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Re: Thoughts on Jonah (was Re: Radio Satan)
On Mon, 3 Jun 2002, Brian K. Schermerhorn wrote:
> > True, but as the Golden Calf episode in Exodus 32 suggests, even God
> > can be convinced that he goes too far when he's pissed off. :)
>
> Not really my thread, but I thought I'd point out that the point can
> easily be made back in Jonah, where you started. After the Ninevites
> repent and fast and so forth God has compassion on them (NIV, I believe)
> and changes his mind (NRSV, I believe) about drenching the city in fire.
Well, that's not quite the same thing -- in Exodus, God threatens to
destroy the Israelites and make a nation out of Moses, and Moses talks him
out of it by saying how shameful it would be in the eyes of the other
nations. The Israelites don't repent or anything, God just cools off a
bit and finds other ways to punish them. Whereas in Jonah, one could
argue that the threat of destruction *worked* -- it produced a change in
behaviour, and no one convinces God that he is going too far.
--- Peter T. Chattaway --------------------------- peter at chattaway_com ---
"I detected one misprint, but to torture you I will not tell you where."
Winston Churchill to T.E. Lawrence, re Seven Pillars of Wisdom
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