19. Contradictions in God's Attributes

• If God is righteous and overflowing with love, how can a loving God torment countless people in hell?
• If people go to hell because of their "sin," isn't God the originator of "sin" and "evil"? If God had not created "sin" and "evil" in the first place, would there be any reason for people to go to hell?
• If God is righteous and cannot tolerate injustice, why is there so much suffering and absurdity in this world? Why is the world full of terrible crimes, wars, natural disasters, and lawlessness? Why are there people who live honestly and righteously but live in misery, while others commit all kinds of evil and injustice yet live comfortably and happily?

Up to this point, we have examined why the Bible and the gospel, which may seem like a mere "religious illusion," are not just that but a historical and scientific "truth." However, even if you agree with this verification process, I believe questions still remain.

If there really is a God and if He is a God of love as described in the Bible, how can He torture countless people in hell?

If God had not created sin in the first place, wouldn't these troublesome problems not exist?

Why does God only watch the numerous sufferings and absurdities of the world and not actively intervene to resolve them?

In a way, all these attributes seem to completely contradict God's attributes of righteousness and love, and God seems to be a cruel deity who prefers torture and suffering over love. These three questions may appear different, but fundamentally, they are the same. These seemingly contradictory contents are surprisingly easily resolved when we understand who "God" is. Let's solve this difficult problem now.

19.1. God Gave Us "Free Will"

Which do you prefer between a mechanical "greeting robot" and a personable "baby"?

Even if the "greeting robot" greets you politely without a single exception, you will not be moved at all. However, why do you feel love for a baby who cries and plays every day but occasionally crawls over to you with a smile, calling you "dad"? It is because the baby has "free will," while the robot does not.

The robot is "designed" to behave that way, so no matter how hard it tries to greet you, there is no reason for you to feel good, and no matter how harshly you curse at it, there is no reason for you to be angry. However, a baby with free will is loved and moved by the father because the baby runs to the father and clings to him, even though the baby has the "will" to reject the father.

The same goes for God. God has a "personal" attribute. When God created "man," He could have easily created a being that mechanically praised God without free will.

He could have easily created "machines" without emotions or personality that never committed sins, always did good deeds, or praised God in any situation without committing evil. However, God did not create humans as such beings. He does not want to receive meaningless worship, but just like us, He wants us to voluntarily seek and worship Him even though we can completely deny Him.

So God gave humans "free will."

19.2. The Product of Free Will - "Good and Evil"

Many people say this: Why did God create "evil"?

However, strictly speaking, God did not create "evil." He only created the "possibility" for evil to exist. This is because God did not "design" humans to unilaterally commit evil but allowed them to freely choose between good and evil.

Let's assume that you saw someone being robbed on the street, bleeding and collapsing. You can do a good deed by taking this person, who has nothing to do with you, to the hospital for treatment. On the other hand, you can ignore it and say it's not your business and move on. Rarely, you may even steal the wallet of this bleeding person and run away.

No one, not even God, forced you to make a particular choice. It is a matter entirely up to your choice. However, as a result of this "free will," "good" and "evil" must inevitably be distinguished.

In the end, good and evil are the products of human free will and the choices that follow. Good and evil are relative concepts. Since good and evil are relative concepts and have objects of comparison, it is a logical contradiction to ask why only good was not created without evil.

Therefore, no human being can ever escape the "evil" that is the product of this free will. It is not because God forces "evil," but rather because He has completely left all decision-making to us.

You may think, "I have never committed murder, never committed fraud, never stolen, and have never been taken to the police station for minor offenses. I am a conscientious citizen, so what evil have I committed?"

However, we must know that the concept of sin and evil in the Bible is much stricter than we think. The Bible says that just having hatred toward someone is committing murder, and just lusting after a woman is a sin.

From this perspective, no saint can ever claim to have never committed evil. The Bible says there is not a single righteous person.

19.3. The Wages of Sin is Death, Judgment After Death

The product of human "evil" results in committing "sin." The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. In other words, since no human can avoid committing sin, in the end, all people must die.

However, the problem is that this death is not the end. The Bible warns that there is "God's judgment" after death. The object of judgment is the "deeds" a person committed while living.

