God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent say the theologians. They also say hell is the absence of God. The 2 statements are contradictory. I`m just trying to understand how this isn`t a paradox.
2007-03-24 08:56:59 · 14 answers · asked by Sir Alex 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
then god isn`t omnipresent if he isn`t in hell...omni means everywhere
2007-03-24 09:02:40 · update #1
Perhaps you would be kind enough to cite the "theologians" you are referring to?
Perhaps, you have misread them? Perhaps what was said was that hell (if it exists) is the absence of a relationship with God, which seems to be Dante's point. The damned are constantly reminded of a relationship they cannot have.
Or not.
HTH
Charles
2007-03-24 09:33:48 · answer #1 · answered by Charles 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Where in The Bible is Hell described as the absence of God.
Psalm 139 Whither shall I go from thy spirit?
or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light
God's Word is not contridictory Our interpretations may be wrong.
However, there are many paradoxes in Christianity. This is what part of living life as a Christian is about holding together the paradoxes until all is revealed to us.
" Here is a God who proclaims the ultimate paradox of life through death, a paradox which can only be lived, it cannot be explained: it can be celebrated, it cannot be easily discusesed. For in the cross we are presented with the ultimate paradox.
Parker Palmer has written The cross calls us to recognize that the heart of human experience is neither consistency nor chaos but contridiction".
Christ on the cross is the ultimate contridiction, holding together the vertical, pointing to the Father, and the horizontial arms stretched out to the world. "(De Waal.p25)
2007-03-24 16:16:22 · answer #2 · answered by newyorktilson 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The medieval doctrine of the Harrowing of Hell - Christ's freeing of the patriarchs and virtuous pagans from the chains of sin - shows that God is indeed sovereign even over Hell. I'm not quite sure what makes you assume that hell is a place (in the same way that, for example, Lincolnshire is a place) - rather, hell is a condition (in the way that fear is a condition). As to the question of whether God is present in hell - that is a more complicated question than you might think. I'm not quite sure what the answer is, but I welcome other people's thoughts.
2007-03-24 16:18:43 · answer #3 · answered by completelysurroundedbyimbeciles 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ask yourself this question: Why did God create humans? I think God answers this question Himself in the Bible, for example in John 17 or in Ezekiel 18, that He wants to have a relationship with us.
If you're going to do theology, then I guess you do have to use non-biblical words like omnipresent. (Or correct me if this word really is mentioned in the Bible.) But if you understand God's "omnipresence" as desiring a relationship with every person, I think that's the best definition.
God grants every person the choice to relate back to Him, and some people choose not to. The Bible is also very clear that people who are still living (physically) experience spiritual separation from God. God desires a relationship with them, but He is not present because they are not one with God. (Again, read John 17.) In that sense, people choose to reject God's desire to be omnipresent.
On a personal level, God does not hold any grudge against those people. However, God doesn't allow those people to enter his eternal kingdom for two reasons: They are a danger to everyone else, and they simply don't want to enter. Those people experience God's wrath, not as personal anger from God, but rather as the absence of the relationship with God they were created to have. This is hell.
Because God is spirit, not physical, you can't say He's anywhere (localized). Because God is personal, but not everyone wants to have a relationship with Him, you can't say He's everywhere (one with every person). I don't think these ideas contradict.
It's good to remember that Jesus reveals who God is. We don't have to philosophize, kind of like I've been doing, but rather just know Jesus. Jesus is Immanuel, God with us. Anyone who chooses to receive Jesus enters into a relationship with Him and experiences His omnipresense.
Scott
2007-03-24 16:37:25 · answer #4 · answered by scottabroughton 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have also wondered about this. I can agree with what others have said. Perhaps he simply chooses not to fully be in Hell.
Still-"omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent" kind of cancel each other out.....
Great question!
2007-03-24 16:29:19 · answer #5 · answered by Myaloo 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
God in the flesh went to hell and took the keys of death from hell and this open the door for us to have eternal life with hiim in heaven. This is in the gospels. This happen during the three days before the resurrection of jesus christ. John says God became flesh and dewlt among us Jesus!!
2007-03-24 17:14:43 · answer #6 · answered by princess 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You pose a much better question than the old "can God make an object he cannot lift?" The answer is simple in my mind. God chooses not to be present in Hell. If he desired to be there nothing would stop him, but I still believe Hell is the absence of God and that would be torture enough once you saw his terrible beauty on Judgment day.
2007-03-24 16:13:10 · answer #7 · answered by crimthann69 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
God is indeed in all places. In fact, we even read of Jesus going to preach to those "in prison" who rebelled and were destroyed during the flood in the time of Noah (1 Pet 3:19-20)....but the key to understanding your question lies in this verse: "What fellowship is there between light and darkness?"
2007-03-24 16:04:54 · answer #8 · answered by whitehorse456 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
God is indeed omnipresent. My dear Apollina, this does not mean that He IS everywhere, it means, to my understanding, that if He wishes, he has at His command the ABILITY to be everywhere.
I will look for your name and more questions to appear; for some reason you intrigue me.
2007-03-24 23:24:54 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
God created Heaven and Hell.....and Earth......he made everything...
Let's put it this way: When you're in an art class, and you make a pot, there is a little piece of you in it, but not physically....
That is how it works with God, he created Hell, but he is holy and pure, hence, he cant be IN Hell, but he created it...does this make sense?....
2007-03-24 16:24:24 · answer #10 · answered by ♥♣♠Dragon Dust♠♣♥ 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