I regard evil as having been a part of primary reality. Evil is the rejection of Good; and Good is God's creation.
God has to cope-with, work-with pre-existent evil.
Some Beings are intrinsically (from eternity) incapable of love (these are the demons).
These will always and forever reject God/ Good/ Creation because that is the world of love, built with love - it is love that makes Creation coherent, harmonious. So, demons cannot be saved; they lack that which would make salvation possible (i.e. the capacity for love).
God has to work with these evil beings, incapable of love - because they are immortal and indestructible spirits.
But God's main aims and interests are those Beings who are capable of love; and God's hope is that as many as possible of these will choose Heaven.
In mortal life - which is a finite, temporary, always-changing state of incarnation; 'designed' for experiencing and learning - evil is included. Human Beings capable of love will, during mortal life, therefore experience both Good and evil (tatstes of Heaven and hell) - and after mortal life will be offered the gift of immortal resurrected life in Heaven; which is a permanent choice.
This choice can be made on the experiences of mortal life, which are (normally, usually) tailored by God such that we will have sufficient of the right kind of experience that each specific Human Being can make this choice, can decide in favour of resurrection - which involves loving/ trusting/ having-faith in Jesus, and following through the transformation that is resurrection.
Thus evil is made-use-of by God during mortal life. Mortal life takes the form of a contest (a spiritual war) focused on those Human Beings (and perhaps other beings) that are capable of love - in relation to the choice for or against Heaven that each will make after biological death.
I don't see why a view of reality that permits agents who chose to accept or reject love would require demons that cannot accept love, since it would be equally possible for demons to be individuals who are capable of love but consistently reject it.
ReplyDeleteThis is setting aside potential evidence for or against demons being capable of choosing love, such as scriptural statements to that effect, or accounts of demons apparently falling in love with humans (which seems to have been not uncommon throughout history).
- Carter Craft
@CC - "require demons that cannot accept love"
ReplyDeleteIt does not 'require' - my point is that there are such Beings. I feel that because every being is unique in his or her original essence, it happens to be the case that *some* Beings are incapable of love.
And these are presumably the demons that seem to be eternally self-damned. This is why there is a place-state called hell, and why there are Beings who dwell in hell, forever, by choice, with no desire or possibility of anything else.
I think the same scheme suggests that some other demons; who have taken the side of evil against God; are Beings who have chosen to oppose creation, yet are capable of love, hence of repentance, hence may choose Heaven at some point in the future.
Choosing Hell seems dumb, but I also don't understand how one person can choose the Oneness option you talk about. For me the perspective of losing my conscience, my humanity to lose myself in whatever, no matter how pleasant, feels very creepy.
ReplyDeleteI pray for Jesus and God to accept me. The decission is so easy. I can't even grasp considering other option than Resurrection.