Hezo Kittie

God Gets it 4 Cheap Vol. 2

Rob Bell says that religion should never be dogmatic. Spirituality should always be questioned, and there are never easy answers. Having unanswered questions is the hard part, which I presume is where faith comes in.

The following is the biggest paradox, one that makes perfect sense and no sense at the same time, and which is the foundation of the Christian faith.

Tension between grace and works in the New Testament

The New Testament exhibits a tension between two aspects of grace: the idea that grace is from God and sufficient to cover any sin, and the idea that grace does not free Man from his responsibility to behave rightly.

[Source: "Divine Grace" on Wikipedia]

Reason #23094234 why Christianity isn't essential: We can explain all of these concepts without using the Bible or any Christian concepts, but sometimes it helps us to understand it.

For example, how can we tell someone that lying and cheating is unacceptable, while simultaneously saying that it's OK that they fucked up or screwed you over? If your significant other cheats on you, was it merely an unfortunate lapse in judgment in the heat of passion or an indication that the bond was never as strong as you thought? If you were to forgive her, how do you know that she will not take advantage of it, knowing that anything hurtful she does will be forgiven? She might, and she might not. No one can read minds.

This is where trust and faith comes in. If you have faith in your relationship, you'll know. There is no faith checklist.

They say that "God sees and hears everything". What they really mean is that YOU see and hear everything. If the girl decided to take advantage of it, sneaking around and being devious, it's not that some magic person is judging her wrongful action; it's that she herself knows that she is treating someone unfairly.

Our innate capacity for empathy is what causes this guilt. She'll think to herself, "I would shatter my man's heart if he were to find out." No one wants to hurt someone else, unless it is a defensive and emotional bout of revenge for being wronged (another innate capacity is that of justice, which unfortunately tends to be "eye for an eye").

Empathy is what makes us human. If the woman were to compare the personal pleasure of adultery with the immeasurable pain caused to her spouse, we would hope that empathy wins out.

Thus, if she were to make the wrong choice, it is not that she deliberately chose to inflict pain on her spouse, but that her personal motive won out.

These internal battles are fought every day in every magnitude, and they're never easy, but Lord knows we're all trying.