When will we begin to realise that we are all part of the same family, and learn to love one another and not allow the enemy a foothold in our family. He doesn't even belong here, (among us, who are a part of the Body of Christ). To love God and to love one another, and not condemn others because they have a different opinion. Opinions should die with the flesh, as well as anything else which is not in agreement with the mind of the Holy Spirit. We are all at different stages in our respective walks with the Lord. May we learn to live with one another with this in mind. I'm still learning how to live with my own ignorance, let alone with anyone else's. Still trying to love, when not being so. Blessings Brethren

God made us in his image, and if there was not something inherently good in suffering (and only God is good) then he would not have made us able to suffer just like Him. Just think about how important it is to mourn with those who mourn and to celebrate with joy with those who rejoice. What a flat idol of a god our God would be if he was so abstracted and divorced from us that he did not suffer just as any person (Person in his case) would. Just because we refer to Him as a Person with a capital "P" to show our respect for His Majesty does not make him any less of a full person.

The idea of God suffering is all over the prophetic writings. The issue here is whether these presentations were merely anthropopatic and anthropomorphic or real and actual sufferings, analogous to human suffering. I would have to say that while it is true that the prophecies are garbed in anthropopatic expressions, they were real sufferings of a loving God, who chose to suffer, in behalf of His redeemed. This suffering however cannot be defined in human terms nor can be likened to any earthly suffering. His transcendence will always be a mystery to us. But I would not confuse it with the transcendent God of Anselm which made God wholly insensitive and detached from human suffering. On the other hand, to say to the extent that God died would be putting too much sugar on the icing. I think this balance must always be kept in view. God's suffering is not uncaused for the very reason of his volition to suffer and this suffering is consistent with his communicable attributes.

I teach a Sunday school class along with my husband to kids who are in the 4th & 5th grades. Some of these kids come from Catholic backgrounds and struggle to understand the Biblical truths they are being taught about God and Christ. Understandable! Since the Lord Jesus Christ is in fact God, it can be understood that the Father suffered along with the Son as Messiah hung there making atonement for our sins. Yet and still the Son in his suffering says, "My God, my God - Why hast Thou forsaken me?" We know the Father did not forsake the Son, because the Scriptures say so. I have no problem beleiving that God the father suffers anymore than the way we live our lives grieve Him. This is not bringing Him down to our level. The reality is that our lives should reflect the character of Christ each and every day, if we are indeed His children, saved by the Blood of the Lamb.

Glenn, the humerous part about your comment is that you say, "I find it fascinating that the lower-rating comments on this artcle all speak to theology but not one speaks from the Bible." But, you proceede to give your own theology and you DO NOT quote one scripture from the Bible. You have just fallen into the trap that you criticized the other people of doing. Second, all the others have made comments but unless you give an argument your comments are nothing but just that, comments.