{"id":36387,"date":"2022-08-19T12:02:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-19T12:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/mystery-writer-explains-wrath-of-god\/"},"modified":"2022-08-19T12:02:00","modified_gmt":"2022-08-19T12:02:00","slug":"mystery-writer-explains-wrath-of-god","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/mystery-writer-explains-wrath-of-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Mystery Writer Explains the Wrath of God"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a novel by the British mystery writer P.D. James, a detective shares a common sentiment, saying, “I don’t go for all this emphasis on sin, suffering, and judgment. If I had a God, I’d like him to be intelligent, cheerful, and amusing.” In response, her Jewish colleague says, “I doubt whether you would find him much of a comfort when they herded you into the gas chambers. You might prefer a God of vengeance.”<\/p>\n\n

Theologian J. Todd Billings comments on this quote:<\/p>\n\n

\n

A God without wrath is a God who whitewashes evil and is deaf to the cries of the powerless. A student of mine who grew up in a gang culture and had many whom he loved taken from him by violence told me with profound honesty that “If God will not avenge, I am tempted to avenge.” Precisely because God is a God of love, he is also a God of holy wrath.<\/p>\n

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