Hating the Haters of God
Engelsma defends the biblical propriety of hating those who hate God, challenging contemporary Christian sentiments that reject righteous hatred as unchristian. Drawing on Psalm 139:21-22 and other biblical texts, he argues that Scripture teaches believers should despise heretics, the disobedient, and blasphemers, countering the modern tendency to dismiss or reinterpret such passages as uninspired or culturally limited. This pamphlet addresses the tension between Christian love and biblical calls for holy opposition to those who rebel against God.
Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies (Ps. 139:21-22). To say that the attitude expressed in the text is unpopular with Christians to day is an understatement. There is simply no place in present-day Christianity for the sentiments found here. We must love everyone; we may hate no one. Does a notable heretic arise in the church, overthrowing the most basic doctrines of...