The Trial of YHWH – A Short Play
(YHWH is the name for God in the Torah and in the Old Testament of the Bible)
Bailiff: The court will now come to order. The People vs. YHWH, case number 371240144 will now be heard. The honorable Judge Eva Everyman will now preside. All rise.
We are gathered here today to hear the case between Hugh Mann and YHWH and to render judgement as to the plaintiff Hugh Mann’s claim that YHWH is guilty of unfairly punishing his foreparents, Adam and Eve for partaking the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Let the record show that after Adam and Eve were caught partaking of the fruit from said tree, they and their descendants were cursed with increased pain in childbirth, constant struggle and toil to reap any benefit from the land, prohibition from eating any fruit from the Tree of Life, and banishment from the Garden of Eden.
Judge Eva: Hugh Mann, please state the nature of your case.
Hugh Mann: Thank you, your Honor. My complaint is simple, and my argument straight forward. I do not deny the fact that my foreparents ate from the Tree of Forbidden Fruit. And I do not deny that they did so intentionally, against the guidelines set forth by YHWH at the point of their creation. But I must protest the severity of the punishment rendered and the arbitrary nature of those curses. What my foreparents did was wrong, but it was nothing more than a case of trespassing and pilfered fruit. At worst, they are guilty of violating the “don’t touch the fruit” ordinance, and that should hardly be considered a capital offense. Perhaps a misdemeanor, but generations of pain, toil, mortality and banishment? Come on? Where is the justice here? There is no way in Hell that the punishment in any way fits the crime. Any self-respecting parent knows that parental discipline must be related directly to the infraction for the child to learn from their mistake. I see no correlation between YHWH’s pronouncements of curses and what my parents did in the garden that day. YHWH is being vindictive, unreasonable, overbearing, and capricious on top of all that. At worst, the crime was disobedience. But what does excruciating pain in childbirth have to do with such a minor infraction? What does blood, sweat and tears over making a living to survive have to do with disobedience? And what does disobedience have to do with denying us descendants the opportunity to live in the Garden He created, and to taste eternal life? Doesn’t YHWH want us to live with Him forever? The punishments clearly do not fit the crime. I am asking the court to rescind the judgements against Adam and Eve and their offspring and to order YHWH to restore to all mankind the original potential of the Garden. Furthermore, I implore the court to investigate whether YHWH is indeed a just and loving God, and to determine whether he warrants the faith and obedience that He demands.
Judge Eva: YHWH, do you have any response to these allegations?
(silence)
Judge Eva: Hugh Mann, you may continue.
Hugh Mann: As I was saying, I will prove that YHWH is being unfair and unjust in his pronouncement of curses against not only Adam and Eve, but their descendants. After all, I myself did not eat any forbidden fruit. Why should I pay the penalty for my foreparents’ indiscretion? Furthermore, I would like to show that it really wasn’t a big deal for my foreparents to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. In fact, it was a good thing, for now we all have the capacity to comprehend wisdom (which in fact, is the knowledge of good and evil). Doesn’t it say in YHWH’s own book that wisdom is to be desired more than gold, and that nothing we desire can compare to wisdom? (Proverbs 3:13) What kind of God can YHWH be if he withholds the keys to wisdom from his highest creation? What kind of God is he if he purposely keeps those creatures he made in his image in the dark? What is life without wisdom? Aren’t we better able to relate with him and understand him now that we know what is good and what is evil? What is YHWH so afraid of?
Judge Eva: Do you have an answer to Hugh Mann’s question, YHWH?
(silence)
Judge Eva: You may proceed, Hugh Mann.
Hugh Mann: I will now show that YHWH had intended all along for us to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is no more than an elementary exercise of logic. The very fact that YHWH called this tree into being, into an existence that we can comprehend demands that he created it for us to take notice of it. If he did not want us to partake of that fruit, he simply would not have created it. Problem avoided. But since he created it, and it was good, and since he also created us as inquisitive creatures, it is a necessary conclusion that he ultimately wanted us to eat from the tree. Otherwise, he would be a cruel god indeed, and quiet inefficient for creating something of such potential and value but without the means to appreciate or utilize it. He alone is the creator, so he alone must bear the responsibility for also creating my parents’ appetite as well as the fruit which it sought. My foreparents were only acting out the humanity that they had been created with, so they can not be held primarily responsible. I would also point out that YHWH saw fit not to fulfill his threat that Adam and Eve would surely die on the day they ate of the fruit. I am living proof that they did not die that day, and I submit to the court that they did not die because YHWH realized that he had no real grounds to condemn them and that he had all along planned for them to partake of the tree.
