“Let’s be very clear, then: we do not need to be rescued from God. God is the one who rescues us from death, sin and destruction. God is the rescuer.” Kindle Loc. 2196

I touched on some of this in my review of chapter 3, the Love of God. I think there are two things to ponder with respect to this assertion. 1. What is the evidence? 2. Our experience with glory

1. What is the evidence for this assertion?

Do we have evidence for this assertion on the basis of what in Christian theology we call “general revelation”? Does what we see in this world lead us to believe this about the creator God? Nature is red in tooth and claw. There are more species extinct than species that currently exist. People suffer from illness, natural disasters, and especially from each other. I see no basis for this claim from general revelation.

Jesus certainly said many things that you can appeal to to base this claim. Can we find the basis of this claim in Moses? Tougher. In Mohammed? I don’t know. Is there a unique creator, all governing god comparable to Yhwh in Hindu or Buddhist traditions? It is Jesus that tells stories of a heavenly father that you can count on and creates this base.

This base, however, is deeply tied to the Hebrew Scriptures where Yhwh is a consuming fire who breaks out in the camp. The children of Israel both depend upon Yhwh’s presence but have issues with it as seen in their request to Moses at Sinai that Moses be their mediator. Israel in fact will always be dependent upon mediators throughout the story which is precisely where Jesus comes in. The mediator enables Yhwh to be the God who wages war and is victorious over more powerful foes, Egyptians, Philistines, Assyrians, while at the same time keeps mediates the relationship insuring that this great power does not destroy the people. Can we really honor the Hebrew Scriptures without coming to terms with this aspect of the tradition?

The dangerous power of Yhwh and the jeopardy of the people energizes the law and will bring the exile. Yhwh need not always destroy directly, he can simply withdraw his hand and allow Israel to be taken by the greater powers in the region.

Is this complex relationship eliminated with Jesus? Why does what seems like a small lie over the size of a church donation end in the death of Ananias and Saphira causing fear to spread throughout the church?

Bell simply here reflects contemporary sensibilities. This position is most susceptible to contemporary dismissals of religion as wish fulfillment projected large against the sky. We want a jeopardy free spiritual world and so we simply assert it. Upon what basis are we making this assertion?

2. Our experience with glory

Were you ever nervous meeting a person of consequence? When you were a child were you scared of your teacher or nervous about going to the principles office? Does your heart run faster if you are approached by a police officer or the IRS? Why? Because what you say or what you do or what you have done could be enormously consequential in terms of your future. Our situation before the face of God is exponentially greater than any of these.

There is also a more existentialist argument. We all tend to base our self-worth and our self-esteem on some attribute. We regard ourselves as good looking, smart, moral, qualified, etc. What if you were the smartest kid in your class and you based your identity on this attribute? What happens when you go away to college only to discover that your self-worth was based on your relative performance amidst a very small pool and that when the pool was enlarged you were only average in that pool? Envy tends to creep in and it is common to feel crushed. Now image coming face to face with the most beautiful, the most powerful, the most brilliant, the most moral, the most perfect being in existence. If you have any pride within you and if you identity is based on that pride your identity will be crushed.

I think this is also the best argument for the existence of Satan and our way to understand destructive, counter-productive evil. What if Satan had within him pride in himself being, relatively speaking, and angel of tremendous power and glory and smarts? What if it was Satan’s desire to be the most powerful, the most beautiful, the most consequential being in the universe? What is Satan wanted to replace his maker only to discover that despite all his glory he still falls short? That envy would drive such a being to be destructive, to hate the good, to hate the beautiful, to hate anything that reflected or pointed to the glory of the creator. That being would constantly want to tear down, to destroy, to accuse.

I think on the basis of the lack of evidence and our experience with glory that the jeopardy of God is a most reasonable thing to imagine. I don’t think its reasonable to risk Bell’s position.