I am not interested in getting
into a theological debate over universalism, eternal punishment, a literal
hell, ultimate restoration of all things, etc.
Quite honestly, I don’t give those things much thought. I am more
concerned with learning to love like Jesus did right here in the world I am
living in. I find that is a challenge large enough to keep me humble. However,
in reading some of the current theological ideas that are being touted as the
“real gospel,” I am made to wonder some things and to ask some of the following
questions:
- Evidently, Jehovah God is old fashioned and uninformed and Jesus is progressive. We need to go with Jesus, and ignore the old guy.
- The Bible is not to be trusted to give an accurate view and understanding of who God really is. There are things in there that, obviously, a loving god would not condone.
- Were the biblical writers inspired at all? Or, were they writing pretty good stuff, but full of their own thoughts on revenge, punishment, purging, destruction and ultimate outcome. In other words, does the Holy Bible reflect the trinitarian Godhead of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit? Or, must we figure it out for ourselves by what we determine Jesus would do, and if it is different from what the text says about God…well, some writer was having a bad day (or decade), and God became a bit too punitive and vindictive in the writing process.
- If you do give the Holy Bible as a reference to your positions, then you are labeled as an archaic, fear based, war mongering, unenlightened bibliolater, and you are subject to accusations of: “You worship the bible, not the God of the bible!” No..I do not worship the book (the Holy Bible), but I do believe God has a pretty good book out, and it is a fair and accurate account of who, what and why He is….and how we fit into that scheme.
- The Apostle’s Creed contains statements of a Christian Orthodoxy that cannot be trusted and do not reflect the heart and actions of the man, Christ Jesus.
- Makes me wonder….is, perhaps, this new neo-orthodoxy much like the former neo-orthodoxies…straight as a gun barrel and just as empty?
- Are we seeing an overreaction to a rigid, legalistic application of biblical Christianity (the Gospel) that was often toxic, void of love and overly punitive in nature? And now, has the pendulum has swung to the other extreme?
- Are we free to create a deity that suits our lifestyle, our thinking, and our progressive culture? The Biblical account of the Godhead is not about crafting a god of our choice, it is about us being a creation of His choice.
I am writing this in reaction to
some of what I have been exposed to by friends, books and articles on the topic
of universal salvation (in other words…Love wins, and EVERYONE and everything
will ultimately be restored, and no one experiences eternal punishment or
separation from God). I have never been one to be motivated into a frenzy of
running around trying to pluck souls out of the coming firestorm called hell.
Fear doesn’t get me up for the parade. Learning to love like Jesus does. However, I believe that Jesus is a chip off
the old block, so to speak, and that he accurately represents God our Father.
AND…I believe, other than some obvious scribal errors and minor textual
discrepancies, though I may not understand it all, the Holy Bible does, in
fact, give me an accurate view and understanding of who God is…including His
Son, Jesus Christ. Many arguments come
down to this basic idea: What, or Who
are you accepting as your source of ultimate authority. If that accepted base is different, then the
outcome of any argument will never be in harmony, which is why quoting
scriptures as your proof, becomes irrelevant.
To those who think/believe
differently than I do…no problem. I am
not asking you to refute my statements and defend your positions. However,
please save yourself the time and energy of asking me tons of questions to
respond to…reading books or listening to teachings I have little interest in. I
do not look to you to enlighten me. I do not have it all figured out, but your
mission is not to fix my thinking. I am simply stating some things that come to
my mind in the current debates and expounding of what the real gospel is all
about, and what God is really like.
The Gatekeeper
6 comments:
Very thought-provoking. Thank you for sharing. My mind likes to be fed and it is busy pondering your words. Have a great day. <3
I don’t mind disagreeing with you but I’m finding it difficult to find anything in this article that I don’t agree with. Could it be our generation, our background, our genetic makeup or could we both have serendipitously stumbled on a little bit of “not so common sense” truth?
While there are many things about His ways that I will never understand, I will forever believe that His ways are better than my ways or anyone else’s ways for that matter. I don’t get that upset when I don’t understand because I believe that understanding is optional, obedience is not.
Though you don't ask for approval, I will say I agree. Perhaps, as you point out, this argument rests on WHAT one accepts as authority -- how he/she sees the Bible. I choose to see the Bible as the Christian's moral authority, and I believe Jesus's teaching on the subject of judgement and hell as being literal.
Thanks for the comments. I appreciate each of you taking the time to respond.
I do think we have a common thread, not only in our DNA, but in our perspective of life and faith, Dave.
A nice summary of essentially "orthodox" understanding in our modern language. You touch on the important introductory issues that surround this topic, in my opinion. It helps me to see reminders like this (and I see them far too little). Simply because I live and connect with people, for the most part, on the other side of this issue. That is, people who have gone down the path of this redefinition of the Christian spirituality by ignoring the basic approach to our faith foundations outlined (as you've said) by the historic creeds of our faith forerunners and blurting out regurgitated versions of past gnostic and other heretical approaches. And the real problem is that they don't just blurt them out, they ingest them. They get them in their hearts , minds and lives. And this is the problem. When God is made into a god of their fashion, He becomes the innocuous grand father they were always hoping for not the Sovereign, loving and mighty ruler of the universe. When I say I work mostly on the other side of this, I mean, I am dealing with people who are well down the road of this progression. This approach insures they have inoculated themselves to a logical communication about this issue because of the very reasons you mentioned (people who try to follow the entire bible as foundational text must be stupid, and idolatrous, and can't be listened to).
But what I find is that the fruit of lives spinning into this kind of marsh-mellow Christianity is brokenness. I see it over and over. Identity, relationships, mental and emotional pain. Even death from spiraling beliefs in which they won't see their positions have held them captive and are crushing them, when, ironically, a loving God is waiting for them to surrender.
Thanks for your thoughtful response, Kim. As always, you are so good at getting to the nut of the issues I am dancing around! I really appreciate your thoughts here...they are helpful to me as you put them into a context of both history and practical living for today. Good stuff.
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