/lit/ - Literature

>If to any the tumult of the flesh were hushed, hushed the images of earth, and waters, and air, hushed also the poles of heaven, yea the very soul be hushed to herself, and by not thinking on self surmount self, hushed all dreams and imaginary revelations, every tongue and every sign, and whatsoever exists only in transition, since if any could hear, all these say, We made not ourselves, but He made us that abideth for ever—If then having uttered this, they too should be hushed, having roused only our ears to Him who made them, and He alone speak, not by them, but by Himself, that we may hear His Word, not through any tongue of flesh, nor Angel’s voice, nor sound of thunder, nor in the dark riddle of a similitude, but, might hear Whom in these things we love, might hear His Very Self without these, (as we two now strained ourselves, and in swift thought touched on that Eternal Wisdom, which abideth over all;)—could this be continued on, and other visions of kind far unlike be withdrawn, and this one ravish, and absorb, and wrap up its beholder amid these inward joys, so that life might be for ever like that one moment of understanding which now we sighed after; were this not, Enter into thy Master’s joy?

Patristics > medieval "theology"

>>14504526
>God will send most people to Hell, but he is a merciful being
Not a universal position of the church. Sts Irenaus and Gregory of Nyssa would think otherwise
>God will send all unborn babies and virtuous pagans to Hell, but he is a merciful being
On unborn babies, see CCC 1261. On virtuous pagans, see Romans 2:14-15.
>God doesn't give a fuck about the innocent and about animals, but he is a merciful being
God loves animals, see Matthew 6:26. See also the chapter on animal suffering in C.S. Lewis' The Problem of Pain.
>God uses the existence of Evil to educate his masochistic followers, but he is a merciful being
Love outweighs every evil. Only people choose to reject that love.
>God created a world where suffering is abundant and misery is the rule, but he is a merciful being
Ibid.
>Most followers of the Christian God are bloodthirsty egoistic hypocrites, ,but he is a merciful being
You've outed yourself as an American. Christians in most parts of the world are anti-war.
>God already knows what you are going to do and your free will is meaningless, but he is a merciful being
You don't understand free will.