The Wrath of God: Punitive or Restorative?

In a previous article ("The Hell with Hell"), I wrote about the need to discard and dismantle the doctrine of wicked people going to a place called "Hell", where they will  undergo eternal conscious suffering and torment for their wicked ways. In that same spirit, I now invite you (all of us, myself included) to examine the notion of God's anger.


In many religious traditions, we find prevalent the notion that God or the gods become angry because of humanity's inclination to become wayward and to specialize in deviant behavior.  Subsequently, faith communities come up with the need for sacrifice or some other means to compensate for that behavior so that we not become victim's of God's wrath.   In other words, the notion of "kissing and making up" with God stands at the center of the beliefs of many faith communities. 


The Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), Christian Scriptures (New Testament) and Islamic Scriptures (Holy Qu'ran) all have an emphasis on God becoming "pissed off," so to speak,
and consequently relegating people to suffer the consequences of their disobedience and deviancy either by destruction or eternal torment.  Both of these types of punishment speak about God punishing people when they insist on being adamant and unrepentant, and additionally, not taking advantage of God's offer to be forgiven and redeemed.  This is especially true in the Christian faith, which emphasizes that if we refuse to accept God's offer of forgiveness through Jesus, that we will end up in "hell" to suffer the not only the consequences of our sinful acts and lifestyles, but also the consequence of rejecting God's offer of redemption through Jesus's sacrifice on the cross.




It is precisely this notion of God becoming angry that I would like for us to examine and discuss. The Bible (both testaments) and the Qu'ran, as well as the sacred texts of other religious communities, utilize anthropomorphic language, i.e. language that attributes human-like characteristics and qualities to God.  In other words, in the community of faith, we speak about God as if we were speaking about ourselves.  Instead of humans being made "in the image and likeness of God," we find God "in the image and likeness of humans."  The tendency to talk about God as if God were human is rooted in the limitation of human language to describe the infinite and indescribebable   When we speak about God's anger in the context of faith, we have the impression that God is like us, i.e. subject to having a hissy or temper tantrum.


The scriptural description of God's anger speaks more to God's displeasure.  In other words, the Scriptures point to a God who does not disregard, ignore, or overlook acts of human defiance, but rather acts to generate consequences for our "cockiness."


The question for us is, is God's punishment for our sin intended to be punitive or restorative?  This writer (yours truly) is more inclined towards the latter, i.e. God's actions are designed to "bring us back into the fold."  My biased position is based on the following:


1.  The thrust of the Old Testament's mention of God's punishment of Israel is towards restoration. A perfect example of this is the Babylonian captivity.  We find the prophets speaking of God bringing the people back after a seventy year education.  The promise is made for them to be able to go back and "plant vineyards" and rebuild the temple.


2.  The thrust of the "eternal fire" in the Gospel message speaks to purification.  How do we know this?  We know this because the overriding principle of God's relationship with humans is God's love for us.  That love is not obliterated by our obstinacy and resistance to God's love.


3.  The emphasis that is given in Process Theology on God alluring not only humans, but the totality of the creation to Godself.  God works the prophets, through Jesus and through specific acts of "spanking" (tough love) to draw us back to Godself.  God works through whatever means are necessary in order to make it possible for us to have the capacity for full satisfaction.


4.  My experience as a correctional chaplain.  The underlying philosophy (at least in New York State) was correction, rehabilitation, and reintegration into society.  While the punitive aspect was not totally missing, it was secondary and subordinate to rehabilitation. That is the reason why the opportunity to participate in educational, recreational, religious, and therapeutic programs were afforded to the residents, i.e. to aid in their rehabilitation and reintegration into society.


I now invite you, the reader to share with us where you stand on the issue of God's displeasure.
Is God's anger in your opinion something which results in eternal destruction or is it an intended act of restoration?  Whatever your position is, tell us why you hold to such a position.  Tell us how in your opinion we can maintain in a balanced tension the double principles that "God is love, but is also consuming fire."


Grace and peace,


Juan Ayala-Carmona






4.