It has reached the point where I have read and considered a variety of Christian, non-Christian, theistic, and atheistic literature. Despite such an effort, one issue that I've never read about will be discussed here--although this idea must have been examined SOMEWHERE; I'm just not sure where.
In a previous post, I tried to point out what a long time "eternity" really is--long enough that the human mind cannot fully grasp it. But mixed in with the idea of eternal life--or eternal damnation, in the fundamentalist view--is the implicit reality that someone (God, presumably) must make a determination of "who goes up, and who goes down," if you will. Yes or no, black or white, up or down: a simple decision, right? To which I say, "you gotta be kidding."
Imagine taking the 6,500,000,000 or so people on the planet and trying to judge their lives. Could we neatly divide them into "bound for heaven" and "bound for hell"? Imagine trying to list those 6,500,000,000 in descending order from "most worthy" for heaven to "least worthy." At the top and the bottom of that list, there would be some clear and relatively easy decisions: "Adolph, you head to the basement, and Mother Teresa, walk up the stairs." But the part that fascinates me are the hundreds of millions of people who would be "on the bubble." And even more so, where one could ever intelligently draw a line between person #3,258,904,886 (you get heaven) and #3,258,904,887 (sorry, buddy: VERY close but no cigar--but thanks for playing our game!). The stakes here would be enormous! To think that one could miss eternal bliss or be condemned to eternal hell requires the sort of judgment that even God Himself would be simply incapable of making, or at least making in a just manner. In short, the difference between a "worthy" and an "unworthy" candidate for the afterlife would be so subtle, so miniscule, and so arbitrary that it would be ridiculous and unfair, and we all know that God would be neither of those!
At any rate, I defy a "fire and brimstone" person to explain to me how such a dichotomous decision could be fairly rendered. At least in the human criminal justice system, there are levels of crimes and levels of penalties for them, including everything from probation to community service to 10 years in the slammer to lethal injection. In short, we have the ability to differentiate a bit more, which is an utterly sane and sensible approach.
If there is a dividing line between the "saved" and the "condemned," I hope that I'm at least one micron on the upward side of that line. But--oh drat--I once bore false witness or lusted in my heart; that may move me down just enough to spend an endless eternity in hell! Suddenly my days as a Little League umpire seem really easy, even if "balls" and "strikes" can be a tad subjective.
1 comment:
Well David, I thought you were a learned man??? But your snide comments of God made me rethink my reality. To truly know God is to know that He is a God of love – He is the one and only true God. He does not judge man as our justice system would – He judged His Son on Calvary and Christ Jesus has paid the total debt for the sins of all humanity. The reason some do not enter into Paradise is not due to God! It is due to their lack of faith. It is only by faith in the Son that we are saved (Ephesians 2:8). So to make a short answer even shorter – all God does is look at the person – are they covered in the blood of the lamb? If so they are in – if not then not......there is no bubble. Remember God is love – He loves His creation so much that He will allow anyone not to love Him in return. If I do not believe that Jesus died for my sins.... my sin clings to me and I stand condemned but if I believe my sins are paid in full and I stand righteous and holy before the Father – because of Jesus. To Him be glory forever and ever! Amen.
Your fire and brimstone guy – Pastor Mike
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