THE gOD OF THE TEXT:

If we look at the harsh realities of the world, and if we must choose between a God Who is loving, and a God Who is all-powerful, we will take the God Who is loving, and choose a God Who is less than all-powerful.

It is the most often-repeated "move" in modern pastoral theology.

There are echoes of this idea in Jewish mysticism. In order for the world to come into being, God needed to contract (tzimtzum) into the divine self. That divine contraction left a space in existence that was "godless." This was either a bad thing, because it let a place devoid of the divine presence. Or, it was a good thing, because it left room for human initiative.

Or. put it this way: God might be the most powerful entity in the universe, but even God is not all-powerful. There are "holes" in God's power.

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