Keller's theology of wrath and forgiveness

Both appear in Reason for God and both came up in his sermon this morning.

  1. His take on wrath is a pretty common one - wrath is not the opposite of love, indifference is. I don't think that's true, as I've posted about before. The same could be said of any strong emotion. It's like saying 'North isn't the opposite of South, the centre of the earth is'. Within the sphere of emotions wrath is the opposite of love but it is not the negation of love.
  2. His take on forgiveness is interesting. Keller argues that we mustn't be interested in vengeance at all, but rather should absorb the wrath/injustice and so make forgivenes possible. Vengeance allows evil to triumph. I don't think this is right. I think this is a place for godly vengeance and I think that this explains why God is still right to punish some people, rather than forgive everybody.