This-essay is a7605152.htm which is available at the web-site www.essayz.com. See more notes at the bottom. Previous-Essay <== This-Essay ==> Following-Essay By-Months By-Years By-Words Webs of Like-&-Un-Like ESSAYS <==> Like-&-UN-Like This-One ========================================================== %PUNITIVE GOD 760515 Some people regard God as an agent of punishment designed to insure proper human behavior. Such people volunteer to help God in his punitive work. They regard the universe as ultimately punitive in character---and populated by people who desire evil rather than good---who so must be punished so that they will do good to avoid punishment. Such punishment helps prove the correctness of the theory which calls for it. The punishments called for by the theory promote alienation and so inhibits affection---with the result that violence increases in violation of human integrity. Upon seeing the way that the people continue to do evil, the legalists conclude that the punishments have been inadequate and are inclined to intensify them. Some other people regard God as a God of Love---who would do much to transcend alienation and the vicious cycle described above. Such people see the natural consequences of choices as punishment enough, without additional personally devised punishments of objective or subjective sorts. They do not see natural consequences as personal punishments inflicted by a vengeful god; they do not personalize natural laws, nor try to objectify transcendent subjective perceptions. They know that the confusion of subjective and objective realities promotes sin. Men project their transcendent understandings upon God and emulate their image of God. Some people see God as punitive, and some people see God as loving. The latter know God as a suffering servant who came to serve and set people free from the vicious cycle of law, judgement, punishment, alienation, sin, and more law. The local nature of God may be visible in the nature of the people who fashion the images of god. Primitive people made their images of God out of clay, wood, brass, silver, gold, and iron. Technologically advanced people make their images out of the materials characteristic of their culture---as did primitive people. The modern images take on abstract forms fashioned out of ideas, categories, symbols, minerals, energy, and other created things. Each image---maker reveals his/her own childhood and biases in the image of God created. In each there is some truth, but in no image is the ultimate truth contained. Those who think otherwise perish. (c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in www.essayz.com Search for Integrity and Honesty (On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy) ==========================================================
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