One Part Atomic Opera, One Part R. L. Dabney, One Part Bret McAtee … Stir Vigorously

I do hate evil
And I do hate sin
I do hate divorce
And I hate this state we’re living in
I do hate rebellion
And I do hate greed
I do hate most religious men
And I hate this hating hateful killing
I Am the God of Hate
And My hate is a Holy Flame
I Am the God of Hate
And my hate is a Perfect Thing
I do hate Esau
And I do hate death
I do hate violence
And I hate your whining, waisted breath
I do hate the darkness
And I do hate pain
I do hate the burning stench
And I hate My Love when used in vain

Atomic Opera
The God of Hate

“By the same reason that one professes to be able to regard his enemy without resentment, I should suspect him of being capable of behaving to his friend without affection. Your languid hater must ever be a languid lover. Give me, then, by all means, a good, honest hater.”

“Remember my dear madam, that it was not anger simply which the Prince of Peace himself condemned, but being “angry with a brother without a cause”. To be angry where there is a cause is inevitable nature. He, therefore, who affects to be above anger, makes me suspect that his virtue is not supernatural, but hypocritical.

“He who is angry may be guilty of injustice; he who is incapable of anger must be equally incapable of generous ardor in his friendships. Better the generous foe than the snaky friend.”

R. L. Dabney
Life & Letters of Robert Lewis Dabney –pg 547 — Editor Thomas Cary Johnson.
19th Century Reformed Theologian
Aide De-camp — General Thomas Stonewall Jackson

The Atomic Opera quote is a little bit hyperbolic but it makes the necessary point that God hates whatever is contrary to Him — and necessarily so. A God who did not hate would be a God who could not love, for if God loves everybody and everything then God loves nobody and nothing for if God can not distinguish between what He loves and what He hates then His love is meaningless.

I honestly believe that the chief failure of the 21st century Christian in the West is the failure to realize that the infinite loving God of the Bible is a God who gloriously hates all that stands in rebellion to Him. Scripture clearly teaches that God hates workers of iniquity. Scripture clearly teaches that God hates divorce. Scripture clearly teaches that God hated Esau. Scripture clearly teaches that God hates

haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,

19 a false witness who pours out lies
and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers

Because God so gloriously hates, we have, by grace alone, learned our peril as we became familiar with the serious character of God. It was the just hatred of God against us and our sins that propelled the elect to find safety in the love of God who provided Christ as the only place where God’s hatred was assuaged, quenched, and propitiated. It was God’s love for Himself and hatred for all that is contrary to Him that found Him covenanting with the Son in eternity to save the people He has eternally loved. Praise God for his violent love to quench His fixed hatred.

What this refusal to honor God’s hatreds has done is that it has created a church that has no passion. The only thing the 21st century Church finds itself capable of being passionate about and hating is the person who has passion and hates the things that God hates. The modern Church has no capacity to love because it has lost the capacity to hate. As such what has been loss to the contemporary Church is not merely her ability to be repulsed by evil but also her ability to be enchanted by beauty.

Lord Christ, grant us the ability to once again hate that which is evil and cling to that which is good.

Author: jetbrane

I am a Pastor of a small Church in Mid-Michigan who delights in my family, my congregation and my calling. I am postmillennial in my eschatology. Paedo-Calvinist Covenantal in my Christianity Reformed in my Soteriology Presuppositional in my apologetics Familialist in my family theology Agrarian in my regional community social order belief Christianity creates culture and so Christendom in my national social order belief Mythic-Poetic / Grammatical Historical in my Hermeneutic Pre-modern, Medieval, & Feudal before Enlightenment, modernity, & postmodern Reconstructionist / Theonomic in my Worldview One part paleo-conservative / one part micro Libertarian in my politics Systematic and Biblical theology need one another but Systematics has pride of place Some of my favorite authors, Augustine, Turretin, Calvin, Tolkien, Chesterton, Nock, Tozer, Dabney, Bavinck, Wodehouse, Rushdoony, Bahnsen, Schaeffer, C. Van Til, H. Van Til, G. H. Clark, C. Dawson, H. Berman, R. Nash, C. G. Singer, R. Kipling, G. North, J. Edwards, S. Foote, F. Hayek, O. Guiness, J. Witte, M. Rothbard, Clyde Wilson, Mencken, Lasch, Postman, Gatto, T. Boston, Thomas Brooks, Terry Brooks, C. Hodge, J. Calhoun, Llyod-Jones, T. Sowell, A. McClaren, M. Muggeridge, C. F. H. Henry, F. Swarz, M. Henry, G. Marten, P. Schaff, T. S. Elliott, K. Van Hoozer, K. Gentry, etc. My passion is to write in such a way that the Lord Christ might be pleased. It is my hope that people will be challenged to reconsider what are considered the givens of the current culture. Your biggest help to me dear reader will be to often remind me that God is Sovereign and that all that is, is because it pleases him. View all posts by jetbrane