From: BSCURR01@ULKYVM.LOUISVILLE.EDU (Brenda Curry-White)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.christia
Subject: Anger
Date: 13 Oct 92 16:00:23 GMT
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
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There has been some discussion as to whether anger is a sin and therefore
whether God can be angry, and what constitutes righteous anger.

WHETHER ANGER IS A SIN

There have been several posters who quoted the verse that says to be angry
and sin not, so I won't repeat that.  But I think we do need to distinguish
between anger as an emotion and angry behavior.  Anger is a human emotion
as much as love, compassion, or any other emotion.  Since God created us
and gave us our emotions, anger is created by God.  Angry behavior on the
other hand, is how we choose to respond when our emotions start flashing
"I feel angry."  We have a choice as to how we respond when we feel angry.
When I am angry with my husband I have a choice.  I can either go grab
a frying pan and assault him, or I can go away and be by myself, slam a
few cupboards if I have to, and work out the anger before I confront him.
If I choose to assault him, I have sinned.  If I choose to work out the
anger and confront him in a reasonable way, I have not sinned.  It is the
response to our anger, not the anger itself that determines whether we have
sinned.  I believe also that God can and does become angry, but he always
responds to us in love.  And I believe that this is the ideal for how our
own response to anger should be.

RIGHTEOUS ANGER

I think the terms need some definition.  Sometimes it sounds as if people
mean "the right to be angry AND get even."  If this is the true meaning
of the term, then someone had better warn David to look out for that frying
pan.  I often feel that I have been wrongfully injured and have every right
to take my anger out on the offending party.  This is not righteous anger.
It may be said that God might act a little differently than I am allowed to
act.  God (being God after all) truly does have the right to take His anger
out on those who offend him.  While this may be true, whether God DOES take
his anger out on those who offend him is another matter.  If he did, none
of us could claim salvation.

I believe that righteous anger is simply anger that occurs and is righteously
dealt with (i.e. no frying pans).  God's response to anger is ALWAYS righteous.
If God is angry with me, He is righteous in being angry because I have truly
offended Him.  And He will respond to me righteously, in love.  I will be
forgiven, but I will also answer for what I have done and suffer the
consequences.  Our responses to anger are sometimes righteous, sometimes not.
Righteous anger is NOT vengeance.  Righteous anger is NOT retaliation.


It's interesting to notice that we are quick to pounce on an emotion such as
anger when trying to list sins.  However, any other of our emotions are just
as subject to becoming sins depending upon how we act on them.  Even love is
not immune.  Two people can genuinely love each other and yet act on that
love in a way which produces sin (e.g. let's say the two people in question
are married to two OTHER people).  And yet we single emotions like anger
and jealousy out.

Emotions are neither good nor bad, righteous nor evil.  It is how we act upon
our emotions that constitutes good and bad.  It is how we act upon our emotions
that determines when we have sinned.

Brenda