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"The Most Merciful"—7 Versions of Mercy

A Philosophical Exploration of the Mercy of God

  • 6 July 2015
  • Author: Scott Cherry
  • Number of views: 12859
  • 2 Comments

Preface: When I first met Mohanid he was a 30-something Lebanese psychologist and a Muslim educated in America. He is exceptionally intelligent and likable. I met him at the 2007 annual dinner of Wayne State University’s Muslim Student Association. Someone I knew introduced me to Mohanid, who sat with me and started a conversation. I gave him my phone number and he called a few weeks later. That year we had four deep and pleasant dinner meetings discussing our faith. My wife and I have had him and his wife in our home, and when their baby was born we visited them. Following those encounters we had a number of email dialogues in which we compared our respective notions of merce and I explained the Christian understanding based on the Holy Bible.  ...Do you think I got it right?

7 Possible Versions of the Mercy of God: 

1a. Absolute Justice (i.e. universal and unmitigated justice, which is no mercy at all): God is merciful in theory only because in reality nobody receives His mercy and nobody goes to heaven.  (Surah 19:71)

1b. Absolute Mercy (i.e. universal and unconditional forgiveness): God is so completely merciful that He forgives everybody unconditionally, and everyone goes to heaven. If God is that merciful then it hardly matters how we live and what we believe.

2a. Unknowable Conditional Mercy: God shows mercy only to those who meet certain conditions or stan- dards. It is impossible to know exactly what those conditions are, nor the proportionate measurement or "grading scale" for them.  So it is also impossible for anyone to know whether he/she will go to heaven.

2b Knowable Conditional Mercy: As in 2a, God shows mercy to those who meet certain conditions, and we can know exactly what those conditions are and the proportionate measurement for acceptance, so it is quite possible for someone to know whether he/she will go to heaven.

3. Arbitrary Mercy (either conditional or unconditional): God may have conditions or not, but whether you meet them – whether you are good or bad – is irrelevant. In the end, God will choose whether to accept a person into heaven based on arbitrary fate or decree or his mood or something else unknown.

4. Meritorious mercy (knowable or unknowable): God is merciful but only to those who have merit (i.e. moral goodness).  If a person has no merit he cannot be accepted by God into paradise.  If a person has perfect merit he must be accepted (but then how can mercy be mercy?).  And that is rare.  A person has to have at least some merit to receive God's mercy, certainly more than half.  But if the required and actual ratios are unknowable, then you can never know whether God will accept you into heaven.

5. Knowable Vicarious Conditional Meritorious Mercy: God is abundant in mercy but also supremely just. His mercy, by definition, exists only because justice exists, for without the latter there is no need for the former.  This also implies that moral standards exist which people violate, which violations are called sins, or crimes against God.  His justice is based on his holiness but his mercy is based on his love, both of which are supreme motivators for his bestowing mercy to the world.  Bestowing mercy without compromising justice requires a means by which to achieve mercy and satisfy justice.  For this there must be merit earned by someone who is fully capable of earning it without sin.  Jesus is that someone. 

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (The Bible, John 3:16-18)

Mohanid responded to me as follows. Note the words I have bolded and italicized, as they best indicate his concept of whether we can know if we have attained God's mercy.

"Hi Scott, I enjoyed reading what you wrote about mercy. From my somewhat limited knowledge, I would say that Islam would be closest to Point 2 with elements of both 2a and 2b but probably more from 2b. Islam is very simple in what it asks of humans. The word ‘Islam’ itself means 'Submission.' It is understood that if one simply follows this tenet in his/her life, then this person can be eligible for God's mercy. We are obviously not perfect -- that is an impossible achievement for a human [he is not aware that those who’ve accepted Christ will reach biblical perfection when He returns]—but if we at least try to submit our lives and actions to God, then we can be eligible for his mercy.

Submission means that we as humans are to live our lives with God in mind and in all our actions. If we are studying, we study to please God because God wants us to be educated. If we are raising a family it's so we can instill submission to God in our children. If we are eating, we are eating to sustain our bodies, a gift from God. As long as we are submitted to God's will and attempt to live the way he wishes and knows is best for us, and then we will hopefully be fine and fall under his grace and mercy. So it's sort of a mindset more than anything else. If we have this mindset, we can be good.”

Mohanid goes on to say:

“I would definitely choose 2b if it were not for this statement: ‘It is possible for someone to know whether he/she will go to paradise.’ I would be careful to make this statement since any one of us who claims to have a formula that can be used to determine someone's punishment or reward, hell or heaven, is fooling him/herself. The number of factors and the intricacies of our lives are far too complex to be determined by a simple formula. Only the ultimate judge, God, has this immense power and wisdom."

In other words, Mohanid does not believe that John 3:16 can be a formula – that one may indeed be sure they are going to heaven because of God's mercy. I later explained that the voluntary death of Jesus on the cross and His glorious resurrection from the grave warranted the mercy of God on our behalf…that He earned it for us by His perfect death, because we are neither worthy nor able to earn it for ourselves.  Thanks be to God.

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2 comments on article ""The Most Merciful"—7 Versions of Mercy"

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Steve Schlichter

7/7/2015 12:20 AM

great post Scott. It is interesting that 2b resonated with him. To me, 2b and 1a are basically the same thing. i.e. There is some standard (even though it is lower than perfection in 2b) and if you meet it, then you are good. i.e. It seems very similar to to justice without mercy.


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