Christianity - A Journey from Facts to Fiction — Page 29
Sin and Atonement 29 crime and pleasure, here on earth, and a rebirth in an eternal state of redemption is no mean bargain indeed. Is this the wisdom of justice that the Christians attribute to God? Such a sense of justice, or such a God himself, is totally unacceptable to the human conscience, which He Himself cre- ated, without, alas, being able to discriminate right from wrong. Looking at the same question in the light of human experience and human understanding, one has every right to denounce this philosophy to be meaningless and without foundation. It has no reality or substance. Human experience teaches us that it is always the prerogative of those who suffer at the hands of others to forgive or not to forgive. Sometimes governments, to celebrate a day of national rejoicing or for other reasons, may declare an amnesty to criminals without discrimination. But that does not in itself justify the act of pardoning those who have done some irreparable harm and caused perpetual suffering to their innocent fellow citizens. If the act of indiscriminate pardon at the hands of a government can by any measure be justified and if this is not considered by Christian theologians as a violation of the sense of justice then why do they not extend the same courtesy to God and concede to Him the right of forgiveness, as and when He so pleases? After all, He is the Supreme Sovereign, the Creator and Master of everything. If He pardons anyone for any crime that may have been committed against fellow beings, the Supreme Master has the unlimited power to compensate the aggrieved so generously as to make him perfectly satisfied with His decision. That being so where is the need for the sacrifice of His innocent