1 May 2014

Is God's Love Unconditional?

God loves people who do good deed. God doesn't love people who do evil deed. Both Bible and Quran agree on it. God says in the glorious Quran-"...God loves the doers of good" (2:195) & "...God does not love evildoers" (3:57).

Gospel says the same thing. Gospel of Luke12:47 says-"[Jesus says:] And that slave who knew his master's will but didn't do it will be severely beaten."

If Jesus is a loving God, then why would he command us to beat slaves? Christians say Gospel of Luke 12:47 is a parable. But the problem remains if we consider Gospel of Luke 12:47 a parable. If we take Gospel of Luke 12:47 as a parable, then "salve" symbolizes "mankind" and "master" symbolizes "Jesus". Thus, Luke 12:47 proves that Christian God Jesus will severely punish us if we don't obey his commandments. It may make Christians uncomfortable because they believe their God Jesus is a loving God who doesn’t severely punish us for our sins, Instead he forgives us.

Why doesn’t God love both doers of good and doers of evil? If God loves doers of evil, then it is injustice to doers of good. Logic says doers of good should get rewarded and doers of evil should get punished. If we reward both doers of good and doers of evil, then it is injustice to the doers of good.

We all know that the Bible is a book full of contradictions. It is true that Gospel of Luke12:47 agrees with the Quran on rewarding the doers of good and punishing doers of evil. But there are verses in the bible that contradict that. For example, Matthew 5:44 says to love your enemy. Loving your enemy sounds good to you if you are incapable of thinking multi-dimensionally.  People who are not capable of thinking multi-dimensionally always fail to see the other side of the equation. It’s like a blind spot a driver fails to see while driving. People who know how to think critically don’t buy the nonsensical idea of loving your foe. This is because when you love your foe, you do injustice to your friends.

Can we turn our foes into our friends without loving them? You love your friends because you have good relationships with them. You hate your foes because you have bad relationships with them. Therefore, it is clear that loving or hating someone depends on what kind of relationship you have with them. Note that a “good relationship” is a pre-requisite of a “friendship”. You don’t be friends with others first and then build up good relationship with them. It is the other way around. You start building up good relationship with others first and then you end up being friends with them. If “good relationship” between two friends disappears, then their “friendship” disappears too.

Let’s say John is your foe. If you want to turn your foe “John” into your friend, then you should resolve your dispute/conflict with John in order to have a good relationship with him. Friendship between you and John will grow when a good relationship between you and John is developed. Note that mediating a conflict is only possible when both sides will to do so. If one side wants to resolve the dispute/conflict but the other side doesn’t, dispute resolution doesn’t work.

How Can God be Merciful and Just at the Same Time?

Atheist: If God is “just”, he will sentence the sinners. But if God is “merciful”, he will forgive the sinners. But if God is both “just” and “merciful”, what would he do? Being just means to give people what they deserve. And being merciful means giving people more than what they deserve. When God sentences a sinner, he is “just” but not “merciful”. And when God forgives a sinner, he is “merciful’, but not “just”. Therefore, “Just” and “merciful” cannot co-exist. God cannot be both “just” and “merciful” to someone at the same time.

Muslim: You are right. “Just” and “merciful” cannot co-exist although Christianity claims so. In Islam, God is “merciful” to believers and “just” to unbelievers. God hates unbelievers but he is just towards them. The Quran 3:57 says God doesn’t love the unjust. The Qur’an 3:31-32 says God loves believers and hates unbelievers.

Quran Denies Real History: The Crucifixion of Jesus