However, since no one can escape "sin," no one can ever escape God's judgment for "sin." God's judgment for "sin" is eternal hell punishment.

19.4. God's Attributes - Righteousness and Love

God has two attributes. One is that He is "righteous," and the other is that He is "love."

God is so perfectly righteous beyond our imagination, to the point where He cannot exercise flexibility, that He cannot tolerate even the trivial sins we consider insignificant. Therefore, He has no choice but to impose punishment for sin, and God's judgment for "sin" is eternal punishment in hell.

However, people often misunderstand this.

What kind of God has so little generosity? I understand that God is righteous, but if His love is also infinite, couldn't He simply bestow His love to forgive sins and easily solve the problem?

In fact, that is absolutely not the case. This is because righteousness and love can never logically compromise in a mediocre way. For example, if you truly love your baby, it would be normal for you to deeply hate artificial abortion. If you truly love your child, it would be normal for you to deeply hate the murderer who killed your child.

The greater your degree of love, the greater your degree of hatred toward the murderer, and from this perspective, if your love for your child is infinite, your hatred for the murderer and his murder would also be infinite.

At this point, let's assume that the judge in charge of the trial for your child's murder case is a person who is righteous but also overflowing with love. The judge says in court:

"I am a righteous judge, so I can never tolerate this murderer's crime. However, I am also overflowing with love, so I will forgive this crime and render a not guilty verdict."

Can you accept this? You absolutely cannot. Because he is righteous and hates sin so much, he cannot roughly dismiss it in the name of "love."

Therefore, to practice righteousness and love simultaneously, the price for "sin" must be paid. Righteousness and love can never logically coexist.

What about human sin? Since God's righteousness and love are infinite, God could never tolerate human sin, no matter how trivial. Therefore, someone had to pay the price for sin in some way. However, with the fallen nature of sinful humans, there was no way to solve this problem, so in the end, God decided to solve this sin problem Himself.

God created humans knowing the very possibility that they would commit such sins. Furthermore, even though He had no reason to take responsibility for the sins committed by humans, His creatures, and could have righteously judged humans without any problem, He personally took responsibility for human sins.

The omniscient and omnipotent God came in the body of His insignificant creature, suffered insults, criticisms, whippings, humiliation, and torture from His creatures, and died on the cross! With this, the problem of human sin was completely resolved, and even though humans had no choice but to go to hell because of sin, they were able to go to heaven.

As the Judge, God did not sentence the murderer who brutally killed your child,

"I am righteous, so I cannot let you escape the guilty verdict and death penalty under any circumstances. You are absolutely sentenced to 'death'!"

He also did not use a forced expedient, saying, "I am righteous, but I am also overflowing with love, so just this once, I will forgive the murderer."

This is what God did:

"I am such a righteous judge that I can never overlook this person's sin. However, I also do not want this person to sacrifice his precious life for a momentary mistake.

You may not understand, but I will take this murderer's sin upon myself. I am innocent, but I will take this murderer's sin upon myself. Whether you beat me to death with a club, take away my possessions, or spit and curse at me until your anger subsides, do as you please. Rather, I will pay the price for sin in his place, so please forgive this person and let him live."

You decided to accept this proposal. You forgave the murderer on the condition that you would vent your anger on the righteous and loving judge instead of the murderer. The murderer was released. However, a few days later, the murderer killed your parents as well. The same trial and situation were repeated.

Can you forgive this murderer? Would you follow the judge's proposal again? The vast majority would say that they can tolerate it once, but never again after that.

However, what if you could not reject the judge's tearful plea and dealt with the murderer in the same way again? Although it is an absurd assumption, let's say this process was repeated countless times, and each time, the judge tearfully pleaded to take the punishment himself. The judge took the punishment in your place, being beaten until his body was torn apart.

This is exactly what God has done for us. We commit countless sins while living, and we keep committing them. If you and I were God, could we have forgiven? Even if we said, "I will take the punishment for sin in your place and forgive you this once or twice, so don't sin again. If you still do, you are truly going to hell," wouldn't we?

But God did not do that. Knowing that we are weak beings who cannot help but sin, even if we sin and sin again every day, if we repent and turn back, He is fooled again and foolishly takes our sins upon Himself. How great is this love!

