Missing the Mark
A quick and dirty polemic to round off the weekend —
I think some of my difficulties with the Christian paradigm lie in the identification of the notion and problem of "sin," as opposed to the more persuasive diagnosis (to me, anyway) that ignorance and delusion are the key problems.
I’d say that moral failure is downstream from a failure or inability to recognise truth/reality/God. And any failure in orienting to God is corrected and healed by the application of said truth in the form of grace. Not threat, not bullying.
Maybe those tactics might work with some brutish minds to get them to behave. But is that what God wants — blind obedience? No. Jesus' command was the same as the law and the prophets: love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. You can't love under duress, under the threat of eternal torture.
People sin (hamartia = missing the mark) because they don't see God clearly, and that is not their fault. This is why it's so obvious that everything is grace. And any seeming punishment that isn't intended as a corrective is wrongheaded. And say what you will for the Almighty, He's not wrongheaded.
This is my theology. This is the natural consequence of an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving God. The arguments for Him leaving an ignorant soul in their ignorance — and therefore sin — for the reason of "respecting the free will of the creature"? It's absurd. This kind of theology can only come from the limited minds of men.
I don't care what theologians say about free will and "the doors to hell being locked from the inside." It's nonsense — all-too-human rationalisations from minds who fail to comprehend and accept the boundless love of the Divine. Love is God's nature. And grace. And forgiveness. I'm certain that if we’re stupid or ignorant or wounded enough to turn away from God, our heavenly Father, in all His power and wisdom, will find a way to reach us.