Orthodox/Latin Lenten ping.
“Mercy is opposed to justice. Justice is equality of the even scale, for it gives to each as he deserves... Mercy, on the other hand, is a sorrow and pity stirred up by goodness, and it compassionately inclines a man in the direction of all; it does not requite a man who is deserving of evil, and to him who is deserving of good it gives a double portion. If, therefore, it is evident that mercy belongs to the portion of righteousness, then justice belongs to the portion of wickedness. As grass and fire cannot coexist in one place, so justice and mercy cannot abide in one soul. As a grain of sand cannot counterbalance a great quantity of gold, so in comparison God’s use of justice cannot counterbalance His mercy. As a handful of sand thrown into the great sea, so are the sins of the flesh in comparison with the mind of God. And just as a strongly flowing spring is not obscured by a handful of dust, so the mercy of the Creator is not stemmed by the vices of His creatures.”
I don't think so. When God punishes the evil-doer, his motive is often mercy for the innocent who suffer under the evil.
Current-day political example: embarrasing Obama on a worldwide scale by exposing all the lying he's done would be a punishment for him, but it would be a mercy for those innocent who suffer because of his lies.
When you think about it, all of Christianity is based on Mercy, not Justice. The very death on the cross is an act of Supreme Mercy as it is of Supreme Injustice. No one can say that it was just for Jesus to die!
The last person on earth who deserved to die (the most innocent of all) is killed, so that the guilty may live. (That's pretty much Lukan theology)
And then comes Anselm...
Thanks! I bookmarked this for later reading.
I went to my first Akathist service ever (in a Greek church) last Friday, and am looking forward to Holy Week and Pascha!
The unrepentent sinner can not abide the fire of God’s love so for him it becomes an everlasting torment.