hall 3 .. theology of the cross

" The Theology of the Cross .. is nevertheless first of all a statement about God, and what it says about God is not that God thinks humankind so wretched that it deserves death and hell, but that God thinks humankind and the whole creation so good, so beautiful, so precious in its intention and its potentiality, that its actualization, its fulfillment, its redemption, is worth dying for. "  (24)

"The divine determination to "redeem my people'' has, as we may say, a long history. That it is perhaps even inappropriate to assign that decision to time has been the rationale of all who insisted the incarnation was planned before the foundation of the world - though such  a concept runs counter to the biblical assumption  that human history is predicated on human freedom and not predetermined. In any case, the when of the divine decision is not as vital as is its character as decision. God's unconditional commitment to the world is not the consequence of destiny - is not necessary, as if by the sheer act of creation the Creator were bound to see the creation through to the realization of its full potential. God, in the biblical tradition, is with us voluntarily - through love alone. And this quality of volition, which is the origin and essence of what the bibilcal tradition means by grace, must be borne in mind in all dimensions of theological reflection, particualrly when that reflection has to do with the suffering that such a commitment entails - and it always entails suffering, whether it applies to Jesus Christ or to his disciples. " (37)