Jesus did not come to change the mind of God about humanity (it did not need changing)! Jesus came to change the mind of humanity about God! ~ Richard Rohr.
 | The common reading of the Bible is that Jesus “died for our sins”—either to pay a debt to the devil (common in the first millennium) or to pay a debt to God (proposed by Anselm of Canterbury, 1033-1109). Historic Christian doctrine makes God out to be something I don't believe God is: a meanie. Does God need a violent sacrifice to love us? It's hard to think that God would need some sort of payment to love and accept God's beloved children. A meanie would demand retributive justice. But Jesus proclaimed and gave restorative justice - our divine grace. |
Philosopher and theologian John Duns Scotus (1266-1308) believed the incarnation of God and the redemption of the world was the proactive work of God that was conceived from the very beginning in that we were “chosen in Christ before the world was made” (Ephesians 1:4). He promoted the idea only perfect love and divine self-revelation could inspire God to come in human form.
And Richard Rohr writs, "God never merely reacts, but supremely and freely acts--out of love. Love is the beginning, the way itself, and the final consummation...God does not love us because we are good; God loves us because God is good." Nothing we can do will either decrease or increase God’s eternal and infinite eagerness to love!
To me, that's the good news.
And Richard Rohr writs, "God never merely reacts, but supremely and freely acts--out of love. Love is the beginning, the way itself, and the final consummation...God does not love us because we are good; God loves us because God is good." Nothing we can do will either decrease or increase God’s eternal and infinite eagerness to love!
To me, that's the good news.
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