Judge Eva: YHWH, will you now give a defense?
(silence)
Judge Eva: Let me remind you, that while you do have the right to remain silent, the outcome of this case depends on your rebuttal of the prosecution’s claims. Hugh Mann, do you have any witnesses to call?
Hugh Mann: As a matter of fact, I do. I intend to show that YHWH has exhibited a pattern of reckless behavior through the ages and has not fulfilled his supreme duties to be a good and loving god. At crucial junctures in history, YHWH has remained silent or uninvolved as clear injustices prevailed. At other times, YHWH remained aloof even as his children cried out to him. Even other times, YHWH purposely blinded his subjects and caused them to turn away from him. There are even times when YHWH utterly destroyed entire cities and civilizations out of his uncontrollable anger. I call as my first witness, Cain.
Cain, please describe to the court the course of events leading up to the fateful night that you murdered your brother, Abel.
Cain: I was the firstborn. The weight of my parent’s future and fortunes rested solely upon me. I bore the greater responsibility, but I also deserved greater favor as the eldest son. The obedient son, I took on the profession of farming just as my father Adam had done, making an honest living by the sweat of my brow and the calluses of my hands. (Also bearing the curse of painful toil that I inherited from my father for his indiscretion in the Garden). When the time came to give the offering to YHWH, I complied, giving the best of my crops, as any good son would do. My younger brother, on the other hand, broke with family tradition and became a shepherd. Escaping the curse of hard manual labor, he took up the pastoral life of a shepherd. The most devastating injustice to me was when YHWH took delight in his offering while completely ignoring mine. Here I was, giving of the very fruit of my hands in obedience and deference to my father’s example and way of life, and YHWH rejected my offering. I cannot begin to describe how devastating that was to me. It was as if I did not exist in the world and that YHWH was punishing me for the sins and curses of my father.
Hugh Mann: Everyone knows that it is more blessed to give than to receive. In fact, many have taught through the ages, and have taught correctly, that there is a deep need in each of us to give, that giving is a crucial part of who we are. You were exercising that need, Cain, weren’t you? But there is an even deeper need that all of us possess and it is rooted in the core fabric of who we are. And that is the need to be received. We cannot be fully whole unless what we have painstakingly prepared to give is received and accepted. And YHWH denied you of that didn’t he?
Cain: Yes, it is true. It broke my heart and infuriated me. Then YHWH had the gall to ask me why I was angry and downcast! I became so desperate to be acknowledged by YHWH that I had to force his hand by killing my brother. Only then, did YHWH turn an ear to me and pay me some attention but it was in the form of a curse and banishment from my homeland. If YHWH had received my offering, I would have freely worshipped him and we would abide together, but in his unfairness and favoritism toward my younger brother, he arbitrarily left me out in the cold. He never did tell me why he refused my offering, and he left me a mere wanderer in the land of Nod, far from his presence.
Hugh Mann: Thank you, Cain, for your compelling testimony. You may now step down. May I point out to the court that the harshness with which YHWH treated Adam was the same harshness that he visited on Adam’s first born son, Cain. This recklessness in the way YHWH treats the eldest son continues throughout the history of his dealings with his people. I call as my next witness, Ishmael. Let it be known to the court that Ishmael is also a first born, the first born of Abraham. Like his father, Ishmael was a son of circumcision, in fact, he was circumcised along with his father Abraham on the very same day. Ishmael, please tell the court your story.
Ishmael: I am also familiar with YHWH’s injustice, for I am the legitimate eldest son of Abraham, and like Cain, I too was ignored and bypassed by YHWH in favor of my younger brother. My father’s blessing should have rested upon me, but YHWH did nothing to stop my stepmother from forcing my mother, Hagar, and myself from my father’s household. Because of Sarah’s jealousy, she had us banished from my father’s protection, and even when my father pleaded our case to YHWH, YHWH sided with her and told my father to listen to Sarah’s heartless demand that we be cut off. I hold YHWH personally responsible for the plight of my mother and the heartache and hardship we all suffered afterwards. As the eldest son of Abraham, I, and my descendants, are the right heirs of any of the blessings that fell to my father Abraham. YHWH allowed a jealous woman to dictate the terms of succession instead of upholding the proper standard of tradition within our culture. He stood idly by when a great injustice was done. He allowed, even encouraged the events that led us to be robbed of our rightful blessing and protection from our father.
