Transcending Satanic Desires - God's Forgiveness
Animals: Tradition - Philosophy - Religion Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM

Stephen Kaufman, M.D., Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA)

Transcending Satanic Desires - God's Forgiveness

In the United States people can and are allowed to believe anything they want, but some beliefs are more reasonable than others. This raises the question: Is it reasonable to believe, as Christianity teaches, that God forgives our sins?
 
We have conscious, subjective experience, which cannot (to the best of our knowledge) be explained by the physical sciences. As best I can tell, a creative, metaphysical force seems to be responsible, and I think it is reasonable to regard “God” as either responsible for this force or equivalent to this force. If God created us as thinking, feeling beings, it is reasonable to think that God likely cares about us. In that case, God could reasonably want to forgive our sins, rather than condemn and punish us for them.

Of course, if God forgives our sins because God cares about what God has created, then God should also care about God’s nonhuman creations, such as nonhuman animals. God might want to forgive our sins, but does God forgive humans who continually sin against God’s nonhumans beings? In other words, does God forgive unrepentant sinners who decide to continue sinning? I’ll explore these questions next essay.

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Go on to: Does God Forgive Unrepentant Sinners?
Return to: Reflection on the Lectionary, Table of Contents

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