AUDIT INDEX
Step 01 Step 02 Step 03 Step 04 Step 05 Step 06 Step 07 Step 08

Step 6: Justice & Mercy Collide

The Logical Necessity of Mercy

The "Broken Spirit" Diagnostic

If you have read this far, you likely fall into one of two categories:

The Observation If you are reading this, you are still breathing.
This detail is not irrelevant.
If the Ultimate Authority is looking at you right now—and has been every moment, during every one of your crimes—why haven't you been arrested yet?

It is not for lack of evidence.

The Divine Dilemma (The Paradox)

We established that the Judge is necessarily the Absolute Standard of Good.

Justice ▼
Justice is a necessary function of Goodness. To be Absolutely Good is to be Absolutely Just. The First Cause cannot overlook evil; he must punish it.
Mercy ▼
Mercy is also a necessary function of Goodness. To be Absolutely Good is to be Absolutely Merciful. The First Cause must logically seek to pardon the guilty.

These two Absolutes appear to collide when applied to a verified criminal (Us).

The Collision:
If he executes us: Justice is satisfied, but Mercy is not.
If he ignores the crime: Mercy is satisfied, but Justice is shattered (The Judge becomes corrupt).

The Question: How can the Judge remain Just (punish the crime) and yet be the Justifier (save the criminal)?

The Bankruptcy (The Double Bind)

We face two insurmountable problems:

A. The Legal Debt

We are finite. The crime is against The Infinite Authority; therefore, the Debt is Infinite. If we attempt to pay this debt ourselves, it will take us all of eternity. We are logically insolvent.

B. The Structural Reality

The Judge is the Literal Source and Standard of Being itself (A). In our current state, we are (not A). We are currently in a state of unalignment with existence itself. If the First Cause is Life, Love, Peace, and Joy, then to eternally remain in a state of unalignment is to logically remain in a state of Death, Hatred, Torment, and Sorrow. This is not reality being mean. If the First Cause is Life and we have chosen to turn away from the First Cause, then logically we have chosen Death.

The Logical Necessity: Paid or Absorbed

Debts never disappear. If I owe you $1000, either I pay you $1000 or you forgive me and absorb the loss yourself. We owe an infinite debt to the First Cause; we have corrupted HIS reality with OUR moral failures. Justice must be satisfied (The Debt paid), and Mercy must be extended (The Pardon offered). There is only one logical solution.

The First Cause must provide a Substitute.

The Profile of the Substitute

The Substitute must logically possess four specific qualities in order to balance the equation:

Must be Truly Human. ▼
To represent us in any meaningful or “legal” sense, the Substitute must share our nature and be able to stand in for the human race.
Must be Innocent. ▼
A being who carries its own moral debt cannot pay for anyone else; it would need saving as much as we do.
Must be of Infinite Worth. ▼
A finite life might cover one finite life at best. To bear the accumulated moral debt of humanity, the Substitute would require a value of infinite proportion. A value equal to the First Cause himself.
Must be Willing. ▼
If the Substitute is forced, the act is another injustice, not mercy. The Substitute must freely choose to step into our place.
The question is no longer whether a Substitute is needed. The question is: Does the Substitute actually exist?
I ACCEPT THE NEED FOR A SUBSTITUTE I HAVE AN OBJECTION ← BACK TO STEP 5