People, including myself, have tried real hard to remove God’s wrath from the Bible. But it’s clearly there. Especially in the OT. I think what people don’t understand is that Christ has already done this for us. He overturned the whole penal/retribution model. There’s no more wrath from God because Christ has removed it from us at the cross. Two of the many things Christ was doing at the cross was forgiving our sins and removing God’s wrath from our vision. God’s wrath has been forever lifted off of our vision so that we can see and savor the spiritual beauty of Christ. It’s the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. This glory is first and foremost the humble love of Christ. We no longer have to worry about God’s wrath. All that is left now is mercy. God does discipline those He loves but this is just another form of His mercy. It’s the corrective discipline of a loving Father. Jesus is our mercy seat where our sins are expiated and God’s wrath is propitiated.
I would also argue that the parable of the Prodigal Son shows a model of a father who does not execute penal wrath. He allows his son to make bad choices which end up causing harm, but the whole time the father is patiently awaiting the son’s return, and he forsakes dignity and runs up the road throwing himself upon the son in an act of extravagant love while the son was “still a long way off”. This was before there were any apologies or really true repentance - the son was returning because he was hungry. He wasn’t sorry for the horrible way he had treated his father (asking for your inheritance is basically saying “I wish you were dead”, and the Jewish audience would have seen the situation this way).
“Removing God’s penal wrath” sounds like Jesus and God were at loggerheads.
I agree that God is depicted as inflicting penalties on people, killing people, and commanding the Hebrews to kill people, even whole people groups. But did He really do that? Jesus depicts His Father as being kind to ungrateful and evil people (Luke 6:35).
How do we resolve these two different pictures of the Father? The second-century gnostics taught that Yahweh was a lesser god who thought he was the supreme God but was mistaken. He was the angry, vengeful god. But the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ was the kind, loving God whom Christ described. He was the true supreme God. However, the gnostics were mistaken, not only in this, but in many other beliefs they invented.
My view is that sometimes Moses and some of the other prophets misunderstood the revelation of God. They thought God was angry, hateful, and vengeful because that’s the way they and most of the nations of the day were.
Yes, I know. My view will never be accepted by those who hold to an infallible canon of scripture.
Paidion,
I see it as an act of love. And yes your view contradicts the scriptures.
In the presence of Christ I often find the gentleness of mystical love. It is here that wonder is awakened and the beauties of humility, compassion, and kindness come alive. Within this matrix my fears melt away. I tremble at the thought of being inside this glowing radiance, for the longing of my heart is for a union with Beauty. For me, Beauty brings warmth. When Beauty whispers Her tenderness to my soul I am filled with a childlike wonder and awe.