Hugh Mann: Thank you Ishmael, for your open and honest testimony. You may step down. Lest the court think that I am only bringing up isolated instances of YHWH’s ambivalence toward injustice and his proclivity for disfavoring the eldest son, I call as my next witness, Esau. Let the record show that Esau was not only the first born son of Isaac, he was Isaac’s favorite son. Let the record also show that Isaac had wanted to give his blessing to Esau, but was prevented from doing so by deception. Esau, tell us in your own words, what happened.
Esau: My twin brother was trouble for me ever since we were mere infants. From the first day, he was always grasping at my heel, trying to become what I was, but always futile in his efforts. Jacob was often jealous of the favor that our dad Isaac bestowed upon me. Of course, Jacob was a mama’s boy, and got plenty of love and attention from our mother. He was a conniving little bugger, and once swindled me out of my birthright over a simple bowl of lentil stew. He was deceitful to the core, throughout his whole life. How YHWH allowed him to be the father of his chosen people is beyond me. In fact, it makes me call into question YHWH’s judgement and intelligence. What nation could ever take pride in having a dishonest cheat as its patriarch? I was supposed to be the patriarch. I was my father’s favorite and his intended choice, not to mention the eldest son. But YHWH stood idly by and let our father’s wife pull the greatest deception in history. How can YHWH be a just God and not intervene in the moment of such cosmic significance? He let the whole course of history shift over the treachery of a woman. A WOMAN! YHWH was either absent or powerless to counter such injustice. And to let a woman decide the course of history, that is unconscionable. It still makes my blood boil when I recall how my mother helped Jacob to impersonate me so that my father would give to him the Blessing. Why didn’t YHWH intervene and expose the charade? Why did YHWH honor such evil? If he were really the all-knowing and all-powerful God, he would have stepped in and prevented this travesty from happening. One is forced to ask if YHWH is indeed the defender and upholder of justice.
Hugh Mann: Ladies and gentlemen of the court, what you have seen are not separate incidences that I have pulled out of thin air. Rather, they reveal a pattern of systematic behavior and inaction which point to the shortcomings of YHWH’s tenure. We have examples of YHWH’s capricious judgement, his willful condoning of harsh treatment, his callous disregard for the victims of treachery and deceit, and his neglect and hatred of firstborn sons. But the story does not end there. My next witness will tell an extraordinary tale, one that boggles the mind with its sinister implications. What you are about to hear will shatter any remaining notion that the YHWH standing before you today is a just and honorable God. I present to you, Ramses II, the Pharaoh of Egypt.
Pharoah: I was the greatest ruler of all time. My empire stretched from one corner of the world to the other. My monuments still stand today as a testimony to my power and influence. Yet there was one thing that I was unable to preserve: the life of my first born son. And this I hold against YHWH. I was punished for a state of mind that He had willed upon me. His own sacred writings describe how he intended to “harden” my heart in order to have an excuse to visit terrible afflictions upon my country just so that he could prove his power to his “chosen” band of slaves. The leader of this ungrateful horde was himself a murderer. They had survived a terrible famine because they were privileged enough to be under Egypt’s protection for many generations. But they became arrogant and rebellious and sought to plunder Egypt of its great wealth, so they had to be stopped. When confronted by an insecure, stammering Moses and his brother for the first time, I of course could not take them seriously. But it was YHWH who choreographed my later actions and prevented me from responding in any other manner than the way I did in order to present some arena for him to display his terrible wrath. Plague upon plague was cast upon my empire only to fulfill the vain appetite of a god who wanted to make a name for himself. Countless people were dragged into poverty, incredible physical pain and suffering was meted out, the empire was brought to the brink of famine, all because of YHWH’s need to impress his band of slaves. In the end, my son’s life was taken by YHWH, and not only my beloved son, but all of the beloved first sons of Egypt. How can a God who predetermined the outcome and purposely hardened a heart carry out such terrible punishment against us and still be called a just god? A just and loving god would never inflict such pain and suffering as was done to innocent Egypt.
Moses: (from the back of the courtroom) I object! I object, your honor!
Judge Eva: Order in the court, order in the court! There will be no outbursts from the visitor’s gallery.
