2 Nephi 2

(July 23, 2015)

                Reading the clear doctrine of the Atonement (why it was needed, and how it was accomplished) serves to really highlight just how much our post-modern society can put blinders on us.  C. S. Lewis once said that it is important to read the book written in the past because the books of our day are all blind to the same things, and while the authors of the past have their own blindness they are also able to see what we cannot.

                Many of the post-moderns would read about the necessity of the Atonement and come to the same concern – that being that if God was all powerful he ought to be able to save everyone regardless of whether or not they repent.  That He does not, to many of them, is just a demonstration to them of the foolishness of religion.

                But they cannot see their own blind spots in this.  Who are we to say that an all-powerful God would necessarily want to save everyone (over their objections) even if He had the capacity? Doing so would destroy the ends of Creation, and it would make God superfluous.

                If I can make a tenuous corollary here, I am reminded of ‘God Mode’ on some video games.  In this mode, you take no damage and have unlimited ammunition and similar mechanisms that removes all the challenge from the game.  Games such as these are games that I would play for a few moments, but they quickly became boring and pointless.

                If God could save everyone with a waive of His Hand, would not His life become equally as pointless?  Instead, however, God has grand ambitions for us that requires not only His indispensible effort and help but also our exercise of agency.  All of the postmodern philosophy in the world cannot escape that.