But Love is not the pitying, excusing, weak emotion that says, "aw. . . sure, go ahead. I love you anyway." That, as C.S. Lewis said, has cheated many a statesman out of his honor and many a woman out of her virginity.
The problem (for us) with God being Love is that he is also Good - all the Good that there is. And sin cannot exist in the presence of Absolute Good - it shrivels up and burns away. In other words, God does not really condemn the sinner - the sinner and his sin condemn themselves, because they cannot exist in God's presence.
Jesus most certainly condemned the unrepentant sinners - not just the cleansing of the Temple, but the multiple fierce and uncompromising condemnations of the Pharisees and Sadducees "you brood of vipers! who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?", and the Seven Woes in Matthew . . .
And you can't put that down to a bad translation, unfortunately. It's there in the original Greek, plain as print.
But Love is not the pitying, excusing, weak emotion that says, "aw. . . sure, go ahead. I love you anyway." That, as C.S. Lewis said, has cheated many a statesman out of his honor and many a woman out of her virginity.
I agree. Love sometimes says *no*. And I agree that Love is not weak - being God - who is all-powerful. No I do not think that Love excuses attack or condemnation of others.
The problem (for us) with God being Love is that he is also Good - all the Good that there is. And sin cannot exist in the presence of Absolute Good - it shrivels up and burns away. In other words, God does not really condemn the sinner - the sinner and his sin condemn themselves, because they cannot exist in God's presence.
I completely agree with this. I would add that Love is good. That is part of what Love is and not separate from It. Sin cannot exist in the Presence of God. And I agree that the sinner condemns himself. I would go further and say that condemnation and attack could not exist in the Presence of God. And that is why it is *good* and right for each of us to work to eliminate them within ourselves now.
I do not believe the passage about Jesus in the Temple is correct. I do not believe that Jesus got angry (in fact I don't even think it says that He did). I think that Jesus taught just what you have said that in essence the sinner will condemn himself and could not exist in the Presence of God. So, for me, that is enough. If I want to be with God - then I know what to do - love God and love my neighbor and love my enemy. They are extremely hard things for me to do ( or at least I tell myself that it is hard) - but I am not asked to attack or condemn anyone. I am asked to love them and forgive them. That is how I see it.
Again, that does not mean that I think that those who break the law should not be arrested and prosecuted and jailed if that is what is called for. I am saying that it is not for me to condemn them or attack them.