Moses: Then, with the court’s permission, may I approach the bench? I have something to say on behalf of YHWH’s defense. I am Moses, the leader of the Hebrews of whom Pharaoh was just speaking.
Hugh Mann: Objection your honor. We are in the middle of proving our case against YHWH’s fitness to be God. This individual is not listed anywhere as part of YHWH’s defense team. In fact, let the record show that YHWH has not appointed any counsel and has not offered any defense.
Judge Eva: This is highly unusual, but since YHWH has been silent this whole time, I will allow it if he consents.
(Judge Eva glances over toward YHWH and he silently nods)
Judge Eva: Moses, you will speak on YHWH’s behalf as the court’s appointed defense attorney in this case. I will not risk having this case dismissed based on some technicality because YHWH failed to provide a defense.
Moses: Thank you, your honor. This role is one that I am quite familiar with. I have opposed Pharaoh before and have learned that one must be very careful with believing what the Pharaoh says. The history of my people with him illustrates how he has a propensity to say or promise one thing and then do the opposite. Furthermore, the picture he painted for the court was only partially true, for he neglected to explain how the sons of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob came to be slaves in his land. Generations before I confronted Pharaoh, one of my people’s forefathers, Joseph (Jacob’s son), was enlisted to serve in the Pharaoh’s court. Through Joseph’s excellent administration, Egypt grew significantly in its prominence particularly by having prepared for an unforeseen drought and famine. Nations and empires from all around paid homage to Egypt to buy food from her ample storehouses. And so, Egypt grew in power and wealth through the superior administration of a Hebrew appointee. During the subsequent years of prosperity, however, the Hebrew people grew much faster than the Egyptian population and were soon feared by them. Xenophobia swept the entire empire and all foreigners were enslaved to keep them in check and to build the very monuments that the Pharaoh boasted about. As each succeeding generation passed, the treatment of the Hebrews became more harsh, and their oppression became worse and my people finally began to cry out to YHWH for relief. It was in answer to these cries for justice that YHWH acted against Pharaoh.
Hugh Mann: Objection, your honor. This is irrelevant and is only a matter of interpretation.
Judge Eva: Overruled, you may continue, Moses.
Moses: Although Pharaoh would like to absolve himself of his responsibility for incurring the 10 plagues by blaming YHWH for hardening his heart, a closer inspection of the historical record in the sacred writings shows that for the first five plagues, Pharaoh “hardened” his own heart[1] and it was not until the sixth and subsequent plagues that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened by YHWH. YHWH did not actively step in until Pharaoh had already demonstrated a habit of closing his mind to Moses’ demands. And from then on, YHWH utilized Pharaoh’s propensity for closed-mindedness to draw a greater distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites. In essence, YHWH did not create Pharaoh’s condition, but used it once it had been established. In the face of Pharaoh’s continued and unrelenting oppression of the Israelites after repeated warnings and injunctions to let them go, the final punishments were a just penalty for the ill treatment of the Hebrews.
The issue of YHWH allowing, condoning, or prescribing “injustice” is merely a subset of the larger question of how YHWH responds to suffering and evil. Witness after witness has stood on this stand demanding an explanation from YHWH as to how a “good” god like himself could allow suffering or injustice to occur. YHWH has shown repeatedly that he is not a slave to cultural norms and traditions and has in fact, blessed the younger over the elder, or allowed women to influence the course of history, and not just men. So we must first be careful to separate our understanding of what is right and just from underlying cultural biases and examine the question in full recognition of those biases. Even with that understanding in place, I am sure that my adversaries on the other side of the aisle would point out instances where cultural interpretations were not a factor.
Hugh Mann: That is correct. Just try to explain cases such as the deception of Jacob by Esau and his mother or YHWH’s rejection of Cain’s offering.
Moses: I submit to this court that all of the complaints brought up until now have been based upon one assumption. That assumption is that a “good” god would never allow evil and suffering to occur, and the measure of the greatness of a god is their ability to eliminate suffering and evil. A corollary of this thinking is that a humans’ primary need is to minimize or eliminate suffering. And so, for a god to be truly “good” he must meet this primary need above all others. The plaintiffs in this case would have the court believe that YHWH has not fulfilled this task very well as is evidenced by all of the pain, injustice, and suffering in the world. But what if that first assumption is incorrect? What if there is a different need that is even more basic and more primary than the need to eliminate suffering?
