Dispelling a Delusion about the Subjunctive Mood (Why Saying I Would Not Worship God “If”…Is Not Insulting to God)

Last updated on: December 1, 2013 at 1:22 pm by Roger E. Olson

Dispelling a Delusion about the Subjunctive Mood (Why Saying I Would Not Worship God “If”…Is Not Insulting to God) 2013-12-01T13:22:00-05:00 Roger E. Olson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Dispelling a Delusion about the Subjunctive Mood (Why Saying I Would Not Worship God If…Is Not Insulting to God)

Ever since I said here that if God were the God described by TULIP and the God of divine determinism, the author of sin and evil, I would not worship him I have been besieged by critics who suffer under the delusion that I said something about God—something demeaning to God’s glorious transcendence (etc.). The same happens when I say if God were the God of TULIP and divine determinism, the author of sin and evil, he would be a moral monster.

That’s simply a trick of the mind—to think I said (am saying) something about God.

We all know there are optical illusions which are actually delusions brought about by mistakes made by the brain via sight. The same can happen about ideas—delusions brought about my incorrect thinking and misunderstanding.

When I say that if God were the God described by Calvinism I would not worship him because he would be a moral monster, I am not saying anything insulting, demeaning or disrespectful about God. Please pay attention.

Illustration:

I have three best friends: Tom, Dick and Harry. The four of us have been inseparable friends, devoted to one another, for forty years. We communicate daily and see each other as often as possible.

But Tom is upset with me. That’s because I said that if Dick were a serial killer I would stop being friends with him because in that case he would be someone else, not the Dick I thought I knew, and he would be a moral monster. Tom said “That’s insulting to Dick.”

Here’s what happened.

Harry has a mental and emotional problem that causes him sometimes to suffer delusions about other people. For some reason he has come to believe that Dick is a serial killer. He believes Dick sneaks out of his house at night and murders innocent people just for the fun of it. For some reason Harry doesn’t have a problem with this—at least not one that affects his friendship with Dick.

But when talking with Tom about Harry’s delusion I said that if it were true (which it isn’t and I’m certain of that) that Dick is a serial killer I would stop being his friend. That’s because, in that case, Dick would not be the Dick that I know and love. However, I’m not in the least worried about it because I know that Harry is suffering a delusion. I remain friends with all of them even though Tom is upset with me.

Look, I say to Tom, I’m not saying anything about Dick because Dick isn’t a serial killer. But Tom insists that I am being unfair to Dick because Dick is such a wonderful person. Why, he asks, am I not more loyal to Dick? All I can do is ask a stunned “Huh?” Because I’m not talking about the Dick we both know and love; I’m talking about a hypothetical Dick that doesn’t exist—the one that is a mental delusion in Harry’s mind.

You who accuse me of saying something negative about God when I say that if God were the God of TULIP and divine determinism I would not worship him are laboring under the same mental trick, trick of the mind, that my friend Tom labors under—reifying a hypothetical, projecting onto God something that can be put into words but isn’t the case—as if God might actually be that. That is not at all what I’m saying. I’m saying that if God were the God of TULIP and divine determinism, the author of sin and evil (which is what I would have to believe if I were a Calvinist) I would not worship him because he would be a moral monster. But that God doesn’t exist—just like “that Dick” (the serial killer) doesn’t exist. Dick exists (just as God exist), but that Dick is or might be a serial killer is only the case in Harry’s deluded mind.

(Just for the record, I have no three best friends named Tom, Dick or Harry. It’s just an illustration.)

I suspect that what is often happening is this: Many people who object to my subjunctive-hypothetical statement about what I would do and how I would regard God if…are nominalists/voluntarists with regard to God. That is, they believe God has no permanent, unchanging nature and can be and do whatever he wants to be and do. In other words, they believe God’s will precedes God’s nature. God determines his nature—except that he is infinite, omnipotent and free. He has no stable, unchanging character that governs his will. That is not what I believe. I am a realist with regard to universals and I believe God has a permanent, unchanging character perfectly revealed in Jesus Christ and that goodness, love and justice, are essential facets of that character such that God cannot be other than good, loving and just.

The problem with nominalism/voluntarism, of course, is that it makes it impossible to know who God is—eternally, unchangingly. A nominalist/voluntarist can know (or think she knows) what God is—free, infinite power. But a nominalist/voluntarist has to remain open to the possibility that God will decide to be: unfaithful to his promises, deceitful, unmerciful, unjust, hateful, etc. That God (who doesn’t exist) cannot be trusted.

So either a critic of my subjunctive-hypothetical statements is a nominalist/voluntarist, in which case we are thinking about God from entirely different perspectives (and mine is the traditional Christian one), or she is laboring under a mental trick, an illusion of the mind (like an optical illusion) that somehow I am talking about the real God, the God of Jesus Christ, the God revealed in Scripture when I say “if….” I am no more talking about that God, the real God who is (when I say if he were the God of TULIP and divine determinism I would consider him a moral monster and not worship him) than I am talking about my friend Dick when I say if he were a serial killer I would end our friendship.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

November 30, 2013

Explaining Calvinism to Calvinists (and Others)

Next Post

December 4, 2013 Why I Am Not a Process Theologian

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Against Liberal Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month November 2026 October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did God use to lead the Israelites by day?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A pillar of fire A pillar of cloud An angel A trumpet