Asking the clergy: Does God avenge wrongdoing?

Rabbi Steven Moss, B'nai Israel Reform Temple, Oakdale:

I believe that God does avenge the wrongdoings of humanity by implanting within the minds and hearts of good people the ability to do battle against evil. From the Jewish perspective of life, we are co-workers with God. As such, we are the vehicles of God's desires to make this a better world for all people to live in, by a process called "Tikkun Olam"; the repairing of the brokenness and fragmentation of the world and society. It states in Leviticus 19:2, "You shall be holy for I the Lord Your God am holy." This is a challenge for each person to act in such ways that he or she brings holiness into the world by everything that person does and says. Then, wrongdoings shall be avenged, for then there will only be acts of goodness and compassion.

Pastor Stephen Giordano, Massapequa Reformed Church, Massapequa:

Absolutely not! Sorry if that bothers those who prefer an angry and vengeful God, but if we look, from a Christian perspective, at the full revelation of the nature of God in the person of His Son and our Savior Lord Jesus Christ, we meet a God who celebrates love and encourages sinners like you and me to learn from our mistakes and grow in our ability to love Him more fully and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. A common question that was asked about our Lord throughout His ministry was: What is He doing hanging around with the wrong crowd? His answer was: People who are well - by that, I think He meant self-righteous - don't need or want me. However, people who are outcasts - by that, I think He meant humble and seeking God's forgiveness and a fresh start - are the ones I am here to help. And help them He did as He extended a hand of grace and encouragement to sinners and in that process transformed them and their lives with the gift of His Amazing Grace. If you still are not convinced, think for a moment about another thing Jesus said, which was (Luke 7:1): "Judge not, lest ye be judged." Who are we to judge who God should be vengeful toward? After all, we were all once blind, but now we see.

The Rt. Rev. Lawrence C. Provenzano, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, Garden City:

The simple answer is "yes" and "no!" From the perspective of biblical history, the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament) give clear evidence of a wrathful, avenging God (some 170 times) in direct response to the sinfulness of people and their disobedience to God's plan for creation. But the Christian Scriptures (the New Testament) in the reality of the Incarnation (God becoming one of us, in human form, in Jesus the Christ) show evidence of God's motherly love for humanity. Anger is expressed as a parent's disappointment at our lack of response to the love God expressed for humanity. We believe that love is expressed most clearly in the saving act of God's continual self-giving and love in Jesus Christ. If God's anger were not a reality for humanity at all, the cross would not have been necessary. In this reality, expressed in the witness of the New Testament, there is no wrathful, avenging God who acts in negative response to the sinfulness of people who are ultimately all redeemed and made whole in Christ. And so the answer is both "yes' and "no" - for the Christian we realize that the price is paid in the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Ultimately humanity - all of humanity - is saved in God's loving act of self-giving - avenging is not necessary.

The Rev. Mark Lukens, Bethany Congregational Church, East Rockaway, and chairman of The Interfaith Alliance, Long Island chapter:

The God of Jesus Christ is a God of love and of transformation, rather than a God of vengeance. Incarnate as Jesus Christ, the man of Nazareth, God embraced wrongdoers in his ministry, telling those who considered themselves among the righteous that he had come not for them but for sinners. He even gave himself up on the cross in a manner of execution reserved for those considered "accursed of God," to demonstrate that there is no one beyond redemption. At the same time, Christ tells us in the Gospel of Matthew that God commands us to love and care for one another, especially the least among us, and that God's judgment of us will depend on how we do that. I think it would be better to say that God rights what is wrong, transforming evil into good by the power of his love.