Judge Eva: If what you are saying is correct, surely you must have some evidence to support it.
Moses: I do your honor. My first piece of evidence comes from the sacred writings that describes YHWH’s creation of the world. Everyone is familiar with the story of how YHWH created the earth and all that is in it in seven days. After each new creation, YHWH saw what he had created and proclaimed that it was good. But a careful reading of the story shows that in all that was created, there was one thing that was not proclaimed good.
Hugh Mann: And what was that?
Moses: It was not good for man to be alone.[2] I submit to this court that YHWH created all humans with a primary need, and that it was not mainly concerned with suffering or evil. Rather, every individual has a need to address his or her own aloneness. I further submit that the human preoccupation with the minimization or elimination of suffering arose out of a refusal to confront this issue directly. Evil and its attendant suffering hurt because they, more than anything else, expose how alone we really are. Humans have operated under the misguided notion that if they were to eliminate the suffering, they would not have to face the intense loneliness that all suffering unmasks. It is only when we are suffering that our true isolation and aloneness is seared into our consciousness. So, instead of dealing with the root problem, man’s aloneness, humans have tried to stamp out any trigger that might remind him of that loneliness. YHWH’s enemies have successfully, for the most part, diverted the attention from the main issue onto a secondary issue. And it is out of this diversion that the plaintiff stands before you today.
Hugh Mann: This is preposterous! You are simply leading us on a wild goose chase. You are trying to muddy the waters and confuse the issues. Anybody can see that what you are saying has nothing to do with the case before us. The case before us rests on the appropriateness of the punishment meted out to Adam and Eve. The case before us rests on the justness of YHWH ignoring Cain’s sacrifice. The case before us rests on the justness of Hagar and Ishmael being left out of Abraham’s protection and inheritance. Don’t try to divert the attention away from these very real issues with your new age mumbo jumbo.
Moses: I am not the first to raise this issue. In fact, YHWH addressed this very theme when I met him face to face for the very first time. I remember that incident very clearly. I had been feeling very inadequate at YHWH’s choice for me to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. In fact, I was unsure that the Hebrews would even listen to me, so I asked YHWH to reveal himself to me that I might understand the true essence of who he was and what kind of God he claimed to be. Now this was YHWH’s first formal introduction of himself. Did he start by saying that he was the omnipotent God who would shield and protect his people from all suffering? Did he start by proclaiming his power over evil and his authority to banish it forever from creation? No. He began by proclaiming himself as the compassionate and gracious God.[3] The first adjective he used to describe himself was not about his power or authority. Rather it was about his willingness to suffer WITH his people. Compassion comes from two roots, “comp”, which means “with,” and “passion”, which means “pain and suffering.”[4] Ladies and gentlemen of the court, YHWH is a God who wishes to be known as a relational God more so than a powerful God. YHWH is the only God who will suffer with his people. He provides himself as the answer to man’s primordial need to address his and her loneliness. The proof of God’s love is not that he keeps his people from suffering, for any deity can attempt to do that from a distance. Rather the proof of his love is his willingness to enter into the suffering that we experience and to share that suffering with us so that we don’t need to be alone anymore. It costs a lot more and takes greater commitment for one to suffer with another than to merely remove their suffering. But the result is greater intimacy. YHWH is the God who is with us, even in our suffering. He realizes that every humans’ need is more significant than merely avoiding suffering. YHWH knows that every human’s primary need can only be fulfilled through being in close, intimate relationship with him, for that is how he created humans from the start.
Hugh Mann: But that still does not explain why YHWH treated Adam and Eve so harshly, or why he caused Cain such grievous anguish in refusing his sacrifice.
Moses: Your complaint against YHWH’s punishment of Adam and Eve begins with the premise that the pain and suffering of their curse was not warranted by their crime. Let me now show the court how YHWH’s response was not only the appropriate response, it was actually a merciful and gracious response.
Judge Eva: This, I would very much like to hear.
