"If God is Love ... "

Woo-hoo! I got a 'best answer' from Yahoo! To be honest, didn't notice until now ...

The question that someone had posted was as follows,

"If God is love then why does Saint Paul make a list of the people who are not going to the heaven in Corinthia?"

My response below, which was mainly influenced by a Bible Study led by our Achens - Fr. Dr. George Pulikkottil and Fr. Dr. M.K. Thomas. George Achen in particular emphasized that in order to truly understand the Epistles of Paul and the other letters in the New Testament requires us to remember the historical context, time period and as part of the larger whole.

Also interesting was to see the other responses to the question - some criticizing the asker, some indicating the Bible was irrelevant, ... a typical response to a question on the faith.


I am now trying to figure out how to claim my prize :) My answer below,

Just a humble response ...

The Scripture is the true Word of our Lord, but we have to remember that we need to read and understood in both historical context as well as through the teachings of your Church. The Word is Divine .. unfortunately, man's ability to interpret this is not. The Bible is sadly one of the most often texts that are stated out of context by both sides of the argument.

Through our Bible Study, our priest cautioned to remember that St Paul wrote these letters to the emerging churches in each community. Corinth at the time was a busy capital city with many influences, thoughts and backgrounds. The Jews in the city needed correction, and the letter was written with them in mind (and hence the choice of words).

We can all share our opinions and point to the same Scripture and interpret in different ways, but at the end it is the Grace of God that will determine what happens next. That's the Love of God you are thinking about, and is beyond comprehension of even St Paul. Despite all our failings and stupidity, we have a chance to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Source(s):

1. Corinth at the time of St. Paul