I hope no one minds me clarifying some things about Christianity. If you don't wish to be clarified (or feel you see it quite clearly), stop reading now.
> Aubryn writes: > > First from the Bible - Hebrews 10:26-27; 30-31: > "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of > the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of > judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God (SNIP) For > we know him who said, It is mine to avenge; I will repay,� and again, �The > Lord will judge his people.� It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands > of the living God. Excellent use of scripture. There is no question that the bible does teach an eternal judgment, and that there are those that will be judged as "saved" and those that will be judged as "damned." There are disagreements in Christianity as to the exact basis of being damned. For example, fundamentalists tend to be more severe in assessing people who do not go to heaven (if you don't believe in Christ, it's bad news for you). Other denominational groups tend to be more open to the status of non-Christians. For example, in Roman Catholicism there is speculative theology about those in "invincible ignorance" -- people that have not heard of the gospel/Jesus and live lives that are generally moral -- that may be saved. Then there are sects like Jehovah's Witnesses that do not believe in hell. They believe that there will be 144,000 people in heaven, a "great multitude" (the second class) who will live on earth, and then the "damned" will be annilihated. And of course I would be remiss in pointing out the growing movement of "Christian universalists" who believe that everyone will be saved sooner or later. They don't believe that anyone goes to hell forever because their idea of a loving God precludes that. > Now, this from "The Baptist Faith and Message" adopted by the Southern > Baptist Convention (a group of pretty Firm Believers, of which there are > more than a few running about) on June 14, 2000 (available at > http://www.utm.edu/martinarea/fbc/bfm/10.html): > > "God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its > appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return > personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and > Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be > consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in > their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will > dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord." I think that's a correct view of their theology. Notice that there is no teaching that God is torturing people in hell. The typical view is that the torture or suffering the damned might experience doesn't come from God but from being AWAY from the presence of God. I believe the Christian philosopher C.S. Lewis once opined that in the end there would be two kinds of people, the ones that say to God "Thy will be done" and the ones that God says "THY will be done." > I could multiply examples of the above from both the Bible and various creed > and creed-like statements (the Baptists don't like to refer to theirs as a > "creed") but perhaps this is sufficient. If you wish to argue that the majority opinion in Christendom is an eternal punishment for a subgroup of humanity, you will get no argument from me. What I objected to was the chararacterization of God torturing people. > Notice, I am not claiming that all believers teach this, nor am I > necessarily agreeing with Stephen's view that a doctrine of everlasting > punishment is always inconsistent with a God of love (though I think the way > it is traditionally understood is). But clearly an important aspect of > traditional Christian doctrine for many believers is that those who believe > incorrectly will be punished for it with great, perhaps eternal, suffering. That is not disputed. Although the degree of suffering is based on one's conduct in this life. In other words, the common view is that rejection of Jesus condemns you, and your actual punishment is based on the life you led. It's the difference between being found "guilty" and being sentenced. I'm used to people finding such beliefs objectionable, even ludicrous, but it's important to ensure that what we find ludicrous is based on actual factuals. Happy post-finals to all (how's that for ecumenical?), Jim Guinee --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
