#464: “Justice Is His Nature”

Reflection: A message for ideologues of mercy without regard to justice.

No single attribute can convey the nature of God’s relationship to man. Since justice is His nature, love, which would disregard the evil deeds of man, would contradict His nature. Because of His concern for man, His justice is tempered with mercy. Divine anger is not the antithesis of love, but its counterpart, a help to justice as demanded by true love.

The end [result] of sentimentality is the enfeeblement of truth and justice. It is divine anger that gives strength to God’s truth and justice. There are moments in history when anger alone can conquer evil. It is after mildness and kindness have failed that anger is proclaimed.

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Heschel, Abraham Joshua. The Prophets (pp. 380-381). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

Abraham Joshua Heschel (January 11, 1907 – December 23, 1972) was a Polish-American rabbi and one of the leading Jewish theologians and Jewish philosophers of the 20th century. Heschel, a professor of Jewish mysticism at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, authored a number of widely read books on Jewish philosophy and was a leader in the civil rights movement. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Joshua_Heschel

#463: “For Love to Function”?

Reflection: A message for ideologues of “affirm the feelings.”

“Nothing is so sweet to the heart of man as love. However, for love to function, the suppression of sympathy may be necessary. A surgeon would be a failure if he indulged his natural sympathy at the sight of a bleeding wound. He must suppress his emotion to save a life, he must hurt in order to heal. Genuine love, genuine mercy, must not be taken to be indulgence of mere feeling, excess of sensibility, which is commonly called sentimentality.”*

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*Heschel, Abraham Joshua. The Prophets (pp. 380-381). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

Abraham Joshua Heschel (January 11, 1907 – December 23, 1972) was a Polish-American rabbi and one of the leading Jewish theologians and Jewish philosophers of the 20th century. Heschel, a professor of Jewish mysticism at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, authored a number of widely read books on Jewish philosophy and was a leader in the civil rights movement.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Joshua_Heschel