The God Haters

During my recent experience with the "Sky Betty" goddess worshippers and its accompanying group think mentality, one of the adversaries took issue with the description of these souls as "God haters". At first I dismissed the notion as not well thought out by the fellow but thinking further on the matter, I recognized his point. Here are his comments.

Anyway, I think the term "God haters" could only really apply to Satan worshippers, and I would be surprised to find any of them on this thread. I've met one or two over the years, and they are some of the saddest individuals ever. They are not pagans, or anything like it, they are Christian heretics. You have to first buy into the cosmology of the Christian belief system, and then reject it, saying "Lucifer Was Right - Darn You Anyway, God!"... Pathetic. … There are no "God haters" here, Mr. Mallett, just people who see the universe and the Divine differently than you.

In a carnal sense, he is right. For the man who sits comfortably in his unbelief, there is no recognizable hatred of God from his perspective. He cannot relate to such an identifier and naturally rejects anything that challenges a nature he only sees as good. Natural man believes he is good or at least he is able to convince himself in the face of undeniable evidence otherwise so to refer to him as a "God hater" surely evokes a defense mechanism, a challenge to be met with whatever turns the accusation. Unfortunately, the response is vitriolic more often than not and therein is the rub. The Bible instructs us that such natural men are at enmity with God and we can witness this all around us. Indeed, it was demonstrated with the offense taken at the mention of Christ in the discussion I am referring to. Yet was it wise for me to state such a thing? Directly to the man or woman I would have to state no however I refer to such as God haters only in the confines of this theological endeavor, a semi private enclave of ecclesiastical and ecumenical discussions and thoughts. The natural man who seeks this out, however, doesn't take the time to realize that nor would he be expected to. He found a statement made by myself and ran with it. I might have done likewise. Yet, to fellow Arminians and others who understand the theological issues involved, I can state natural man is a God hater and be well understood. I can suggest a portrait of the face beneath the façade of civility that is both revealing and frightful and while the theologically inclined man would grasp its implications, the carnal man suffering unknowingly from unbelief takes offense. In the context of theological discussion, natural man is a God hater. On the evangelical field, natural man is a soul in need of redemption and one for whom the LORD Jesus Christ gave His life. Knowing this truth, I made a mistake and can understand the fellow's objection to "God hater". A wise preacher once stated something to the effect that if you tell a man he is going to hell, he is just as likely to tell you to go to hell. I forgot that in the midst of sparring and allowed meat to spoil, so to speak, for lack of milk.