I’ve had lots of ideas about the concept of heave and hell. I grew up with HELL being a PLACE- a very, very bad place. It was a place where fires burned continually and where suffering never ended. A person would spend eternity there for not giving God glory, for being bad, for not repenting, or whatever the “Thou shall NOT” happened to be on the LIST for whatever denomination one belonged to. And I was then told that God was LOVE. Strange rationalization indeed. Continue reading ‘Heaven’s Guardian Gate!’
Archive for the 'God is Love. Hell is Not.' Category
In the business world, a monopoly is frowned upon and even legislated out of being such. A monopoly (from Greek monos) is defined as a persistent market situation where there is only one provider of a product or service, in other words a firm that has no competitors in its industry. Christianity (can you say the Roman Catholic church?)thought that it had a monopoly on SALVATION for hundred of years. Then along came Islam, Enlightenment, Reformation, modern science, and pluralism. And before you know it, there’s not only competition in the field of “a salvistic patent“, but there’s evidence there never was a monopoly at all anyway. Continue reading ‘What Monopoly?’
Foundationally and fundamentally, one cannot read the New Testament and come away with the idea that God is the Daddy, Abba Father, of SOME people on this planet! Almighty God, the Creator of the universe and all things within and without, who is greater than even that is Father of ALL! John Frederick Maurice (1805 – 1872 :an English theologian), reminds us that, “The truth is that ALL men are in Christ: the tragedy is that men will not OWN the TRUTH.” Continue reading ‘Who’s Your Daddy?’
Western theological tradition seemingly trapped people in front of (or in back of) two doors. You either had the choice of an unjust and unloving God who simply asked you to forgive 70 x 7 , but He was exempted from such formulas: door # 1. Or, you had this God who created the universe that goes down in defeat (losing 90% of His creation to that sly devilish creature): door # 2. I don’t know about you, but I’m for door # 3! Continue reading ‘Door # 3 Please’
At the heart of the heaven-hell debate is is a more series thread that runs through all of life and the question, “What think ye of Christ“? It has been very subtle, but what is patently obvious ov er the last 25 years is that Christianity has been moving away from eschatalogical pronouncements and more to living the Christological ones. Over simplifying, we need to live in the NOW and not in the sweet-bye-n-bye. Continue reading ‘Christology Not Eschatology!’
From man, as a result of karma I can see it; however, from God who created us? How does that jive with God is love? God chose eternal damnation for the majority of the world? Why would He do that? What sense does that make. Being all-knowing, He set up such a system and said, “I am love”? I simply can’t get there from what I know about God and particularly from what Jesus revealed. Continue reading ‘Retributive Punishment?’
For umpteen centuries Christians thought that God loved only them: much like most Muslims think everyone needs to follow only Islam and Allah. Today, most people can see through such arrogance, even if subconsciously held. For Christians though, it has been a slow revealing that while there certainly is salvation within the church, there is also salvation outside the church! The doctrine of no salvation outside the church (Extra ecclesia nulla salas) has thankfully been totally reformed! Continue reading ‘Salvation For All!’
There’s no doubt that Pope Benedict the XVI is a holy man. While I would give him an “A” on his ETHICS, it is something more askin to a “C-” on His THEOLOGY. Ah, but who am I to characterize the Pope? Earlier this year he said, “Hell is a place where sinners really do burn in an everlasting fire, and not just a religious symbol designed to galvanize the faithful. Hell really exists and is eternal, even if nobody talks about it much any moreâ€. Guess why fewer and fewer people talk about! Continue reading ‘Proof Of Fallibility’
Torturing people without end, with no redemptive purpose in mind- out right cruelty without end, is the picture of God that Jesusu painted? This is Abba Father? Explain it to me please. Justice you say? How is eternal, infinite hell a just recompense for finite temporal sins? Explain that too. Continue reading ‘Abba Father?’
I loved the 1996 movie by Mel Gibson entitled Ransom, but I’m talking about a far greater in scope ransom. A ranson is the practice of holding a prisoner to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved. But I’m talking about the price that Jesus paid on the cross for ALL mankind! Continue reading ‘Ransom Paid In Full!’
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