”Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
I admit I have taken great peace from the answer(s) coming to me from this narrative. Forgive me if it does not meet yours.
Can we believe in a loving God when there exists so much Human Evil? Why does God not stop us when we do evil? How it is Human Atrocities committed against the vulnerable does not reach the nostrils of God as such a stench God cannot help but blow them away?
In short, in light of Human Evil, how can a Christian defend God?
We should know human Evil does not only disma God, anymore than Human Goodness only delights God. Surprise is as much part of dismay as it is of delight. God is not surprised when we practice kindness any more than God is taken aback when we commit evil.
God know we are creatures not so much of choice, which expresses the freedom of license, but of volition. In American history persons of that era pracriced slavery as a matter of volition. That, when slavery accommodated a need, some Americans opted for its extended, legislated its extension, intended its expansion and fought to defend it. The opponents of slavery were people with nothing to gain (and, often, something to lose) because of slavery thus also acted volitionally. For each side, slavery was a volitional matter, determined by each side on the benefits of its existence or its demise.
Thaddeus Steven’s called Lincoln the purest man in America because Lincoln opposed forced servitude on purely mortal grounds. Mr. Lincoln decided against slavery from an early age, pronounced it “wrong if anything is wrong,” and worked to end forced servitude at a great personal cost. Lincoln was pure, in this matter if not in others, because he stayed the course regardless of personal cost.
We delight God when we love our fellows apart from any personal gain and at personal cost. We dismay God when we neglect our oopporunity to practice mercy. In no way is God surprised in Human Evil or Human Kindness because it is the nature of God to act providentially and so give us the answer to the riddle of history.
Of course, the (great) riddle of history is the question of what happens and why. Since we are not ignorant of the will/way of God, it must be settled on this course; when God abides Human Evil, God demonstrates divine patience and long suffering in such magnitude as to stagger thee imagination (and so inform) the volition of Humankind. We cannot know God just by magnifying our false narratives. We know God by God’s actual conduct through divine revelation by God’s actions for us and toward us.
Here is the divine purpose in history seen, as we understand this truth; God has no need of us. The love we feel from God is the means by which we learn to control ourselves fully and, so, apprehend total faith in God. By love and faith we can practice mercy and generosity toward other humans.
What is this love? The love of God is equal in magnitude and nature for the Tortured Vulnerable and the Torturer. Jesus appeals to the Father for the persons rejoicing in His torment. This is beyond our imgination and so apart from our narrative. God endures Human Evil because God’s love extends to the victim and the perpetrator, as evidenced by the prayer of Jesus, the Innocent on the Cross. Here is one difference (of many) btwetween Humanity and God. Humanity is able to love the Tortuered Victim, particularly as such love costs us nothing. God is able to love the Tortured Victim and the Torturer Superior for so long and in so much as it takes to save both.