Lawsuits against God
Encyclopedia
Lawsuit
s against God
have occurred in real life and in fiction. Issues debated in the actions include the problem of evil
and harmful "acts of God
".
of Nebraska
, State Senator
Ernie Chambers
filed a suit in 2008 against God, seeking a permanent injunction against God's harmful activities, as an effort to publicize the issue of public access to the court system. The suit was dismissed because God could not be properly notified, not having an address. The Judge stated, "Given that this court finds that there can never be service effectuated on the named defendant this action will be dismissed with prejudice". The senator, believing God to be singular
and all-knowing
, responded "The court itself acknowledges the existence of God. A consequence of that acknowledgement is a recognition of God's omniscience ... Since God knows everything, God has notice of this lawsuit." Chambers filed the lawsuit in response to another lawsuit that he considers to be frivolous and inappropriate.
In response to Chambers's case, two responses were filed. The first was from a Corpus Christi
lawyer, Eric Perkins, who wanted to answer the question "what would God say". The second was filed in Douglas County, Nebraska
District Court. The source of the second response, claiming to be from "God", is unclear as no contact information was given.
On July 30, 2008, local media sources reported the Douglas County
District Court was going to deny Chambers' lawsuit because Chambers had failed to notify the defendant. However, on August 1, Chambers was granted a court date of August 5 in order to proceed with his lawsuit. "The scheduling hearing will give me a chance to lay out the facts that would justify the granting of the motion," Chambers was quoted as saying. He added, "Once the court enters the injunction, that's as much as I can do," he said. "That's as much as I would ask the court. I wouldn't expect them to enforce it."
However, a judge finally did throw out the case, saying the Almighty was not properly served due to his unlisted home address. Chambers responded to the news by saying "the court itself acknowledges the existence of God. A consequence of that acknowledgment is a recognition of God's omniscience. Since God knows everything, God has notice of this lawsuit." , Chambers filed an appeal to the Nebraska Supreme Court
. The former state senator John DeCamp
and E. O. Augustsson in Sweden, asked to represent God. Augustsson's letters, mentioning the Bjorn (see the BjornSocialist Republic
) were stricken as "frivolous". The Appeals Court gave Chambers until February 24 to show that he notified DeCamp and Augustsson of his brief, which he did. The case was finally closed on February 25 when the Nebraska Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal and vacated the order of the district court. The court quoted cases according to which "[a] court decides real controversies and determines rights actually controverted, and does not address or dispose of abstract questions or issues that might arise in hypothetical or fictitious situation or setting".
, as God's representatives in Romania, for failing to keep him from the Devil
, essentially stating that his baptism had been a binding contract. The suit was dismissed because the defendant was neither an individual nor a company, and was not subject to the civil court of law's jurisdiction.
, a fisherman played by Billy Connolly
successfully challenges the right of insurance companies to refuse payment for a destroyed boat on the common legal exemption clause of an Act of God
. In a suit against the world's religious institutions as God's representatives on Earth, the religious institutions face the dilemma of either having to state God does not exist to uphold the legal principle, or being held liable for damages caused by Acts of God.
In the "Angels And Blimps" episode of the television legal drama Ally McBeal
, a boy with leukaemia attempts to sue God. In the episode "The Nutcrackers" of the television legal drama comedy Boston Legal
, a woman sues God for the death of her husband. "God in the Dock", a 1980 episode of Christian TV series Insight
, featured Richard Beymer
as God put on trial by humanity.
In the Fyodor Dostoyevsky novel The Brothers Karamazov
, one of the characters tells the story of a grand inquisitor in Spain
who meets an incarnation of Jesus
, interrogates him, and exiles him.
Former Auschwitz concentration camp
inmate Elie Wiesel
is said to have witnessed three Jewish prisoners try God in absentia
for abandoning the Jewish people during the Holocaust. From this experience, Wiesel wrote the play and novel The Trial of God
.
