John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Matthew 7:14 Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Of course if you don’t believe in the Bible, these verses won’t mean much to you. What arrogance though you have, that if something in the Bible doesn’t match up to YOUR theology, it’s wrong…

Couple of thoughts:

There were no babies in the Ark
Fire rained down on Sodom–I’m sure there were children there

Do you believe these events didn’t happen either?

I think that many liberals struggle with a sense of self-righteousness…a sense that everyone should adhere to their morale code and it should be enforced through an agency such as government. Keep in mind that I’m not saying ALL, but many do.

As a Christian, we have responsibilities that are our OWN and should not be forced upon others. Feeding the hungry, administering to the sick, clothing the naked are all moral decisions, and should be left to the individual. I do this on my own, with no expectation of reward, but most importantly with no expectation of my fellow man. That is between him and the Lord and he will give an account for his actions or lack thereof one day.

The problem with the pharisees of Jesus’ day was that they wanted to use their government to force their morality, their law on others. They were heartily criticized by Jesus in this. Today, liberals are accusing conservatives of the same thing, but fail to recognize it within their own ranks. The pharisees HATED Jesus to the point where they wished him dead. This seems to be a common emotion today in many liberals.

Would welcome debate or more importantly dialogue! Wish that many Christians would come together in honesty on these issues.

Thanks,

jack

A scholarly anlaysis of scripture can support a view that the traditional “hell” as viewed by a typical Southern Baptist, doesn’t actually exist. (Hebrew sheol=hole in the ground, or grave. Gehenna=actual physical place where lepers’ corpses were burned. Greek Hades=archaic reference to the pagan “underworld”, likely no longer relevant in the Christian mythology. . plenty of places on the Web to find support for this view). And my ELCA Pastor once told me that “hell” is simply “being without God for eternity”. Even Jesus said that the “dead are as sleeping, they know nothing” (until their Ressurection on the Last Day, and acceptance into the Kingdom, etc.). Interpretation varies.

But the bottom line for me, is the insistance that people who are so devoted to loving God, and obeying his Laws, that they ritually bow and pray to him 5 times a day, are all going to burn in Hell eternally, simply because they believe “the wrong scripture” – to me, is cruel, racist, hatemongering. I can’t believe in a God that would punish anyone with excuciating torture, simply because that person didn’t follow the precise, correct doctrine and rituals, even though they devoted themselves lovingly to submission to God. I find that many “evangelicals” I talk to are delighted to believe that such a fate awaits “evil heathen muslims” (because they’re all terrorists), and “liberals”. That’s just wrong. The God I believe in simply wants to reconcile the relationship with us, that was broken when we decided we didn’t need Him or His guidance. The contrition in our heart, the repentance, is what counts.

First and foremost, to believe in a “just” God, a “loving” God, a “forgiving” God, I have to toss out Scriptural Inerrancy. The two concepts are simply diametrically opposed. What I believe, is that any person who believes that there is a Creator, no matter what that Creator is named, and respects that Creator’s supreme power over Creation, and in the Creator’s ultimate goodness, and that the Creator loves us, and wants us to love Him back – any person with that mind, ought to be eligible to live forever in the Kingdom of Heaven, be “saved” – or whatever you want to call it. If a person does not believe in the Creator, or simply hates the Creator, or any part of Creation (including any other people, whether individual people, or members of other religions, races, or sexual orientations), anyone with that mind, is choosing to not share eternity with that which they hate, and therefore, NOT saved. Judge not, lest ye be judged.

It’s the only thing that makes sense, and is consistent with my view, of what God is. The God in which I believe, is not a torturer. The Bible says that he is. Therefore, the Bible’s at least partially wrong.