Moses: Hugh Mann is right, from one perspective, in saying that Adam and Eve’s pilfering the fruit from the garden was no more than trespassing and misdemeanor theft. But there was much more going on than Adam and Eve gaining the knowledge of good and evil. And again, Hugh Mann is correct in asserting that the knowledge of good and evil was a good thing to obtain, and that Adam and Eve cannot be faulted for wanting to obtain such wisdom. But the key to the matter lies in the mechanism by which they obtained such knowledge. Hugh Mann’s argument makes sense if the ONLY mechanism by which Adam and Eve were to gain the knowledge of good and evil were by partaking the fruit of a particular tree. Then it would seem that YHWH was indeed cruel in keeping that tree off limits to humanity. But what if there was another mechanism by which they could attain the same knowledge? What if that mechanism was through direct relationship and dependence on YHWH? If that were true, then the significance of Adam and Eve’s pilfering takes on a whole new meaning.
Judge Eva: Go on, Moses.
Moses: Adam and Eve’s pilfering demonstrated their desire to obtain the valued gift apart from YHWH’s providence and relationship with him. Their choice was one of independence from relationship instead of dependence through relationship. They were so focused on obtaining a desired commodity that they devised a method of getting it on their own while leaving YHWH out of the process.
Hugh Mann: Then are you saying, Moses, that YHWH purposely denied Adam and Eve the fruit in order to foster a dependent relationship with him?
Moses: This was one way that YHWH tried to address the “aloneness” that he had built into humanity. In one sense, he established a reason for the humans to have to turn to him to obtain something that they needed. This was a means to draw them into relationship with him. But when Adam and Eve sought independence in stealing the fruit, they took the first step down the road toward further separation from YHWH. In their quest for self-sufficiency, they unwittingly exacerbating their primary need of aloneness. This was particularly true when they started the cycle of blame, for that further disrupted their own relationships with each other and with creation, not to mention with YHWH. YHWH’s merciful response was to reestablish another mechanism for which they could be dependant upon Him. By banishing Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, they would have to depend upon YHWH for eternal life and they would have no means to obtain that on their own. Again, the important thing to keep in mind is that YHWH wasn’t trying to keep humanity from experiencing eternal life, but rather that the fullness of such life could only take place within a dependent relationship with him. If humanity were allowed to obtain eternal life on their own by eating of some fruit, they would not need to be in relationship with him. But then they would also exist with their primordial need unmet. YHWH wanted to spare humanity of such a devastating existence, so, in his mercy, he devised another means by which humanity could only obtain what it needed by being in relationship with him. Furthermore, YHWH’s curses of painful childbirth and struggle and toil to make a living are a gracious reminder from YHWH that only He can provide what we really need. You see, childbirth has always been a woman’s path to greatness, (one only needs to look at the fiasco between Sarah and Hagar) and material wealth has always been a man’s measure of success. By making both routes to self attainment such painful experiences through the “curses”, YHWH has built a constant reminder for each generation that the path to greatness and security lie not in our own efforts, but in his providence. So the curse is actually a blessed reminder whose purpose is to constantly point the independent heart back to YHWH. He offers himself as the only solution that can meet the need of aloneness which he built into humans from the start.
Hugh Mann: Then, YHWH seems no different than a drug dealer whose sole purpose is to create dependent relationships with him. If his junkies have outgrown one drug, he introduces another drug so that they will become addicted to it and maintain their dependency with him. The drug dealer’s greatest fear is that his junkies will find their addictions satisfied by some other means and thus lose his relationship with them. In fact, YHWH is worse than a drug dealer because he created his subjects to be dependent from the start. This is an even more disturbing picture of YHWH than we had before! I move to replace the previous charges against YHWH with a new charge: I ask that the court find YHWH guilty of creating and fostering addiction. Let him be tried like an ordinary drug dealer who takes advantage of unsuspecting victims and turns them into hopeless addicts whose only purpose in life is to obtain their next fix from the dealer. Such criminals only goal is to profit from their junkies’ demise. In light of the admission by the defense of this pattern of behavior, I ask the court for a summary judgement against YHWH with a subsequent trial to determine the penalties against such sinister acts.
Judge Eva: You have stated a compelling argument, Hugh Mann. But before I pronounce my judgement, I will give YHWH one more chance to answer the charge against him. YHWH, you have been charged with behavior similar to that of a common criminal drug dealer. You have been charged with creating and fostering dependent relationships with humanity and for seeking to profit from such dependency. How do you plead?
YHWH: Guilty as charged.
Hugh Mann: I knew it! You should be ashamed of yourself, YHWH, for trying to coerce us into relationship with you. Let the court now bring the full weight of its judgement against you and show how unfit you are to be our God.
Judge Eva: I am intrigued by your admission of guilt, YHWH. Do you care to explain yourself further?