It is set in a Ukrainian village during 1649 after a massacre of the Jewish inhabitants, possibly as part of the Khmelnytsky Uprising
. In the play, three travelling minstrel
s arrive in the village, having intended to perform a play. Instead they perform a mock trial of God for allowing the massacre. The verdict is innocent, after a stirring lone defence by a stranger who, in a twist, is revealed to be the Devil
.
The television play God on Trial
, written by Frank Cottrell Boyce
, depicts a scene similar to that attributed to Elie Wiesel, but is also described by Boyce as "apocryphal". In it, three Auschwitz prisoners sue God. The trial returns a guilty verdict, although with likely reasons for appeal.
In the Touched by an Angel
episode "Jones vs God", a town is dying from a drought while other towns around it have received rain. Mr. Jones therefore sues God for unfair treatment. Tess represents God in the matter.
In a satirical news piece, The Onion
parody newspaper published an article stating that New York attorneys had filed a class action
lawsuit on behalf of the Children of Israel (the Israelites). The suit alleged a breach of the religious covenant
between God and his chosen people
, and sought $4.2 trillion in punitive and compensatory damages.
Blameless in Abaddon, the second book of the Godhead Trilogy by James Morrow
, features a magistrate who tries God for crimes against humanity.
Christ on Trial is a book written by Roger Dixon describing a TV program trying Jesus Christ in a US court.
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
s against God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
have occurred in real life and in fiction. Issues debated in the actions include the problem of evil
Problem of evil
In the philosophy of religion, the problem of evil is the question of how to explain evil if there exists a deity that is omnibenevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient . Some philosophers have claimed that the existences of such a god and of evil are logically incompatible or unlikely...
and harmful "acts of God
Act of God
Act of God is a legal term for events outside of human control, such as sudden floods or other natural disasters, for which no one can be held responsible.- Contract law :...
".
Ernie Chambers
In the U.S. stateU.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, State Senator
State Senator
A state senator is a member of a state's Senate, the upper house in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a legislator in Nebraska's one house State Legislature.There are typically fewer state senators than there are members of a state's lower house...
Ernie Chambers
Ernie Chambers
Ernest W. Chambers is a former Nebraska State Senator who represented North Omaha's 11th District in the Nebraska State Legislature. He is also a civil rights activist and is considered by most citizens of Nebraska as the most prominent and outspoken African American leader in the state...
filed a suit in 2008 against God, seeking a permanent injunction against God's harmful activities, as an effort to publicize the issue of public access to the court system. The suit was dismissed because God could not be properly notified, not having an address. The Judge stated, "Given that this court finds that there can never be service effectuated on the named defendant this action will be dismissed with prejudice". The senator, believing God to be singular
Monotheism
Monotheism is the belief in the existence of one and only one god. Monotheism is characteristic of the Baha'i Faith, Christianity, Druzism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Samaritanism, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism.While they profess the existence of only one deity, monotheistic religions may still...
and all-knowing
Omniscience
Omniscience omniscient point-of-view in writing) is the capacity to know everything infinitely, or at least everything that can be known about a character including thoughts, feelings, life and the universe, etc. In Latin, omnis means "all" and sciens means "knowing"...
, responded "The court itself acknowledges the existence of God. A consequence of that acknowledgement is a recognition of God's omniscience ... Since God knows everything, God has notice of this lawsuit." Chambers filed the lawsuit in response to another lawsuit that he considers to be frivolous and inappropriate.
In response to Chambers's case, two responses were filed. The first was from a Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
lawyer, Eric Perkins, who wanted to answer the question "what would God say". The second was filed in Douglas County, Nebraska
Douglas County, Nebraska
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 463,585 people, 182,194 households, and 115,146 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,401 people per square mile . There were 192,672 housing units at an average density of 582 per square mile...
District Court. The source of the second response, claiming to be from "God", is unclear as no contact information was given.
On July 30, 2008, local media sources reported the Douglas County
Douglas County, Nebraska
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 463,585 people, 182,194 households, and 115,146 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,401 people per square mile . There were 192,672 housing units at an average density of 582 per square mile...
