極大的奧秘 - 基督與教會

The One God

Universe has unified design and purpose

Lack of unity and ultimate authority

Morality and truth become fragmented and relative

Postmodern relativism of truth

Deut 6:4 "The LORD our God is one LORD"

Isa 45:5-6 "I am the LORD, and there is no other"

Merciful God

Hope and comfort in difficult circumstances

Suffering lacks ultimate meaning and consolation

Lack of transcendent support in facing suffering

Limited consolation of humanism

2 Cor 1:3 "The Father of mercies and God of all comfort"

Living God

Time and history have transcendent meaning

Time is merely a physical phenomenon

Temporality of life cannot be transcended

Universal human longing for eternity

Ps 90:2 "From everlasting to everlasting, you are God"

1 Tim 1:17 "The King eternal, immortal, invisible"

Faithful and Reliable God

Universal operations have guarantee and reliability

No ultimate guarantee for universal laws

Lack of ultimate confidence in the future

Scientific research based on reliability of natural laws

Lam 3:22-23 "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end"

Good God

Goodness has objective source and standard

Good and evil become subjective or relative concepts

Moral judgments lack objective foundation

Moral dilemmas of cultural relativism

Ps 119:68 "You are good and do good"

James 1:17 "Every good gift is from above"

Gracious God

Grace transcends fairness and desert

Only cause-effect relationships, no non-rational favor

Human relationships tend toward utilitarian calculation

Social Darwinism's "survival of the fittest"

Eph 2:7 "The immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus"

Isa 6:3 "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts"

1 Pet 1:15-16 "As he who called you is holy, you also be holy"

Holy God

Morality has transcendent standards

Moral standards lack transcendent foundation

Morality may become mere social convention

Prevalence of moral relativism

Impartial God

Theological foundation for human equality

Human value may be based on function or status

Social stratification and discrimination lack ultimate restraint

Challenges to the foundation of human rights

Acts 10:34-35 "God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him"

Fair God

Ultimate justice will be realized

Injustice may never be corrected

Victims may never receive justice

Ultimate challenges for social justice movements

Rom 3:25-26 "God presented Christ as a propitiation... to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time"

God of Love

Love has source beyond material reality

Love may be merely biological mechanism or self-interest

Selfless love loses metaphysical foundation

Challenges to the value and meaning of sacrificial love

1 John 4:8 "God is love"

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son"

Compassionate God

The weak have special value and dignity

The weak may have only functional value

Protection of vulnerable groups lacks ultimate foundation

Utilitarian challenges to vulnerable groups

Luke 6:36 "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful"

Almighty God

No insoluble problems in the universe

Some predicaments may have no solution

Sense of powerlessness facing disasters and evil

Ultimate meaning of natural disasters and human suffering

Gen 17:1 "I am God Almighty"

Jer 32:17 "Ah, Lord GOD!... Nothing is too hard for you"

Omnipresent God

God's presence in all circumstances

Cosmic loneliness and isolation

Sense of existential loneliness and separation

Modern alienation and loneliness

Ps 139:7-10 "Where shall I go from your Spirit? Where shall I flee from your presence?"

Omniscient God

Universal events have comprehensive understanding

Knowledge forever partial and limited

Ultimate truth may be forever unknowable

Epistemological limitations

Ps 139:1-4 "O LORD, you have searched me and known me... Before a word is on my tongue, you know it altogether"

Heb 4:13 "No creature is hidden from his sight"

Patient God

Time and space for change and renewal

Consequences of actions may be immediate and irreversible

Concepts of forgiveness and rebirth lose foundation

Challenges to restorative justice

Righteous God

Ultimate justice will be realized

Justice may be merely human concept

Historical injustices may never be redressed

Ultimate challenges for pursuit of social justice

Ps 11:7 "For the LORD is righteous; he loves righteous deeds"

2 Tim 4:8 "The righteous Judge"

Self-existent God

Existence itself has ultimate explanation

Existence lacks ultimate explanation

Question of "why something rather than nothing" remains unresolved

Ultimate explanation of cosmic origins

Acts 17:24-25 "He is not served by human hands, as though he needed anything"

John 17:17 "Your word is truth"

Heb 6:18 "It is impossible for God to lie"

Mal 3:6 "For I the LORD do not change"

James 1:17 "With whom there is no variation or shadow due to change"

True God

Truth has objective foundation

Truth may be merely human construction

Relativism and post-truth culture

Challenges of cognitive relativism

Unchanging God

Morality and truth have stable foundation

Everything may be in flux

Lack of moral and existential stability

Social and cultural relativism

Sovereign God

History has direction and purpose

History may develop randomly without purpose

Human development lacks ultimate direction

Nihilistic challenges to historical meaning

Eph 1:11 "God... works all things according to the counsel of his will"

Rev 1:5-6 "To him who loves us... be glory and dominion forever and ever"

Lovingkind God

Grace transcends law and justice

May be only cold causality

Human relationships may tend toward utilitarian calculation

Challenges to the foundation of forgiveness and reconciliation

Jer 31:3 "I have loved you with an everlasting love"

Eph 2:6-7 "Show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us"