YHWH: Because I created all humans with a built in loneliness, the main characteristic of my relationship with them is how to meet those needs with myself. The crime of a common drug dealer is that he profits at the expense and to the detriment of his junkies. What I offer, however, is not just a fix that will only temporarily satisfy the appetite of an addict, but real life and true fulfillment through a growing and dynamic relationship with me. That is what humans were ultimately created for. So the drug that I offer them is more than a drug, it is the very essence of what will complete a human’s existence and make them whole. That drug is an intimate, trusting, loving relationship with me. And the wonder of it all is that we both benefit from such a relationship, but only if the human is willing to give up his and her strive for independence. Part of the challenge for me in sustaining all of creation is developing new ways to encourage and enable this relationship to continue each time a man or woman has chosen against it in an act of independence. Such was the case with Adam and Eve in the Garden. Sadly, this sometimes includes allowing suffering or even evil into the picture. There is something even worse than suffering and evil, and that is a human who has chosen permanent independence from me. They can only live out their existence in continued isolation and increasing loneliness. They may try to cover up their aloneness with wealth, power, or superficial relationships, or even plain busyness, but when all is said and done, they are left with nothing but themselves. What makes me different from any other so-called deity is that I am willing to enter into suffering alongside with my creation in order to prove my devotion and love for it. Sometimes, it takes such an extreme measure to persuade an individual bent on independence that I am really for them. And strangely, many who have faced intense struggling and even evil have come to a deeper understanding of my love and compassion for them as they see me suffering along side with them.
Hugh Mann: But then why did you reject Cain’s offering and leave him to a life of wandering?
YHWH: The reason why Cain’s offering did not find favor with me is between himself and I. But I will tell you that even up until that point, he was in good standing with me. His sin was not in presenting an inferior sacrifice, but rather in his jealously which led him to murder. Instead of entering into an intimate dialog with me about the status of his sacrifice as I was hoping that he would do, Cain gave in to the sin that was crouching at his door and struck out against his brother. His real argument was not against his brother but was with me and I would have welcomed a heart to heart confrontation and dialog about it. That is one reason why I loved Jacob so much. Even though he was a deceiver and his character was flawed, he was willing to embrace me in an intimate struggle as was shown in our wrestling match.[5] He won the wrestling match because of his tenacity and dogged determination to get down and dirty with me until he received his blessing from me. He was unafraid to embrace the struggle and allowed me into the midst of his suffering.
Those who are wise will understand that suffering is not necessarily a curse, but it can be a blessing if it is approached as a means to intimacy. Suffering hurts because it exposes like nothing else can, how alone each individual is. When someone is suffering, there really is no way another human can fully understand what that person is experiencing. But I can because I can enter into that pain and share the suffering with them. That is why the first name I gave of myself is compassion. And so, if my crime is one of fostering dependent relationships, then I am fully guilty of such a crime. But this crime is unlike any other, for it is also the only means of life for those it is “perpetrated” against and is thus an expression of grace.
Judge Eva: Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, you have heard the arguments for both sides. Let the record show that the defendant pleads guilty to fostering dependent relationships with the very humans he created. It is now time for you to decide the merits of this case. You must now deliberate over the arguments in this case to decide whether either side has provided convincing arguments. At stake here is the determination of whether YHWH is deserving of the title of being a good and loving God, or whether He is merely a capricious, and unjust manipulator whose pronouncements and curses are unworthy of our faith and trust. You are hereby instructed to discuss this case amongst yourselves and render a final verdict.
[1] In all, there are ten places where “hardening” (GK H2616 & H3877) of Pharaoh is ascribed to God (4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8, 17). But it must be stated just as firmly that Pharaoh hardened his own heart in another ten passages (7:13, 14, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 34, 35; 13:15) . Thus the hardening was as much Pharaoh’s own act as it was the work of God. Even more significant is the fact that Pharaoh alone was the agent of the hardening in the first sign and in all the first five plagues. Not until the sixth plague was it stated that God actually moved in and hardened Pharaoh’s heart (9:12), as he had warned Moses in Midian that he would have to do. Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary, 1994.:Volume 1: Old Testament: Exodus 4:21-23
[2] Genesis 2: 18
[3] Exodus34:6
[4] The Hebrew word used for compassion is “rahum” which is related to “rehem”, the term used for womb.
[5] Genesis 32:26