Have you ever had a question thrown at you about right and wrong, good and evil, justice and injustice, from someone who rejects the existence and authority of God? I know I have. They say there are not absolute rights and wrongs, and yet they get offended when they get their toes are stepped on by evil, an evil they don’t believe exists. If you don’t believe in evil, why do you want to discuss the implications of evil in the world? If you don’t believe in gravity, why take a parachute when you go skydiving?
In Jesus’ day there was a group of religious Jews who only accepted the first five books of the Old Testament as being God’s Word. They rejected all the writings of the Prophets and the books that recounted Israel’s history after they entered the Promised Land. As a result, their theology was narrow. If it wasn’t specifically spelled out in those first five books, they wouldn’t believe it.
The resurrection, the coming back to life after death of all people, was not specifically spelled out in those first five books, so they didn’t believe it would happen. And yet, this is exactly what they come to question Jesus about. They come with what seems like a standard student’s question for their professor of theology.
Some of the ones I have heard include these. How many angels fit on the head of a pin? If God is all powerful, can He make a weight so heavy that He can’t lift it? Since God is everywhere present, is God in Hell? Each of these questions presents a fundamentally simplistic view of an attribute of God and then creates a situation that seemingly violates that attribute.
Jesus doesn’t fall for their schoolroom prank. He explains that their simplistic view of heaven is wrong. Heaven is not just a better ‘here,’ it is a totally different type of existence. Time does control heaven. Our understanding of the relationships that exist here and there is limited. We know what they are here, but we have no idea what they will be like there.
And their understanding of God was also limited. God is not a ‘super’ being, a much better version of us. He is not the best human on infinite steroids. He has no limits, like space and time. Just because a human is dead does not mean that their relationship with God ceases to exist. Death is not the end.
Jesus isn’t afraid to confront bad theology. We should be afraid to do the same. But remember. The primary mission is not to correct the theology of a non-believer, but to introduce them to the Savior, Jesus. An unbeliever with correct theology is still out of relationship with God, and as a result making the choice for Hell. Correct theology is for believers. Make sure you know your audience.
The Arnold Journey 