“I think that if there were a God, there would be less evil on this earth. I believe that if evil exists here below, then either it was willed by God or it was beyond His powers to prevent it. Now I cannot bring myself to fear a God who is either spiteful or weak. I defy Him without fear and care not a fig for his thunderbolts.” (Marquis de Sade)
It seems to me that logic requires that we be open to all possibilities.
The Marquis de Sade suggests two (God is either spiteful or weak), but are there no other options?
A millionaire has a son who is living on welfare: either the father is mean or weak?!?
Or maybe the father has done many things for the son, but the son has not received it.
Could it not be – yes it certainly can – that the son has made choices that leads to his hardship.
And would the most loving thing for the father to do be to bail out his son every time he got in trouble?
God is either spiteful or weak… or more loving than we can imagine.
Sadly, I think the Marquis de Sade is in the same place as Job, and could learn from him.
“You asked me, ‘Who do you think you are to disagree with my plans? You do not know what you are talking about.’ I spoke about things I didn’t completely understand. I talked about things that were too wonderful for me to know.” (Job 42:3)
Yes, there is another possibility, and I gladly bring myself to fear and love this loving, merciful God!