deepundergroundpoetry.com
God is not Good: Bad Theology
I wonder why
if heaven is our destined home
God made us first as exiled bodied things
accursed to toil and suffer for a time
and then to die
and didn’t place us in the sky
from the moment he initially
brought forth our souls
For after all, he knows ahead of time
just whether we are saved or damned.
So wherefore did he then decree
upon the sixth day at creation's edge
that living where we should (and will) abide
must be delayed until one passes through
a dull and creeping petty pace of time?
It smacks of cruelty to make us beings
corporeal
and who, because of this,
know pain, so forced, against their will
to be subjected to
and then endure
the arrowed rages and
the shocks that flesh inherits in the world
when we, by grace, before the word was said
that separated light from Tehom’s swirling breast,
could have already been set up
in heaven’ realms
enjoying bright celestial bliss.
if heaven is our destined home
God made us first as exiled bodied things
accursed to toil and suffer for a time
and then to die
and didn’t place us in the sky
from the moment he initially
brought forth our souls
For after all, he knows ahead of time
just whether we are saved or damned.
So wherefore did he then decree
upon the sixth day at creation's edge
that living where we should (and will) abide
must be delayed until one passes through
a dull and creeping petty pace of time?
It smacks of cruelty to make us beings
corporeal
and who, because of this,
know pain, so forced, against their will
to be subjected to
and then endure
the arrowed rages and
the shocks that flesh inherits in the world
when we, by grace, before the word was said
that separated light from Tehom’s swirling breast,
could have already been set up
in heaven’ realms
enjoying bright celestial bliss.
Published 18th Jul 2021
Author's Note
Please note that one-liners like "I like this" or "This is stupid", let alone "I don't have a car" etc. are NOT what I'm asking for when I say I want "honest CRITICISM" If you can't post an articulate response that centers in whether or not this piece is artful, and how and why it does or does not show the art that is characteristic of good poetry, then please do not comment upon it.
All writing remains the property of the author. Don't use it for any purpose without their permission.
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18th Jul 2021 8:05pm
The iambs are generally good; the line breaks competent; the sentiment milquetoast.
Consider other musings on this aspect of God:
From the movie, The Iron Cross: Corporal Steiner: I believe God is a sadist, but probably doesn't know it.
Or this, from the poem, "The Eternal Dice":
"God of mine...
This wretched, thinking piece of clay
is not a crust formed in your side:
you have no Marys that abandon you!
My God, if you had been man,
today you would know how to be God,
but you always lived so well,
that now you feel nothing of your own creation.
And the man who suffers you: he is God!"
The feeling for a poem like this really needs to bring heat.
Now to the question. The short answer is, we are eternal spirits, sent to earth, in order to live physical lives. Which begs the question, why? Well, the implication is there's something we need to learn, which can only or be learned, or is learned best, through the demands and vagaries of physical life. Once we learn that (that is, if we learn it), our souls can retain that learning as we move to the next phase of our physical progress.
The middle stanza suggests a Calvinist perspective, pre-destination.
Blessings!
Enjoyed reading your poem.
Consider other musings on this aspect of God:
From the movie, The Iron Cross: Corporal Steiner: I believe God is a sadist, but probably doesn't know it.
Or this, from the poem, "The Eternal Dice":
"God of mine...
This wretched, thinking piece of clay
is not a crust formed in your side:
you have no Marys that abandon you!
My God, if you had been man,
today you would know how to be God,
but you always lived so well,
that now you feel nothing of your own creation.
And the man who suffers you: he is God!"
The feeling for a poem like this really needs to bring heat.
Now to the question. The short answer is, we are eternal spirits, sent to earth, in order to live physical lives. Which begs the question, why? Well, the implication is there's something we need to learn, which can only or be learned, or is learned best, through the demands and vagaries of physical life. Once we learn that (that is, if we learn it), our souls can retain that learning as we move to the next phase of our physical progress.
The middle stanza suggests a Calvinist perspective, pre-destination.
Blessings!
Enjoyed reading your poem.
19th Jul 2021 3:05pm
"The iambs are generally good; the line breaks competent; the sentiment milquetoast."
Thank you. And yes, the sentiment could have more bite. But it was a fast attempt to say something in response to, and reveal the question begging assumptions behind, the disjointed and theologically treacly piece by J-Z that he posted here:
https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/poems/424859-forced-so-it-must-be-good/
"The feeling for a poem like this really needs to bring heat."
Agreed.
"Now to the question. The short answer is, we are eternal spirits, sent to earth, in order to live physical lives. Which begs the question, why? Well, the implication is there's something we need to learn, which can only or be learned, or is learned best, through the demands and vagaries of physical life. Once we learn that (that is, if we learn it), our souls can retain that learning as we move to the next phase of our physical progress."
This is grounded in a question begging, Platonic based Gnosticism -- a view I find hard to accept. If the one who sent "us" (from where?) to earth to learn something is all good, why did he (?) not provide us with what we supposedly learn there before our "fall" into the tomb of a body?
"The middle stanza suggests a Calvinist perspective, pre-destination."
Yes, and that's because it's what J-Z seems to believe in.
Enjoyed reading your poem.
Thank you.
Thank you. And yes, the sentiment could have more bite. But it was a fast attempt to say something in response to, and reveal the question begging assumptions behind, the disjointed and theologically treacly piece by J-Z that he posted here:
https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/poems/424859-forced-so-it-must-be-good/
"The feeling for a poem like this really needs to bring heat."
Agreed.
"Now to the question. The short answer is, we are eternal spirits, sent to earth, in order to live physical lives. Which begs the question, why? Well, the implication is there's something we need to learn, which can only or be learned, or is learned best, through the demands and vagaries of physical life. Once we learn that (that is, if we learn it), our souls can retain that learning as we move to the next phase of our physical progress."
This is grounded in a question begging, Platonic based Gnosticism -- a view I find hard to accept. If the one who sent "us" (from where?) to earth to learn something is all good, why did he (?) not provide us with what we supposedly learn there before our "fall" into the tomb of a body?
"The middle stanza suggests a Calvinist perspective, pre-destination."
Yes, and that's because it's what J-Z seems to believe in.
Enjoyed reading your poem.
Thank you.
