Posted on 11/17/2021 2:23:12 AM PST by Kaslin
As a writer, I typically formulate thoughts quickly, get them down on paper, and run with them. That works well for me; my “production” is pretty steady and what winds up in front of readers is generally well-received.
For some thoughts, though, I need more information, a better point of reference, or just to wrap my head more fully around the idea. Occasionally, I just need time to talk myself out of what I’m thinking.
I’ve spent the last several days trying to talk myself out of what I’m about to say, but for as much as I want to, I can’t find any real flaw in the basic premise of my thinking.
What if Hitler, Stalin, Mao, et al are “necessary evils” let loose upon humanity to force us into realignment? What if their vile acts simply must occur now and then to give good the opportunity to triumph over evil and make the world a better place for a while?
What if we’re in such a time right now?
In 2021 you wouldn’t look at Germans and declare them awful people, but if you lived in America circa 1943 you likely would have. How would you feel about Germans living in your neighborhood? How would you react to hearing Wagner playing on the radio? What momentary twinge would you feel seeing a can of sauerkraut sitting on a store shelf?
Today there’s no great animus toward the people of Germany, but eighty years ago there was, and such a reaction was, in my estimation, absolutely necessary. War is an ugly thing, full of death and destruction and atrocities too difficult to process without a way to justify it in one’s mind. War cannot be prosecuted, no matter how just and necessary, without first making it mentally “okay.”
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall
Jorge Luis Borges wrote in the 1940’s about something called “Christus Och Judas” (sp?), which posits that Judas was necessary in order to bring about the path to redemption.
It causes me to ponder.
Outside of a religious context “necessary evil” has no meaning. Inside if a religious context according to various dogma, God is the Punisher, NT theology might not bear that out. If God is not the punisher He probably wouldn’t use the adversary (satan) to do the dirty work either.
In a NT religious context the thief (satan) comes to steal, kill, and destroy.
In the NT theology the Commander of the Army of Angels covers His people with his pinions, that they be safe.
And I am far from the authority on dogma.
“Christus Och Judas” (sp?), which posits that Judas was necessary in order to bring about the path to redemption.”
Would that also imply that Judas was “chosen” and therefore absolved of sin?
In my humble opinion, Judas’s ultimate sin was despair. He could have sought forgiveness, but ended his life in suicide. His betrayal was awful, but his despair separated him from Christ for eternity (if that can be assumed from scripture.) Wondering if anyone else shares this interpretation…
I do not assume to know.
I am not God.
Nazi Germany under Hitler is marked in history for their murders which killed 11M (6M Jewish and 5M Christians and political adversaries) (1939-1941).
The USSR under Stalin killed a minimum of 3X Hitler’s number at 34M to 60M of his own people (1924 - 1953).
China killed (conservatively speaking) a minimum of 4X Hitler’s number at 44M in Mao Tse Tung’s Great Leap Forward. Some very credible estimates put that number up at 78M (1958-1962).
And yet our first go-to in identifying a mass murdering villain who is the most notorious is Hitler/Germans and when we do, we usually prefer to mention only the Jewish murders.
Remarkable that this article mentions all three, but the impetus is also on Germans/Hitler.
Talkin’ CW2 Blues.
Dang!
I've read about this... somewhere.
Where do you get unbelief? I don’t see a passage suggesting unbelief. It is pride and lust. Lust for the money, he held the purse and accepted the 30 pieces of silver. Pride in that he chose to reject Jesus offer for forgiveness and trying to be God in chosing to be in control of life and death.
We only went to war with the Nazis.
FDR was a fellow traveller of his Uncle Joe, and Truman was afraid of doing what was right concerning Chiang Kai-shek because FDR’s minions were still working for Uncle Joe and convincing Harry that Chiang was a closet Fascist. Even if he was, the CCP and Mao were so much worse.
The one I remember reading was called "Three Versions of Judas". It was one of Borges' many "non-story stories" in which he wrote as if were merely musing about a subject rather than actually telling a story. In this case, he says he has studied three authors' views of Judas. "Kristus och Judas" (a non-existent work by a fake writer Borges made up) was merely the first version. The third version - "Den hemlige Frälsaren" actually suggested that Judas was in fact the Messiah and that by suffering through the centuries the shame of betraying Jesus, he (Judas) was the "suffering servant" described by Isaiah.
I always get a kick out of these stories by Borges that seem to be scholarly articles rather than stories. Or sometimes, he will write about a story he plans to write someday, and the description of what he intends is his way of telling the story. A clever and entertaining writer.
Absolutely. Peter was in just as much despair as Judas, and probably saw himself in the same light. However, Peter was willing to ask for forgiveness, Judas was not. Ultimately Judas probably thought somewhere in his soul that by committing suicide he could pay or atone for his sin.
But Peter waited for Jesus and became greater than he ever could have on his own. Judas made his choices, God foresaw and used those choices, but those choices were still on Judas.
“Judas’s ultimate sin was despair.”
I feel sure that my mother would have agreed with you. I wish she were alive so I could ask her. She always said despair was the most fatal sin, because this was a sin against the Holy Ghost.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.