A chapter closing paragraph from Charles C. Ryrie's book Basic Theology
If a concerned student goes to his fellow student who needs $1,000 for tuition and offers with genuine loving concern $10 (which is all he has), and if his $10 bill is throw scornfully on the floor with a mocking "What good will that pittance do me?" what further obligation does the student have to provide additional help to his fellow student? If he should suddenly be able to give the entire $1,000, would anyone charge him with injustice if he gave it to another needy student? Accepting a $10 gift will not "save" the person who needs $1,000; but rejecting it will condemn him. We must not forget that the majority of people who have ever lived have rejected the revelation of God through nature, and they have rejected with scorn and deliberate substitution of their own gods. They have condemned themselves, and when God rejects them, He does so justly.
2 Comments Posted.
By: Renoir On: 2009-05-20 08:01:47
Nice chap, your god. Provide no proof whatsoever of his existence, hundreds of competing religions, and then flame anyone who doesn't pick the right one.
Is that a 'loving' god?
By: Robert Carpenter On: 2009-05-20 10:50:13
I must admit that the analogy that Ryrie gives could very well be interpreted that way when given out of context as I have and for that I am sorry. From what I can tell Ryrie attempts to make no such point.