Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 1
The speaker says, “the God I worship doesn’t play games with us,” and argues that divine commands imply real human ability to obey; what view of God’s character and fairness is he defending here, and what would have to be true about God for Luther’s “command without ability” idea to be morally coherent?
Another way to ask: When he says God “doesn’t play games,” what is he saying about God being fair when God commands us to obey? What would God have to be like for Luther’s idea (God commands things we can’t do) to still be morally fair?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
He is defending God’s fairness, honesty, and moral integrity: if God commands, warns, and invites, then humans truly have some real ability to respond. For Luther’s “command without ability” to be morally coherent, God would have to be the kind of ruler who gives impossible commands and then punishes people for what they could not avoid—something the speaker calls a “low view of God.”
- “If He invites me to choose life, it’s because I have that ability to choose life.”
- “If He warns me if I rebel, I’m going to be punished, it means I have the power not to rebel.”
- “If I rebel, it’s not because He made me that way, it’s because I chose to do that.”
- He says Luther’s idea implies: “you don’t have the power to obey them, I just told you to do it.”
- He calls that “an extremely low view of God” and compares it to a parent demanding a child drive a car when he cannot.