I've posted this a few other places and offer by way of trying to coax honest, intelligent discussion that it has not to date been adequately refuted. I'd like solid, rational critiques please, no "shoot and run" opinions. If all you're capable of contributing is an opinion or expression of contempt with no reasonable argument, please don't post. Thanks.
THE STORY
Informed by God that He was going to Sodom to investigate and, if necessary, destroy the evil city, Abraham quickly struck up a conversation with his Creator. His nephew Lot and family lived there, and Abraham doubtless had concerns about his kin being destroyed with all others in the city. Thus he began his famous conversation with God on the road to Sodom in Gen 18 by Abraham's query in v. 23, “….’Wilt Thou indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?’”
Beginning here and running to the end of this chapter, God establishes not only an inviolable principle concerning the perfection of His justice, but the first of His twofold framework [death, resurrection] of the process of salvation so fundamentally and harmoniously woven into both testaments of the Bible it’s hard to see how its significance has been overlooked. This principle is elaborated in vv. 24-25, where Abraham asks: "Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt Thou indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from Thee to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from Thee! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?"
The well known conversation then continues, ending with God’s promise to not destroy Sodom if even only a few righteous were found there.
THE ARUGMENT
It seems reasonable to claim that one supervising attribute of God governs all His others: perfection. We may properly assert that God is just, loving, merciful, faithful, etc., but if He is imperfect in any of these, He is not God as we understand Him to have revealed Himself in Scripture. Abraham, it seems, recognized this truth when he exclaimed, “Far be it from thee to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and wicked are treated alike….Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” Abraham recognized that for God to destroy even an iota of good was an unthinkable offense, a wholly illogical and improper idea—a violation of His perfection. In the exchange, then, this spiritual rule is established:
God will not destroy a whole in which any good exists.
This principle sets the stage for understanding the allegorical structure God uses in Scripture for His plan of the salvation and restoration of all souls. God, the actual author of the Bible, structured His work in salvation in this “one and many” organization in multiple passages in both Testaments. The physical body is a single entity composed of an estimated 32 trillion cells functioning together as the whole person. God uses this reductive principle to convey in metaphor in Genesis 18 and throughout Scripture a division not of matter, but of value in essence or spirit. This “one and many” convention suggests what might be called "spiritual mechanics", i.e., the revelation of God's work within the value elements of individual souls.
Thoughts?
THE STORY
Informed by God that He was going to Sodom to investigate and, if necessary, destroy the evil city, Abraham quickly struck up a conversation with his Creator. His nephew Lot and family lived there, and Abraham doubtless had concerns about his kin being destroyed with all others in the city. Thus he began his famous conversation with God on the road to Sodom in Gen 18 by Abraham's query in v. 23, “….’Wilt Thou indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?’”
Beginning here and running to the end of this chapter, God establishes not only an inviolable principle concerning the perfection of His justice, but the first of His twofold framework [death, resurrection] of the process of salvation so fundamentally and harmoniously woven into both testaments of the Bible it’s hard to see how its significance has been overlooked. This principle is elaborated in vv. 24-25, where Abraham asks: "Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt Thou indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from Thee to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from Thee! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?"
The well known conversation then continues, ending with God’s promise to not destroy Sodom if even only a few righteous were found there.
THE ARUGMENT
It seems reasonable to claim that one supervising attribute of God governs all His others: perfection. We may properly assert that God is just, loving, merciful, faithful, etc., but if He is imperfect in any of these, He is not God as we understand Him to have revealed Himself in Scripture. Abraham, it seems, recognized this truth when he exclaimed, “Far be it from thee to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and wicked are treated alike….Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” Abraham recognized that for God to destroy even an iota of good was an unthinkable offense, a wholly illogical and improper idea—a violation of His perfection. In the exchange, then, this spiritual rule is established:
God will not destroy a whole in which any good exists.
This principle sets the stage for understanding the allegorical structure God uses in Scripture for His plan of the salvation and restoration of all souls. God, the actual author of the Bible, structured His work in salvation in this “one and many” organization in multiple passages in both Testaments. The physical body is a single entity composed of an estimated 32 trillion cells functioning together as the whole person. God uses this reductive principle to convey in metaphor in Genesis 18 and throughout Scripture a division not of matter, but of value in essence or spirit. This “one and many” convention suggests what might be called "spiritual mechanics", i.e., the revelation of God's work within the value elements of individual souls.
Thoughts?
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