District Court was going to deny Chambers' lawsuit because Chambers had failed to notify the defendant. However, on August 1, Chambers was granted a court date of August 5 in order to proceed with his lawsuit. "The scheduling hearing will give me a chance to lay out the facts that would justify the granting of the motion," Chambers was quoted as saying. He added, "Once the court enters the injunction, that's as much as I can do," he said. "That's as much as I would ask the court. I wouldn't expect them to enforce it."
However, a judge finally did throw out the case, saying the Almighty was not properly served due to his unlisted home address. Chambers responded to the news by saying "the court itself acknowledges the existence of God. A consequence of that acknowledgment is a recognition of God's omniscience. Since God knows everything, God has notice of this lawsuit." , Chambers filed an appeal to the Nebraska Supreme Court
Nebraska Supreme Court
The Nebraska Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Nebraska. The Court consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. Each Justice is initially appointed by the Governor of Nebraska; using the Missouri Plan, each Justice is then subject to a retention vote for additional...
. The former state senator John DeCamp
John DeCamp
John W. DeCamp , a Republican, is a former member of the Nebraska Legislature and author of the book The Franklin Cover-up: Child Abuse, Satanism, and Murder in Nebraska.-Biography:...
and E. O. Augustsson in Sweden, asked to represent God. Augustsson's letters, mentioning the Bjorn (see the BjornSocialist Republic
BjornSocialist Republic
The BjornSocialist Republic is a micronation created by Oskar Augustsson.Its territorial pretensions encompass a boulder described as "look[ing] like a tractor", situated adjacent to the Bos Islands, in Lake Immeln, Skåne, Sweden.The republic came to public attention in 2007 when a Swedish court...
) were stricken as "frivolous". The Appeals Court gave Chambers until February 24 to show that he notified DeCamp and Augustsson of his brief, which he did. The case was finally closed on February 25 when the Nebraska Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal and vacated the order of the district court. The court quoted cases according to which "[a] court decides real controversies and determines rights actually controverted, and does not address or dispose of abstract questions or issues that might arise in hypothetical or fictitious situation or setting".
Pavel M
A Romanian prisoner, identified as Pavel M, serving 20 years after being convicted of murder, filed a lawsuit against the Romanian Orthodox ChurchRomanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
, as God's representatives in Romania, for failing to keep him from the Devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
, essentially stating that his baptism had been a binding contract. The suit was dismissed because the defendant was neither an individual nor a company, and was not subject to the civil court of law's jurisdiction.
Fictional suits
In the comedy film The Man Who Sued GodThe Man Who Sued God
The Man Who Sued God is a 2001 Australian film, starring Billy Connolly and directed by Mark Joffe.-Plot:Advocate Steve Myers is a disillusioned lawyer who becomes fed-up with the perceived corruption within the judicial system. He quits the law business and buys a small fishing boat and takes up...
, a fisherman played by Billy Connolly
Billy Connolly
William "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...
successfully challenges the right of insurance companies to refuse payment for a destroyed boat on the common legal exemption clause of an Act of God
Act of God
Act of God is a legal term for events outside of human control, such as sudden floods or other natural disasters, for which no one can be held responsible.- Contract law :...
. In a suit against the world's religious institutions as God's representatives on Earth, the religious institutions face the dilemma of either having to state God does not exist to uphold the legal principle, or being held liable for damages caused by Acts of God.
In the "Angels And Blimps" episode of the television legal drama Ally McBeal
Ally McBeal
Ally McBeal is an American legal comedy-drama series which aired on the Fox network from 1997 to 2002. The series was created by David E. Kelley, who also served as the executive producer, along with Bill D'Elia...
, a boy with leukaemia attempts to sue God. In the episode "The Nutcrackers" of the television legal drama comedy Boston Legal
Boston Legal
Boston Legal is an American legal dramedy created by David E. Kelley, which was produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television for the ABC...
