Monday, October 11
A Child with a Future in Scholasticism!
Recently a number of people in St. Blog's recieved this email:
Help! My four year old son has stumped me with a theological conundrum. Can God do everything or can't he. What is the answer to the dilemma my son posed to me today?? I need some answers quick. I am probably overlooking something very simple so please help me. Its funny but just before this conversation he was quiet and I asked him what he was thinking about and he said he was thinking about the Holy Spirit and why it came to people as a dove.
In the car my son has a conversation with Mommy.
Son: I know something God can't do Mommy!
Mommy: What could that be George, God can do everything!
Son: God can't die.
Mommy: Hmm, well Jesus was God and he died. But he did rise again.
Son: But after he rose again Mommy he can never die.
Not bad for a four-year-old!
I guess I would consider this question from two angles. First, I think I would contest his argument that the death of Jesus doesn't count as a real death. It certainly seems to me that Christ died completely, and that counts regardless of whether He rose later. However, at the same time, it is in reference to the humanity of Christ that we say He died, and not the divinty. So, the son's point stands.
Can God die? Cutting to the chase, absolutely not. God is existance itself; His name, Yahweh, means "I am Who am." For God to cease existing, He would cease being God. But we cannot cease being what we are by definition; further, God is eternal. God cannot die.
However, does this truly constitute something God "can't" do? Dying isn't an action, it's the end of all action. It isn't an affirmative thing, it is the lack of a thing (life). To say that God cannot die is the same thing as to say that God cannot lie. God cannot lie because lying is the absence of Truth. God cannot die because dying is the absence of Life.
In otherwords, God is too perfect to die, and too perfect to lie. Dying occurs to those who are imperfect -- they cease to be -- and is not a positive action which one can perform.
That's my thoughts on the matter. Best of luck explaining it to a four-year-old, though -- even such an inquisitive one :)
Recently a number of people in St. Blog's recieved this email:
Help! My four year old son has stumped me with a theological conundrum. Can God do everything or can't he. What is the answer to the dilemma my son posed to me today?? I need some answers quick. I am probably overlooking something very simple so please help me. Its funny but just before this conversation he was quiet and I asked him what he was thinking about and he said he was thinking about the Holy Spirit and why it came to people as a dove.
In the car my son has a conversation with Mommy.
Son: I know something God can't do Mommy!
Mommy: What could that be George, God can do everything!
Son: God can't die.
Mommy: Hmm, well Jesus was God and he died. But he did rise again.
Son: But after he rose again Mommy he can never die.
Not bad for a four-year-old!
I guess I would consider this question from two angles. First, I think I would contest his argument that the death of Jesus doesn't count as a real death. It certainly seems to me that Christ died completely, and that counts regardless of whether He rose later. However, at the same time, it is in reference to the humanity of Christ that we say He died, and not the divinty. So, the son's point stands.
Can God die? Cutting to the chase, absolutely not. God is existance itself; His name, Yahweh, means "I am Who am." For God to cease existing, He would cease being God. But we cannot cease being what we are by definition; further, God is eternal. God cannot die.
However, does this truly constitute something God "can't" do? Dying isn't an action, it's the end of all action. It isn't an affirmative thing, it is the lack of a thing (life). To say that God cannot die is the same thing as to say that God cannot lie. God cannot lie because lying is the absence of Truth. God cannot die because dying is the absence of Life.
In otherwords, God is too perfect to die, and too perfect to lie. Dying occurs to those who are imperfect -- they cease to be -- and is not a positive action which one can perform.
That's my thoughts on the matter. Best of luck explaining it to a four-year-old, though -- even such an inquisitive one :)
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