against "principalities and powers, etc.?" It seems to me that Paul is saying that we our struggle is to discredit ideas and ideologies like racism, white supremacy, sexism, etc. that seize control of people's hearts and minds and enslave them in the service of evil. I would like to know your thoughts on this matter.
“We can learn a divinely-shaped hatred for evil in prayer, in imprecations, and in pursuing justice in our world.” This really resonates after reading Cursing with God by Trevor Laurence. His discussion of how the imprecatory psalms align with loving and praying for one’s enemies is compelling. He writes, “One must love rightly in order to hate rightly, but there are times when one must hate truly in order to love fully.”
I'm not sure where David Lamb will take us in this book. What I can say is this: According to the apostle John, God is in very essence LOVE. That tells me that everything - EVERYTHING - that in any way does not "support" love must be destroyed. All those killings in the First Testament were in support of making love possible. God's essence is challenged by any of us in every action motivated by anything but real agape love. I don't think we've begun to grasp the meaning of Love as God intends it.
A fascinating subject. What do you think of God’s hate being hyperbolic in some of many of those passages, for literary purposes, drama, juxtaposition? Thanks
Sometimes, Gregg, for sure and David Lamb says that.
Thanks, I felt that is an important aspect, because something we know to happen quite often is the use of biblical metaphor to come to a literal conclusion, while taking literal phrases as metaphor, and shaping full thoughts and doctrines from them, mixed up as they are… hate is such a strong word/topic, thanks for that feedback
A question: What do we do with Paul's statement that we are not in contention against "flesh and blood" but against "principalities and powers, etc.?" It seems to me that Paul is saying that we our struggle is to discredit ideas and ideologies like racism, white supremacy, sexism, etc. that seize control of people's hearts and minds and enslave them in the service of evil. I would like to know your thoughts on this matter.