Aubyn Fulton wrote: > Yea - I'm pretty sure that many Firm Believers teach that those who do not > believe, or believe incorrectly, or believe correctly but behave > incorrectly, will be punished with eternal suffering.
Well, yes, that's true, but that seems to miss my point. "...will be punished with..." in the passive voice glosses over the question I was raising about whether or not the God that one is to worship is the agent of that punishment. I agree that the eternal punishment thing is typically part of the belief system, but question whether it is God who is believed to do the punishing. However, your quotes suggest that you may be right: > 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. It'd be pretty hard to reconcile that with the claim that the eternal punishment is not of God's doing, but rather something that just naturally happens to those who reject God's grace. > 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." This one isn't quite so clean-cut. I can imagine arguing that "Christ will judge" simply means "Christ will accept those who have chosen Him" with the implication that those of us who have deliberately rejected Him have chosen to be consigned to Hell. Again, that probably sounds like nit-picking but I'm not so sure that it is. > Paul's version of this above is a "politically correct" revisionism meant to > make the traditional doctrine play better in the modern context, and there > are many who adhere to it. But there are plenty of "old school" Firm > Believers out there, and it is debatable how different the revised version > really is (it is the difference between God inflicting everlasting > punishment on those he wants to punish, vs. allowing those he wants to > punish to remain in a state of everlasting punishment when he has the power > to spare them). Okay, apparently you DID "get" the distinction I intended to make, since you recognize the "politically correct revisionism" going on (and I agree that's what it is). Point granted, then. Paul Smith Alverno College Milwaukee
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