, a woman sues God for the death of her husband. "God in the Dock", a 1980 episode of Christian TV series Insight
Insight (TV series)
Insight was an Emmy-winning syndicated television series produced by Paulist Productions that aired 250 episodes from 1960 to 1983. The series presented half-hour dramas illuminating the contemporary search for meaning, freedom, and love...
, featured Richard Beymer
Richard Beymer
George Richard Beymer, Jr. is an American actor known for playing Tony in the 1961 film version of West Side Story and Ben Horne on the 1990 television series Twin Peaks.-Life and career:...
as God put on trial by humanity.
In the Fyodor Dostoyevsky novel The Brothers Karamazov
The Brothers Karamazov
The Brothers Karamazov is the final novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Dostoyevsky spent nearly two years writing The Brothers Karamazov, which was published as a serial in The Russian Messenger and completed in November 1880...
, one of the characters tells the story of a grand inquisitor in Spain
The Grand Inquisitor
The Grand Inquisitor is a parable told by Ivan to Alyosha in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov . Ivan and Alyosha are brothers; Ivan questions the possibility of a personal, benevolent God and Alyosha is a novice monk....
who meets an incarnation of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
, interrogates him, and exiles him.
Former Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
inmate Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel
Sir Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel KBE; born September 30, 1928) is a Hungarian-born Jewish-American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He is the author of 57 books, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a prisoner in the Auschwitz, Buna, and...
is said to have witnessed three Jewish prisoners try God in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
for abandoning the Jewish people during the Holocaust. From this experience, Wiesel wrote the play and novel The Trial of God
The Trial of God
The Trial of God is a play by Elie Wiesel about a fictitious trial calling God as the defendant...
.
It is set in a Ukrainian village during 1649 after a massacre of the Jewish inhabitants, possibly as part of the Khmelnytsky Uprising
Khmelnytsky Uprising
The Khmelnytsky Uprising, was a Cossack rebellion in the Ukraine between the years 1648–1657 which turned into a Ukrainian war of liberation from Poland...
. In the play, three travelling minstrel
Minstrel
A minstrel was a medieval European bard who performed songs whose lyrics told stories of distant places or of existing or imaginary historical events. Although minstrels created their own tales, often they would memorize and embellish the works of others. Frequently they were retained by royalty...
s arrive in the village, having intended to perform a play. Instead they perform a mock trial of God for allowing the massacre. The verdict is innocent, after a stirring lone defence by a stranger who, in a twist, is revealed to be the Devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
.
The television play God on Trial
God on Trial
God on Trial is a 2008 BBC/WGBH Boston television play written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, starring Antony Sher, Rupert Graves and Jack Shepherd. The play takes place in Auschwitz during World War II. The Jewish prisoners put God on trial in absentia for abandoning the Jewish people...
, written by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Frank Cottrell Boyce
-Awards:*2004: Buch des Monats des Instituts für Jugendliteratur/Book of the Month by the Institute for Youth Literature , Millions*2004: Carnegie Medal, Millions*2004: Luchs des Jahres , Millions...
, depicts a scene similar to that attributed to Elie Wiesel, but is also described by Boyce as "apocryphal". In it, three Auschwitz prisoners sue God. The trial returns a guilty verdict, although with likely reasons for appeal.
In the Touched by an Angel
Touched by an Angel
Touched by an Angel is an American drama series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994 and ran for 211 episodes and nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and produced by Martha Williamson, the series stars Roma Downey, as an angel named Monica, and Della...
episode "Jones vs God", a town is dying from a drought while other towns around it have received rain. Mr. Jones therefore sues God for unfair treatment. Tess represents God in the matter.