However, could this loving judge infinitely take upon himself the sins of a repetitive murderer? This loving judge asked the vicious murderer to repent of his sins and become a new person in exchange for taking the punishment for sin himself. The murderer tearfully repented and promised to become a new person each time, but he always repeated and committed those sins. Nevertheless, each time, the judge paid the price for sin in his place. He also promised to pay the price for sin on the condition of repentance. However, what if, despite the judge bestowing such unimaginably tremendous love, the murderer never repented until the end?

Even then, could the judge acquit this person? Absolutely not. This goes against the judge's righteous attribute.

If you saw such a murderer, wouldn't you be so furious that you would think that person deserves to be executed in any cruel way, even though such infinite mercy is shown to him but he never repents until the end?

Now let's reverse the situation.

You and I are constantly committing sins from "God's perspective" as we live our lives. We just don't want to admit it. God has never forced us to commit "sin." Sin and evil are merely the result of our choices, and it is only natural that we must bear the consequences of death and judgment.

Nevertheless, God took our sins upon Himself. God Himself suffered death and the pain of hell in our place, and He said that He would not send you to hell, so repent and do not sin anymore.

Yet, we commit sin again. Nevertheless, if we repent with tears, God forgives us each time and promises to bestow a level of love that is difficult to understand from a commonsense perspective. This is who God is. If we just accept His love and repent, all our sins are forgiven, and the way to avoid the punishment of hell is completely open.

What do you think? Do you ask, "If God is overflowing with love, how can He send people to hell for not believing in Jesus and not repenting?" This is the same as arguing, "Judge, no matter how many people I killed, how can you, who are so loving, not forgive this level of sin?"

The judge promised to bestow such unimaginable tremendous love, saying that no matter how vicious the sin committed and how often, if you repent and live a new life, he will gladly take all those terrible punishments for sin, but you still argue.

Are you not such a person? How can you expect more love? If you still refuse to "repent" and believe in Jesus until the end, yet want to be exempt from the "price of sin," it is logically impossible.

This is not because God lacks love, but because God's righteous attribute and loving attribute can never logically coexist without the process of paying the "price of sin." Therefore, if you go to hell because you do not repent and believe in Jesus, it is entirely because of your choice, not because of God's lack of love.

19.5. The World That Seems So Unfair

As we live our lives, we often think that the world is so unfair. Some people inherit abundant wealth, education, status, appearance, and power through good parents and enjoy a prosperous and happy life. However, some people live their entire lives in extreme poverty, illness, and physical weaknesses, suffering.

There are people who live prosperously even by using unjust methods, while there are too many people who live honestly and righteously but live miserably. If there is a God, how can this be considered fair? If God truly exists and is truly righteous, how can such irrationality and contradiction exist?

There is one thing we overlook. It is that this life in this world is not the end. The Bible says that this life in this world is a mere moment compared to eternal heaven or hell, that is, eternal life. If this life in this world is everything and the end of everything, this world would be an extremely unfair world. However, that is absolutely not the case.

The wicked can prosper and thrive. They can easily live happily until the age of 100 while committing fraud and evil deeds. Those who are too righteous and honest may die young and unfortunate. However, the problem is that this death is not the end.

The reward for our eternal life is fully reflected in all the words and actions of the life we are currently living. The Bible says that we reap what we sow. The serious mistake we make is thinking that what we sow in this world must be reaped in this world.

The Bible's ultimate concept of reward is that the fair judgment for our actions sown on this earth will be "justly" received at the judgment seat after death.

Those who do not know God and commit all kinds of evil while enjoying all the worldly blessings can temporarily live happily, but in the end, they will pay the price for all their sins at the judgment seat. Even if someone lives too righteously and follows God but lives a difficult life filled with all kinds of suffering, in the end, they will receive a befitting reward in heaven after death.

It is not very important whether we are a little wealthy or poor, or have slightly good or bad conditions while living in this world. This is because good worldly conditions are disadvantageous for eternal life, and bad worldly conditions may be good conditions for eternal life.

Therefore, from God's perspective, all humans are always equal. This is because the wicked and sinners will surely pay the price for their sins at the judgment seat, and the righteous will obtain eternal life in heaven.