Divine Non-Coercion Doctrine
The doctrine, grounded in the Bethlehem narrative as its founding historical instance, that God never coerces any creature’s reception of his presence — “I have never liked force, so much so, that when I came upon earth and I wanted to go and be born in Bethlehem, I went, yes, knocking at door after door to have a place in which to be born, but I did not force anyone… Force is for slaves, for servants, and for those who do not love. This is why I move on from those souls, just as I did with the people of Bethlehem” — the principle being that love requires the freedom of the creature to receive or refuse, so that those who refuse are passed over (with the consequence that they permanently lose what they would have retained) while those who freely receive retain the divine presence as a permanent gift; the same principle operative in Jesus’ public ministry (Jerusalem’s refusal → desolation; the dust-shaking dismissal of unreceptive towns) and stated universally in Revelation 3:20. The scriptural ground is Revelation 3:20 (I stand at the door and knock — the universal principle of which Bethlehem is the historical founding enactment), John 1:11–12 (he came to his own and his own did not receive him, but to all who received him he gave the right to become children of God — the macro-historical form of the non-coercion doctrine), Galatians 5:13 (you were called to freedom; do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh — freedom as the necessary condition for the love that coercion would destroy), and Song of Songs 5:2–6 (my beloved knocked, I delayed, and when I opened he was gone — the typological pre-Christian anticipation of the cost of delayed reception). (E)
Anchors: Revelation 3:20; John 1:11-12; Galatians 5:13; Luke 2:7; Song of Songs 5:2-6; Matthew 23:37-38 — Appearances: 1. Full Registry entry.