In a satirical news piece, The Onion
The Onion
The Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
parody newspaper published an article stating that New York attorneys had filed a class action
Class action
In law, a class action, a class suit, or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued...
lawsuit on behalf of the Children of Israel (the Israelites). The suit alleged a breach of the religious covenant
Covenant (biblical)
A biblical covenant is an agreement found in the Bible between God and His people in which God makes specific promises and demands. It is the customary word used to translate the Hebrew word berith. It it is used in the Tanakh 286 times . All Abrahamic religions consider the Biblical covenant...
between God and his chosen people
Jews as a chosen people
In Judaism, "chosenness" is the belief that the Jews are the Chosen People, chosen to be in a covenant with God. This idea is first found in the Torah and is elaborated on in later books of the Hebrew Bible...
, and sought $4.2 trillion in punitive and compensatory damages.
Blameless in Abaddon, the second book of the Godhead Trilogy by James Morrow
James Morrow
James Morrow is a fiction author. A self-described "scientific humanist", his work satirises organized religion and elements of humanism and atheism....
, features a magistrate who tries God for crimes against humanity.
Christ on Trial is a book written by Roger Dixon describing a TV program trying Jesus Christ in a US court.
See also
- God in the DockGod in the DockGod in the Dock is a collection of essays and speeches from C. S. Lewis. Its title implies "God on Trial" and is based on an analogy made by Lewis suggesting that modern human beings, rather than seeing themselves as standing before God in judgment, prefer to place God on trial while acting as...
, an anthology of C. S. LewisC. S. LewisClive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
' Christian apologeticsChristian apologeticsChristian apologetics is a field of Christian theology that aims to present a rational basis for the Christian faith, defend the faith against objections, and expose the perceived flaws of other world views...
expressing his contention that modern human beings, rather than considering themselves as being judged by God, prefer to try God while acting as his judge - Sanhedrin Trial of JesusSanhedrin Trial of JesusThe Sanhedrin trial of Jesus refers to the Canonical Gospel accounts of the trial of Jesus before the Jewish Council, or Sanhedrin, following his arrest and prior to his trial before Pontius Pilate...
, the Biblical account of Christ's trial before the Sanhedrin council - Religious lawReligious lawIn some religions, law can be thought of as the ordering principle of reality; knowledge as revealed by a God defining and governing all human affairs. Law, in the religious sense, also includes codes of ethics and morality which are upheld and required by the God...
- Last JudgmentLast JudgmentThe Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, or The Day of the Lord in Christian theology, is the final and eternal judgment by God of every nation. The concept is found in all the Canonical gospels, particularly the Gospel of Matthew. It will purportedly take place after the...
- Legalism (theology)Legalism (theology)Legalism, in Christian theology, is a sometimes-pejorative term referring to an over-emphasis on discipline of conduct, or legal ideas, usually implying an allegation of misguided rigour, pride, superficiality, the neglect of mercy, and ignorance of the grace of God or emphasizing the letter of...
, the view that obedience to law, not faith in God's grace, is the pre-eminent principle of redemption - A Contract with GodA Contract with GodA Contract with God, and Other Tenement Stories is a graphic novel by Will Eisner that takes the form of several stories on a theme. Published by Baronet Books in October 1978 in simultaneous hardcover and trade paperback editions — the former limited to a signed-and-numbered print-run of 1,500 —...
, a short story collection: in the title story, a man struggles with the events of his life in light of what he believes to be a contract with God. - Levi Yitzchok of BerditchevLevi Yitzchok of BerditchevLevi Yitzchok of Berditchev , also known as the Berdichever, was a rabbi and Hasidic leader. He was the rabbi of Ryczywół, Żelechów, Pinsk and Berdychiv, for which he is best known...
, known as the "defense attorney" for the Jewish people, because it was believed that he could intercede with God on their behalf - MisotheismMisotheismMisotheism is the "hatred of God" or "hatred of the gods" . In some varieties of polytheism, it was considered possible to inflict punishment on gods by ceasing to worship them...
, hatred of God - Lawsuits against the DevilLawsuits against the DevilLawsuits against the Devil have occurred in reality and in fiction.- Actual suits :United States ex rel. Gerald Mayo v. Satan and His Staff was a 1971 case filed before the United States district court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in which Gerald Mayo alleged that "Satan has on...