{"id":17965,"date":"2013-10-03T07:23:58","date_gmt":"2013-10-03T11:23:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=17965"},"modified":"2013-10-03T07:23:58","modified_gmt":"2013-10-03T11:23:58","slug":"not-just-a-pot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2013\/10\/not-just-a-pot.html","title":{"rendered":"Not Just a Pot"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p>There is a comparison between God and a potter on the one hand, and humanity and pottery on the other, in both testaments of the Christian Bible.<\/p>\n<p>The analogy is not apt. Pots do not feel pain. And as human beings, we rarely agree that the simple act of creating means that the one who did so has unlimited rights to torment the work of his or her hands.<\/p>\n<p>I mention this because I have had students reflecting on the story of Abraham almost sacrificing Isaac, and am not persuaded that simply positing that God is the Creator of humankind solves the moral problems inherent in that story.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/faithfulinprayer.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/02\/potters-clay.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"497\" height=\"284\"><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There is a comparison between God and a potter on the one hand, and humanity and pottery on the other, in both testaments of the Christian Bible. The analogy is not apt. Pots do not feel pain. And as human beings, we rarely agree that the simple act of creating means that the one who [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,82],"tags":[298,3840,4005,5398,5645,9389,9390,10537],"class_list":["post-17965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jeremiah","category-romans","tag-abraham","tag-genesis-bible","tag-god","tag-isaac","tag-jeremiah","tag-potter","tag-pottery","tag-romans"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Not Just a Pot<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There is a comparison between God and a potter on the one hand, and humanity and pottery on the other, in both testaments of the Christian Bible. The\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2013\/10\/not-just-a-pot.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Not Just a Pot\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There is a comparison between God and a potter on the one hand, and humanity and pottery on the other, in both testaments of the Christian Bible. The\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2013\/10\/not-just-a-pot.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. 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